User:FirstLoveCentre/sandbox

Introduction
The First Love Church is a charismatic Church founded by Bishop Dag Heward-Mills. The church began in 2012, and has branches in 39 countries across the globe. The headquarters of the church, the First Love Centre, is located in East Legon, Accra Ghana. First Love Church is one of the largest churches in Ghana and is well known for its emphasis on evangelism and reaching out with gospel to the youth on Ghana in university campuses as well as schools.

History
The First Love Church began its meetings on the University of Ghana, Legon campus, in 2012 with a small group of students. The church was born when its founder Bishop Dag Heward-Mills received a message from the Lord while he was on an evangelistic campaign to go back to his first love of pastoring the flock of God. In obedience to the Lord, Bishop Heward-Mills left his mega church, the Lighthouse Chapel International, Qodesh, in the hands of his able assistants, and started the First Love Church on the University of Ghana Legon Campus with university students. The church had no building at the time, and used to hold services in the Commonwealth Hall and the Central Cafeteria of the university on Sundays. In no time, the church grew to a great number, comprising largely of students and young people. By 2016, The First Love Church had completed a large, ultra-modern auditorium in East Legon, Ghana, and moved its services there. This building, known as the First Love Center stands as the global headquarters of the church. In January 2021, the United Organization of First Love Churches in 190 Nations (UO-FLC190) was launched as a sister organization to the UDOLGC at a ceremony on the Anagkazo Bible and Ministry Training Center Campus in Mampong.

The First Love Church is concerned with planting many more branches and now stands as one of the fastest-growing churches in the world. The current vision of the church is to develop a strong presence in 190 nations, spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world with a vision of reaching 100 million souls.

Leadership
The organogram of the First Love Church begins with the founder, Bishop Dag Heward-Mills. Bishop Dag Heward-Mills has pastored the First Love Church from its inception to date. In addition to pastoring the church, he is also a best-selling author of many books translated into 53 languages with 30 million books printed and published to date. He also holds large evangelistic crusades all over Africa dubbed the Healing Jesus Campaigns.

The Founder is assisted by 40 Bishops who oversee the various geographical areas in which the church is present. Working alongside the Bishops are the apostles of the church, sent out to start and oversee the regions and branches, and pastor the flock of God.

Membership
The church currently has a membership of over 60,000 in 47 countries. The First Love Church is filled with many young and energetic people full of first love for the Lord. Branches are started in both rural and urban towns, with special attention given to young people in high schools, university campuses, and communities across the globe.

Missions & Outreach
The focus of the First Love Church is soul-winning. First Lovers worldwide believe that soul-winning is the heartbeat of God. Thus, members are encouraged to become soul winners, and carry the message of salvation to the ends of the earth. They are trained to preach the gospel to their family, friends and the world at large. Every week, First Lovers go on outreaches, preaching the gospel of Jesus wherever they are. The church engages in various soul-winning activities like dance outreaches, salvation carnivals, musical concerts, Flolly-wood drama productions, online crusades, and many more. Church members with a desire for missionary work are trained at the prestigious Anagkazo Bible Ministry and Training Centre, built to train people to become missionaries and start churches, winning the lost to Jesus. As a church, First Love is an active partner of the Healing Jesus Campaigns, and encourages its members to support the evangelistic ministry of Bishop Dag Heward-Mills. There are many other outreach and humanitarian programs that the church is involved in. Notable among these are the feeding of prisoners in Ghana at Christmas time. The First Love Church also partners with St Kathryn’s Hospital (formerly known as Help The Helpless Charity), and the Charismatic Evangelistic Ministries of Ghana to organise an outreach programme for the disadvantaged in society called ‘A Day of Help.’

Conferences
The First Love Church holds camp meetings for its members to equip them with the knowledge that they need to grow spiritually and take new territories in the ministry. Camp meetings are an important time of the ministry of the word, prayer, and fellowship in the church, and are held across the globe. The largest of these camp meetings is the Mountain of the Lord (MOTL) Camp, held at the prestigious Anagkazo Bible and Ministry Training Centre in Akuapem Mampong, Ghana. The Mountain of the Lord Camp is a highly anticipated homecoming event for all members of the First Love Church. Attendance at the conference averages 5000 delegates, with participating delegates from every continent except Antarctica. Messages from camp meetings are made available online after the physical meetings to enable repeated listening of camp messages.

Ministries
The First Love Church runs several different ministries which serve as avenues for each member to serve the Lord in some capacity, using their God-given abilities. The ministries also give members the opportunity to develop and try something new. These ministries include the Greater Love Gospel Choir, Fragrance, Dancing Stars, Ushers, Airport Stars, Film Stars, Culinary Stars, Still Photography, Security Team, Media Team, and Understanding Campaign. The ministries are also an important way of promoting fellowship among members with similar interests.

The First Love Center
The global headquarters of the church christened the First Love Center, opened in 2016. The centre is the venue of Prophetic Encounter Services, Rising Stars Services, and Gospel Encounter Services, as well as other meetings throughout the week. During the Covid-19 pandemic, services were moved online and the start of the FLOW Prayer meetings which sees thousands of members gathering online to pray on Tuesdays and Fridays each and every week. In addition to the main auditorium, the First Love Center possesses an office complex, three vibrant children’s churches, a Baptism Area where water baptisms are conducted, a snacking area, two wedding chapels, and two car parks. The Resident Pastor of the church is Bishop Joshua D. Heward-Mills who is the son of the founder Bishop Dag Heward-Mills. Special Swollen Sunday services, with attendance going as high as 27,000 have been hosted at the center. In addition, indoor outreaches including concerts, stage plays, and dance competitions have been held at the center, in line with the soul-winning philosophy of the church. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Center’s original infrastructure was expanded and an extensive building project was undertaken. As a result of the project, the venue’s seating capacity was increased, the length and width of the stage were also increased and also an upstairs balcony was created with additional seating. As of June 2020, the newly renovated Center opened its doors fully to welcome members and the Church also moved to opening its doors for 4 services held each and every weekend.

Beliefs
The First Love Church is a Bible-believing church that bases its practices on the Word of God. The church believes in missions, evangelism, discipleship, Holy Spirit baptism, water baptism, the taking of the Holy Communion, the institution of marriage, and in having a personal relationship with the Lord. The practice of these spiritual principles has led to remarkable growth in the personal lives of church members, as seen in the testimonies given Sunday after Sunday. The purpose of the church is to provide a solid foundation of Bible-based instructions, equipping its members to preach and teach the Gospel, while abiding by the laws of the country where the church is located. A primary aim of First Love Church is to build and establish many churches to make a substantial contribution to the overall organisation’s worldwide vision of having 25,000 churches. Another primary belief of the church is to strive relentlessly for the advancement of the churches and the Gospel to be taken to every nation by faithful Christians who work for God.

First Love Music
First Love Music was established in an effort to spread the gospel through songs, and to promote spiritual music. First Love Music is available on Apple Music, Spotify and the First Love Center YouTube Channel, as well as other major music streaming platforms. There is also a dedicated site with instrumentals and lyrics of every First Love Music song to make it easier for members to minister and sing the songs which carry powerful and edifying messages and Bible-based lyrics, making it easier for listeners to be exposed to Bible verses. First Love Music is especially popular due to the combination of existing well-known melodies with original lyrics that spread a clear and bold Christian message. A collection of almost 100 songs have been written by Bishop Dag Heward-Mills and are sung by a host of gifted singers in the church. There are now a host of engaging and high-quality music videos to accompany the songs which can be found on the Church’s [[YouTube Channel]]. During the Covid-19 pandemic, choir members around the world translated the songs into their own languages, taking the songs to a wider audience.