About Ray Eppard
About Ray Eppard
Ray Eppard was born on a farm in rural Virginia, an area surrounded by agriculture and corn. This area of the region was known for its hard-working people. Everyone knew everyone and even extended family members all seemed to live in the same neighborhood.
Growing up, Ray had the opportunity to get to know a local businessman who owned the place where he worked. The businessman taught Ray about running a business and handling money. It was an entirely new way of thinking for him, ideas he had never heard of. Ray was able to grasp a better understanding of how people function differently depending on what they are taught.
In 1978, Ray was 17 years old and had just graduated high school. Knowing that God had a call on his life for ministry, Ray decided to move to Oklahoma and attend Rhema Bible Training College. Moving 1500 miles away from his small town in Virginia to Broken Arrow Oklahoma was a big feat.
When he got to Oklahoma, someone set him up in a farmhouse ten miles from the school, but without a car and no public transit system available, Ray had no other way to get to school except to walk. He woke up early so he could walk the ten miles to town. Luckily, this was short-lived, as someone lent him a car for the school year.
Ray Eppard at Victory Worship Center & World Outreach
After graduating from Rhema Bible Training College in 1979, Ray returned to his hometown in Elkton, Virginia, where he worked again for his mentor as well as volunteering at Faith Alive Fellowship, a local ministry. In 1983, Ray felt impressed from the Lord instructing him to plant a church a few miles down the road in Staunton, Virginia
From 1983 to now, Ray Eppard has been pastoring Victory Worship Center & World Outreach. As a non-denominational church, it is dedicated to teaching practical application of the truth from the Word of God unbiasedly. The church started humbly in a small storefront and has grown today to be one of the larger churches in the area and providing many local outreaches to the surrounding communities.
Ray noticed how, although churches are meant to be a place of inclusion and freedom, most churches are still segregated in race and exclude women from leadership roles. From the beginning, Victory Worship Center & World Outreach was designed to provide equal opportunity and inclusivity to anyone willing to do the hard work, regardless of race or gender.
The emphasis of the church was and is to be an avenue used to impact and bless the local community. The church has provided classes on finances and government for the community. It has also provided a local sports program and tutoring program for the youth in the area.
The vision of the church expanded to provide global outreach. The church is currently engaged in the beginning stages of developing job opportunities in Haiti to serve the locals there.
In 2019, Victory Worship Center & World Outreach had its first church plant in Summerville, South Carolina.
Ray Eppard’s Engagement and Politics
Ray never wanted to be in politics. He knew that many people entered politics with good intentions but were then corrupted by a corrupted system. Living in Virginia, a state with a diverse political spectrum, Ray had friends on both sides of the aisle. While most of the cities in Virginia leaned Democrat, the counties tended to be Republican.
After the 2016 election, the division in America became more prominent. Ray looked for a way he could enact unity and trust between the people of the community and of the country again by breaking down barriers between political parties and ethnic groups.
Today, Ray is teaching people how to implement principles or rules into their everyday life, family, and community. His simple and easy teaching style has not only appealed to his church congregation but also his local listeners and readers.
Ray has a radio broadcast on local station 1240 AM. He also teaches a weekly class to those in the community. His website provides articles, applications, and teaching on how you can play your role in shaping America’s future.
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