Mother's Day brings People's Church full circle

Who launches a new church on Mother's Day?

The Rev. Herbert Cooper laughed as he asked that question because he knows the answer.

He and his wife Tiffany started People's Church 20 years ago on Mother's Day.

This Mother's Day will bring the couple full circle as they look forward to hosting the church's 20th anniversary worship service. The anniversary service is set for May 8 at the church's main location at 800 E Britton Road.

Cooper said Chandler Moore, a recording artist and singer/songwriter with Maverick City Music, will be a special guest. The minister said he and church members were particularly excited about Moore's visit because Maverick City recently won a Grammy Award for Best Christian Contemporary Worship Album for "Old Church Basement." In all, the group was nominated for four Grammy Awards.

Cooper, a Wewoka native, said he knows many metro-area residents probably know People's Church as the church that started by hosting worship services in the AMC Quail Springs Theatre, 2501 W Memorial Road. Sixty-five people attended that first service in the theatre at Quail Springs Mall.

"It's kind of funny to look back," he said.

"That first service, I had on a jacket that was too big. It smelled like popcorn and we had playpens in the theatre for children's church. I remember having to go in and clean up popcorn because it didn't all get cleaned up."

Cooper said he helped to get everything set up in that first location.

"I was on the set up team, the clean up team and I was in the parking lot because there were just a handful of us to start the church," he said. "I was out there greeting people in the parking lot and then people were shocked — they were saying 'that's the preacher that was in the parking lot.'"

Things have changed over the last two decades.

Cooper said People's Church now draws an estimated 6,000 people for in-person weekly weekend services, plus thousands more online. He said he knows some people haven't returned to in-person worship service and activities, but more and more people are rejoining the in-person gatherings.

"We're not quite back to our pre-COVID numbers but we had more than 12,000 on Easter, so we're coming back," he said.

People's Church has grown so much that the ministry felt compelled over the years to open several satellite churches, including one at 8512 Northwest Expressway, a Midwest City location at 351 N Depot, and one in Indianapolis, Indiana. Cooper said he and his congregation are particularly proud of the satellite at the Mabel Bassett Correctional Facility in McLoud. The church also has an online component called Church Online.

People's Church's newest satellite is on the horizon, with the purchase earlier this year of property at 525 NW 164. Cooper said the freestanding satellite will be known as the Edmond campus. Groundbreaking is planned for 2023.

Cooper said among the changes over 20 years were the welcome additions of his four children. He said he and his wife didn't have any children when they started the church and now they have a quartet of teenagers, with the oldest set to graduate in a few days.

"My kids beat me and Tiffany to church on Sunday," he said, laughing. "That really blesses my heart to see our kids love Christ."

The minister said he's grateful for other blessings that the Lord has bestowed on his family and ministry as well, especially the church's growth.

"I've got a church larger than the city I grew up in — look at God," he said.

He said he thinks People's Church continues to draw individuals and families for several reasons.

The preacher said he and his church members try to make people feel comfortable no matter what stage of life they are in.

"We really work hard to create an environment where it's OK not to be OK," he said.

Cooper said the church's diversity also attracts many people.

"Twenty years in and we're just getting started. The best is yet to come."

People's Church 20th Anniversary

When: May 8.

Where: Live at People's Church, 800 E Britton Road; live-streamed to all Oklahoma locations and People's Church Online at https://peoples.church/YouTube.

Information: https://peoples.church/.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Grammy winner to visit People's Church, which is celebrating 20 years