Our Story & Beliefs

Our Name

Our vision and our church name derive from Luke 4:18.  Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed." We are simply a congregation of people who have personally experienced the reality of Christ in such a way that we want others to experience Him also. We admittedly are far from perfect, but we do strive to be a genuine group of Christ followers who loves all people and who longs to be the exact church God wants us to be.

Our Story

In the early part of 2007, Pastor Fred Wolfe was living in Atlanta, Georgia. He was winding down the Barnabas Ministry he had begun ten years earlier after pastoring Cottage Hill Baptist Church for twenty-five years. He felt a strong leading of the Lord to move back to the Mobile area. There was no clear understanding why, he just knew God was telling him to move back to Mobile. So, he and his wife, Anne, bought a home in Fairhope and moved.

In the summer of 2007, while serving as the Interim Pastor of a church in Jackson, Mississippi, Bro. Fred met a lady who asked if she could pray for him. He said she reminded him of Miss Bertha Smith, the deceased Southern Baptist missionary to China whose spiritual influence is still prevalent today. She spoke a prophetic word over him that night that he did not completely understand. She spoke these three statements “You have only touched the fringe, the Lord is giving you a fresh anointing, and your feet are going to take you places you’ve never been before.”

Being back in Mobile meant seeing and talking to many people he knew and had pastored over the years. He came to realize that many of those he encountered were no longer identified with a particular church, not regularly attending church, and some were not going at all. He said, “It was as if they were scattered.” This greatly concerned him and was a source of disappointment in his life.

On September 18, 2007, while praying in his den in Fairhope, God spoke a clear word to him that he was to start a church for “scattered sheep.” Finally, he understood the word spoken over him that night in Jackson, “Your feet are going to take you places you’ve never been before.” In fifty years of ministry he had never started a church. He questioned why at 70 years of age, in a city where he had pastored for twenty-five years, God would call him to do this. But, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it was the Lord and describes it as the strongest call on his life in the fifty plus years he has been in ministry.

He quickly gathered a small group of close friends to share what the Lord was leading him to do. There was excitement and a true sense that it was of the Lord. Over the next three months, by word of mouth only, he held a monthly meeting to share his vision with others. The response was overwhelming and it was clear that there was a desire and need for this new church.

Where we are headed...

On January 6, 2008, Luke 4:18 Fellowship held its first service in the Performing Arts Building on the campus of Davidson High School. No long term plan was considered in the beginning. Bro. Fred said, “We will gather each week and see who God brings and what He has in store.” That first year there was no membership, just a place for people who were scattered and needed what Jesus said He came to do in the verse Luke 4:18. It became evident that this was a permanent work and this church would be established in Mobile until Jesus comes back.

Long term planning began for the facilities that would be needed. Property on Sollie Road was purchased. Our Constitution and By-laws were drafted and we officially became a church in January of 2009. On October 13, 2013, six years after God spoke to Bro. Fred, we had the first service in our new building at 2664 Sollie Road. To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Brother Fred was the senior pastor of Luke 4:18 Fellowship until January 2020 when he had a special service to transition the role of senior pastor to David Bullock. David has served at Luke 4:18 Fellowship since July of 2009 first as the youth and young adult pastor, then associate pastor, and now senior pastor. Brother Fred passed away in January 2021.

Our Beliefs

In all of our words and actions individually and as a body of believers, we choose by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit to bring glory to God our Father, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, and the Holy Spirit our Indwelling Comforter. We confess that Jesus Christ is the Head and Lord of Luke 4:18 Fellowship. All that we do, we do under His Headship and Lordship. Our passion is to please Him by being His obedient followers. We confess that Jesus Christ is our life; in Him we live and move and have our being. Without Christ we are nothing; in Christ we are complete. Without Christ we can do nothing; through Christ we can do all things.
  • We confess that through Christ we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Individually and as a church we choose to be filled daily with the Holy Spirit’s mighty work and power.
  • We choose to love God with all our heart and to love each other with the same love that Christ loves us. We choose to be of one heart, one mind, and one Spirit. 
  • We choose to walk in love and unity so the world will know Christ is in us.
  • We choose to live holy lives, to be in the world but not of the world, for our daily lifestyle to honor Jesus Christ; to be Christ-like in every way.
  • We choose to use our spiritual gifts, to take our place in the body of Christ as servants, and to cooperate with Christ in building His church.
  • We choose to be faithful in our service, attendance, and giving so that together we may impact our community and world. We affirm our commitment to share Jesus Christ by word and deed in Mobile, Alabama and around the world.
  • We choose to be a people of prayer crying out to God for His glory, His will, and His kingdom in the earth. We will pray for and encourage each person attending Luke 4:18. We choose to pray for the lost, the body of Christ worldwide and for our sister churches along the Gulf Coast. We will pray for revival personally and worldwide. We will cry out for our nation and its leaders.
  • We will reach out to the poor and needy in all areas of life following the example of our Savior.
  • We will support missions around the world by giving and going. We will support local ministries reaching out to those needing healing and deliverance. We will seek to be personally involved in these caring ministries.
  • We seek to be a Kingdom Church reaching out to Christians in all denominations. We seek to cooperate with other churches that are true to Scripture and the Lordship of Christ.
  • We seek to be a New Testament Church in every way as seen in the book of Acts.
  • We confess that Scripture is our final authority for what we believe and practice. We choose to be governed by God, bound to good tradition but not bound by the tradition of men.
  • We acknowledge that what we are confessing today is impossible apart from daily surrender to Jesus our Lord, living in the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit.
  • We will not rob God of His Glory by exalting man; we will give all glory and honor and praise to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.
  • We anticipate with great hope the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ to call His Bride, the church, home to be with Him forever in glory.
JESUS IS LORD!
Amen