ELYRIA — Sunday services, a staple in many churches around the county, have never been a part of the framework of New Life Full Gospel Ministries.

That will change on March 16 — Palm Sunday — when the church plans to open its doors in its newly purchased building for a Sunday service for the first time since its establishment in 1995.

BRUCE BISHOP / CHRONICLE

Wayne Fitzpatrick sits in the chapel of the New Life Full Gospel Ministries new building on Gulf Road in Elyria.

It has been a long wait, guided by faith and not by sight, but well worth it, said Pastor Wayne Fitzpatrick, if it fulfills God’s plan for the church.

The congregation eager to learn theology and read the Bible was content for many years to meet on Fridays in a community hall at Riverside Homes in Elyria.

Fitzpatrick, 51, of Elyria, wasn’t looking to recruit people to start a church or persuade loyal churchgoers to leave their churches, he said.

“Every time someone would even bring up the idea of starting a church, I would say ‘no’,” he said. “The Lord just wasn’t leading me to do it.”

So, Fitzpatrick and the group that now numbers about 50 just waited in their rented room on 17th Street. Weeks turned to years, and 13 years after the New Life Full Gospel Ministries started, the dream of a church home is coming to fruition.

The time is right because as Fitzgerald said, “not only is everything good, but everything looks good.” If he needed any more evidence, he got it when it came time to purchase. That’s when congregants who saved their tithes and offerings presented him with a large sum of the building fund.

“In this world, perception is everything,” he said, “If it doesn’t look good, then the people won’t come. I could have done like so many others and started out in a small storefront, but if this is what God wanted for me, then I was going to have to be patient so it can be done right.”

A storefront the new church is not.

The 15,000-square foot building once owned by Twelve Inc., has been transformed to include a sanctuary that seats 250 and several classrooms and offices.

While a large portion will be used for the church, there is still enough room to lease back to Twelve Inc., a not-for-profit foster care and adoption agency as well as Love, Inc., a nonprofit group formed by 40 area churches to serve the needs of the community.

“Selling the building to the church was right for us because our services are not being needed as much, and for us that a good thing,” said Laurie Irwin Stockle, adoption coordinator. “We are in the kind of business where we want to be put out of work because that means we have done our job helping families.”

Another area has also been renovated to include two of the church’s pet projects that were started long before the church had a home.

Technology is changing the way people live, so naturally Fitzpatrick thought it could change the way people worship. Besides prayer and Bible study, the church also runs an internet radio station and broadcasts a self-produced TV program. Both will be produced in-house at the new facility.

“Churches without technology are like old analog radios and televisions,” Fitzpatrick said. “We knew we needed to reach the world before we had a roof over our heads. God doesn’t work in accordance to common sense. If people know their theology, they know not to ask any questions.”

Born in Cleveland and raised in Elyria, Fitzpatrick said he didn’t get his calling until he was 26. He was living in Houston, Texas with his wife, Linda, when he said something in him told him it was time to stopping just attending church and start studying it.

Still, he said it took 17½ years of  experience before he took up the ministry full time.

“I’m living proof that you should never disregard small beginnings,” he said. “I’m finally where God wants me to be. My family and I couldn’t be happier.”

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