She was searching for a new church home, when she realized that God wanted her to go in another direction.

"I felt a leading from the Lord," she said. "I was looking for a church and realized God had this call on my life." So in March 1996, she gathered together her immediate family and her longtime friend Jackie Dye, and started her own church.

The first meetings of El Elyon — which means "the God most high" — were held in the basement of her Emerald Estates subdivision home in Decatur. For six months, they met in a 12- by 13-foot room that once belonged to her daughter Bridgett, before moving to the subdivision's clubhouse and later to Executive Square in Decatur.

As the church marks its ninth anniversary this month, its small band of 20 or so members have a 400-seat sanctuary inside the Lions of Judah Conference Center, a former Stone Mountain movie theatre that now houses 12 separate churches. Grier says no special celebrations are planned for this anniversary, but it will be noted in their regular 9 a.m. Sunday service.

Even though the church is small in numbers, it is not limited by its size. It touts itself in advertising as "a church where developing and maintaining an intimate relationship with God is encouraged."

Although the membership has not increased tremendously over the last nine years, Grier said she is not concerned about the numbers.

"I don't think God is concerned about how many report to a particular sanctuary," she said. "We just want to save souls."

Her scripture-based ministry focuses on outreach. Every other Saturday, members hold a noon service at the Capitol Avenue Retirement Center in Atlanta and they all witness to anyone who will listen.

"It's a mandate," Grier said. "Everybody approaches people and witnesses."

Dye, who travels from Riverdale for services, says the church's doors are open to everyone.

"We have people in here who have been drug addicts, alcoholics and in the street," Dye said. "Now they are teaching and know the word. We started our word study with Genesis 1:1 three years ago. Now we are up to Psalms."

Grier professes the vision for her ministry to be a simple one.

"We want to win the lost to Christ," she said.

Last month, church members held a "Conflict Resolution in the Church and Workplace" symposium and all members have participated in the "Glorifying God in our Bodies" seminar, which Grier originated at Green Pastures.

In addition to the Power of God Church, Grier was an avid member of Green Pastures Christian Ministries for 11 years. But ministry is not her only calling.

She is a career banker who started out 28 years ago as a bank teller at Bank of America. Today, she is a senior manager at RBC Centura Bank and a full-time student, studying business administration at the Dunwoody campus of the University of Phoenix.

The church has been in its new sanctuary since the first Sunday in November and their newest member is Grier's three-month-old grandson, Brandon Michael.

El Elyon is in Suite D at the Lions of Judah Conference Center, 6202 Memorial Drive. For more information, call 404-216-5219.