Approximately 200 people attended an Installation Service for Pastor Walter Ragland of Appleton Pentecostal Assembly in Menasha, Wisconsin.
In 2016, Pastor Ragland, took the direction of his spiritual mentor, Bishop Eugene S. Johnson of Madison Pentecostal Assembly in Madison, Wisconsin, to start a new church in Menasha, Wisconsin.
Appleton Pentecostal Assembly began holding its services in November 2016 in a rented space in Appleton, Wisconsin (thus the name Appleton Pentecostal Assembly).
A short time later, the church purchased and moved to its current home in Menasha, where it currently holds two weekly services for an average of 80 regular attendees.
The installation attracted noted leaders from the Pentecostal Assemblies World Leaders including Bishop Richard Howell from Minneapolis, Minnesota, leaders from Tomah, Wisconsin, and Pastor Darren Price of Beloit, Wisconsin along with congregants, friends, and family from as far as the east coast.
In a telephone interview, Bishop Johnson said that it was time to install Pastor Ragland. “You don’t give a person a title so that they can become the person with that title,” said Bishop Johnson. “Pastor Ragland has exemplified leadership and is a self-starter, a builder of people, and a builder of an institution.”
Bishop Johnson explained that the Installation Service is when the pastor takes a vow to serve the people, and where the people accept him as their pastor and promise to support him and the congregation.
“This is only the beginning,” said Pastor Ragland. “Now the real work that I have been called to do begins.”
Appleton Pentecostal Assembly is located at 1100 London St, Menasha, WI for more information, visit the church’s Facebook page.
