By Margaret McClam Hicks
Eagle Staff Writer
On October 6, 2018, the Greater Highway of Deliverance Ministries in New York will be inducting and elevating Pastor Melvin Cooper to the position of Bishop. The induction service will be at 10 a.m. and the elevation service will follow immediately at 11 a.m. Services will be at World Won for Christ Family Life Ministries, where Cooper is the Senior Pastor. The church is located at 2121 N. Harvard Avenue, in Tulsa, Okla.
About Cooper
Cooper received his ministerial credentials from Aenon Bible College of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World. He also received an honorary doctorate from Fellowship Bible Institute in 2014. He regularly appears on Trinity Broadcast Network as a host and speaker. He loves preaching and teaching the dynamic word of God.
Cooper is a community minded and community driven person. He is a native of Tulsa and started serving the Lord at 10 years of age. He began ministry at age 13 at Monroe Jr. High School, where he formed a prayer club, and held prayer and bible study each morning before school started. He continued this ministry at McLain High School, Cooper is a visionary, avid community developer and leader with a mind focused on bringing positive change to the community.
Cooper began his career in 1994 in the insurance business. He built a team of more than 30 agents in Tulsa, as he traveled the country. Cooper became a regional vice president. Cooper also married in 1994 and answered the call to pastor in October of that year, founding what is now World Won for Christ Family Life Ministries. He began that ministry with about five or six people which included him and his wife, Joyce. The Coopers have one son and one daughter and seven grandchildren.
About The Ministry
Cooper said their first building was in the heart of south Tulsa off 51st and South Memorial on 83rd Street. He said, “We were in the middle of four major ministries, and nobody knew about us, but God gave us favor.” He said they were a couple of miles south from Bishop Carlton Pearson and Higher Dimension, a few miles west from Victory Christian Center and Billy Joe Daugherty, a few miles from Rhema and Kenneth Hagen on the east, and Church on the Move on the north.
When the church grew to about 75 people they acquired about 10 acres of property on 36th Street and Harvard. He said it was just a shell with pigeons and snakes living in it. He said the Lord gave him the know to buildout the building, which they did in three phases, moving in in November of 2001. They lost some members who did not want to come north, however the Lord added to membership. This building is now the future home of World Bible University.
World Won Ministries
Fitting Back In (FBI), a prison reentry ministry, was launched in February of 2006. FBI combines community service with counseling and is designed to help the former prisoners re-enter society after serving time behind bars. At one time FBI boasted 98 percent success rate in keeping ex-offenders from returning to prison. However, because of decreased funding those figures are down. Americor at one time was its largest grantor.
Community Development
Cooper said he always had a desire to do outreach and community development and build in the community. They purchased the old Warehouse Market building at 36 Street N. and Peoria. This building became the new home of World Won for Christ Family Life Ministries.
Cooper is a firm believer that, “If you meet the community’s needs you meet the people’s needs first; we tend to want to meet the spiritual needs first. If you start with the community, you won’t have a problem building a church.”
One of the community projects started by the Coopers is EduRec Youth & Family Fun Center. EduRec combines education and recreation. The center housed in a 53,000 square foot facility, situated on 15 acres of land, located at 5424 N. Madison Avenue.
What was once the home of World Won for Christ Family Life Ministries is now the home of 36th Street Event Center.
World Won also collaborates with Asbury United Methodist Church in community outreach programs.
