HISTORY  

Just As You Are (JAYA) Church began in prayer with four people and the first service was held on January 14, 2018.  The Lord had begun leading Pastor Leland “Lee” Close to start a church before Thanksgiving 2017.  The Lord showed the Pastor the current church building, which had previously housed other churches, and it was available for lease at the time it was needed.  God showed the Pastor in a Bible study that he was to call it “Just As You Are” Church, meaning that we are not to judge people.  The Lord wants to welcome everyone to come to Him just as they are, in whatever situation they are in, and however they are dressed, because He loves us all just as we are. 

WHAT WE BELIEVE

We believe in Jesus Christ; that He is truly the Son of Almighty God, that He came in the flesh as a man to live on the earth (1 John 4:2-3) yet was without sin, that He was crucified and bore our sins on the cross, was raised from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), that He lives today, and by His stripes (wounds) we are healed (1 Peter 2:24) from all diseases.  The result of our believing in Jesus is victory over sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:56-57), and the reward is eternal life (John 3:16).

We believe that eternal salvation is a gift of God through our belief in Jesus.  We believe that sinful man obtains salvation by Christ’s love and grace through faith in Him and by the shed blood of Jesus on the cross, and that salvation is not the result of people doing good works (Ephesians 2:8).  We believe that to be saved we must believe in our hearts in the Lord Jesus, and confess with our mouths that He was raised from the dead (Romans 10:9-10).

We believe in a literal heaven and a literal hell.  Heaven is where the throne room of God is, with His angels, and Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father.  Heaven is where believers in Jesus will go to be with Him eternally after death (Matthew 5:12).  Hell is where unbelievers and those who reject Christ are destined to burn in the lake of fire together with the devil, i.e. satan, and his fallen angels, forever separated from God (Matthew 10:28).

We believe in water baptism as Jesus himself was baptized by John, and as Jesus commanded His followers (Matthew 28.19-20 & Mark 16.16).

We believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11), as evidenced in believers who are filled with the Spirit by speaking in other tongues (Acts 2:4).

We believe that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

We believe in the absolute Truth of the Holy Bible, and that the Old Testament and New Testament were written by Godly men inspired by the Holy Spirit; that they comprise together the true written Word of God, and contain the Lord’s complete plan of salvation, and every instruction for living (2 Timothy 3:15-17) by all people everywhere, for all time.

Leadership

Pastor Leland Close and his wife, Carol, have been married since 1976 and have three grown children and nine grandchildren, all of whom live out of state. The Closes live on their farm in beautiful Coolville, Ohio.  Pastor Lee is a U.S. Army veteran, having served honorably for three years stationed in Germany from 1972-75.  Just before leaving the service in 1975, he gave his heart to the Lord where he was overseas in Heath, England.  After he got saved close to five decades ago, Pastor Lee sought the Lord and studied the Word carefully, and as a licensed layman minister preached in many churches as a guest speaker dozens of times over the years.  He was later ordained as a minister of the gospel under The Fellowship Network ministry (thefellowshipnetwork.net) of Irving, Texas in 1995.  Prior to pastoring Just As You Are Church, he also served in church leadership for many years as an elder and assistant pastor.  Pastor Lee worked for UPS for 18 years, after which he formed his own commercial cleaning business, JC & MS, LLC, which has grown and is still going strong after 22 years. As a bivocational pastor, Pastor Lee stays plenty busy between pastoring the church and running his own company.

MISSION/PURPOSE 

We are here at Just As You Are Church:

First, to preach the gospel to the lost, and win souls for Jesus;

Secondly, to train people in the Word of God to be overcomers, and to be soul winners as well;

Thirdly, to see people healed of all sickness, and we believe that God loves and heals people today, no matter what ails them!

MUSIC/WORSHIP STYLE  

The purpose of our worship at Just As You Are Church is to give glory to God, not so we can just have a “feel good” experience.  We want to usher in and enter into His presence, and give God the freedom to have His way in His house and in His worship time.  The result is that our worship music varies as the Holy Spirit leads, from scripture verse choruses, to contemporary praise and worship, to traditional hymns, to beautiful, peaceful melodies and instrumentals.  To worship God in Spirit and in Truth is our goal as we lift Him up in praise (John 4:23-24).

CHURCH ORGANIZATION  

Just As You Are Church is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with a written constitution and bylaws, and all gifts and donations should be fully tax-deductible under IRS rules.  Pastor Leland and Carol Close lead the church and have full authority over its activities.

OUTREACH/MISSIONS 

Our primary outreach is to our local community, striving to serve the Belpre, Ohio and surrounding Ohio River Valley area with the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ.  We also run a church Food Pantry for those in need, and support the late David Wilkerson’s World Challenge ministry, and Tim Craft’s High on Hope Ministries.