In 1991, at the invitation of a family member, Patricia Rodgers, a newcomer to the area, went to Green Pastures Christian Ministries and she's been a member ever since.

Rodgers, who had relocated from Richmond, Va., said she was struck by the many things the church had to offer through its various ministries. She also fell in love with the way Pastor Collette Gunby preached the word of God.

This year, Rodgers and the church's 8,000 members who have flocked to the ministry that bases its entire foundation on — and gets its name from — Psalm 23, will celebrate a milestone, the church's 30th anniversary.

Green Pastures' start was humble enough and born out of tragedy. Gunby and her late husband and the church's first pastor, Ronald Earl Gunby, started the ministry with six people in 1976 in their Decatur home.

Gunby said her husband was shot in the back three times in an altercation with a family member and crippled. Bounded to a wheelchair, he began to look for answers to life in the Bible.

For two years he stayed in the back of their Decatur home, studying the Bible, while successfully selling insurance out of his window.

When he emerged he was a changed man and began to preach to his wife, and children — Kelly Thompson-Gunby and Douglas Gunby, who were 7 and 2 at the time.

They were joined in their den by friends, Thomas Smith and his wife, Barbara; husband and wife Bill and Elaine Gilbert. The group lined up chairs like pews and installed audio speakers. Their bookstore was on the kitchen table.

Gunby said they wanted to give God their best, not a "shabby thing."

In 1981, when the church made the first of three moves to worship in a hotel because of growing membership, the Gunbys had ministered to more than 1,000 people in their home. They also started a school that had nine students. Gunby said the young ministry was popular because they were not a "traditional church."

"Back then they were just telling us you need to go to church, but we needed more than that," said Gunby. "Preachers were preaching, but not applying the word to daily life. We never knew things like 3rd John, verse two."

In 1986 when the church began to pursue the purchase of its current location at 5455 Flat Shoals Parkway in Decatur, membership had risen to 700 and the school had 100 students.

Her husband died of renal failure Jan. 17, 1986, and Gunby became the church's senior pastor. Although she said she never thought she would be leading a church, she has done so for the past 20 years.

Today, Green Pastures Academy, which caters to kindergarten to grade 12, enrolls 300 students a year, and the church has outreach ministries that do missionary work in places like Brazil, Russia and Kenya.

Last September, the church opened the 72-unit Green Pastures Commons, an independent living community for seniors on River Road in Decatur. It is also working on a 199 condo project in the West End in Atlanta.

With its growth, the church has spawned about 40 internal ministries that include an athletics ministry, and a knitting and crochet ministry — the church's newest.

Gunby said the plethora of ministries demonstrate to members that church doesn't have be boring or uninteresting.

"We started a lot of ministries to let people know they can have fun in Christ," said Gunby. " God has given us life and you can enjoy life.

The 30th anniversary festivities kicked off on Jan. 15 with Dr. Cindy Trimm of Cindy Trimm Ministries speaking during the church's two Sunday services. On Jan. 29, Pastor Tim Newdon of Teen Challenge of Atlanta was the guest speaker.

The church will continue the yearlong celebration with different events. The celebrations will culminate in September, its Founder's Month, with a big event. The date hasn't yet been set.

In May, the congregation will host a Church and School Reunion over three days. The May 12 to 14 event will feature the return of members of the church and its school, Green Pastures Christian Schools.