Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel, make disciples, and baptize in my name." The gospel is His story. Our story is all about sharing Him to the city we love. Virginia Beach.
New Life Apostolic Church was birthed out of a burden for the hundreds of thousands of lost and broken souls in Virginia Beach. In November of 1968, the founding family, Rev. Harold and Margaret Hulion took a leap of faith and began a church in their garage on Morrison Ave in Virginia Beach. In its beginning days it was known as Emmanuel Tabernacle. After many years of pastoring and establishing a great church with a beautiful complex on Morrison Ave, Pastor Hulion retired from the pastorate and handed the reigns of Emmanuel Tabernacle’s leadership to Rev Bill and Kay Douglas (and their son, Chad) in April of 1985.
Pastor Bill not only grew the church but also pursued his passion in training others to become ministers. During his time as pastor, Pastor Bill trained and licensed 16 ministers – 5 of whom went on to plant other churches, 3 others were elected pastors of established churches, and 3 others still continue to serve on the pastoral team at New Life. Following 22 years of tremendous pastoral leadership, Pastor Bill became the honorary bishop and the lead pastoral role was turned to his son and daughter-in-law, Pastor Chad and Kristen Douglas on February 4, 2007.
In 2007, the church officially changed its name from Emmanuel Tabernacle to New Life Tabernacle. New Life Tabernacle is known as an apostolic church, reflecting its commitment to preach the Apostolic doctrine, to experience Apostolic demonstration, and to live an Apostolic lifestyle. God has used the Douglas family to lead New Life in growth and revival. Pastor Chad believes and teaches on building healthy families and relationships and that a healthy church will grow spiritually, numerically and financially—and New Life certainly has grown in all three areas under his leadership. In July of 2019, after 10 years of worshipping in school facilities, New Life purchased a beautiful new facility on Shipps Corner in the heart of the beautiful city of Virginia Beach. Ensuring that the most exciting part of our story is this: The best is yet to come!
