Our Story
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On July 2, 1973, the Lord led the late Reverend Wilson to talk with a man who once owned the property where our church stands today. The original asking price for the property was $65,000.00. Because of God’s goodness and mercy, the price went down to $35,000 with a down payment of $5,000.00. At that time the church had no money but along with the Holy Spirit, we began negotiations. The late Reverend Wilson used some personal property and members gave what they could. Then donations began pouring in from everywhere. The community donated labor while the women of True Love sold barbecue dinners nearly every day to help with the costs. An experienced carpenter named Frank Chamberlain, completed the trussells at no charge. Truly God was blessing our church. We were grateful to those who stopped by the work-site. Some helped work while others gave money or prepared food. And still there were others that stopped by to encourage us, whom we appreciated as well.
Our organizer had a vision from the Lord and he moved on that authority. It was a struggle but God’s grace and mercy was – and still is – sufficient. We moved into the edifice during 1975 and although we didn’t have heat or air conditioning, we held service anyway. The membership grew from 75 to well over 400 active members. The church has a seating capacity of 600 and the fellowship center seats 250. The name, True Love, was rightly given because of the LOVE that is shared among us. Now by these things, FAITH, HOPE and CHARITY, LOVE is the greatest. At this time we still have an outstanding membership, which grows every Sunday in the blessed name of Jesus.
Our Pastor & Wife
Rev. Dr. Ronald Charles Hemphill, Jr. & Lady Stephanie Hemphill
Dr. Charles Hemphill, the eldest child born to the union of the late Ronald C. Hemphill, Sr., and Mrs. Elizabeth A. Moten, is a native of Las Vegas, Nevada, and an honor’s graduate of the Clark County School District.
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Dr. Hemphill’s Christian upbringing is very rich. He was first raised in Holiness under his grandmother and first pastor, the late Bishop Emma Yates, the founding pastor of the All Nations Church of Jesus Christ. He was baptized and served as a youth usher under the pastorate of the late Rev. Joseph S. Jefferson, at the Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church. He played the clarinet and alto saxophone for the “Children of the Redeemed” Youth Choir of the Greater New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church. And, he later joined his family in membership and service at the Zion United Methodist Church.
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While attending Morgan State University, he accepted his call to the ordained ministry and was under “Watch Care” at the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, pastored then by the Rev. Dr. Frank M. Reid, III. Dr. Hemphill received his early ministerial training under the pastoral guidance of the late Rev. Willie Davis, then pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Dr. Hemphill went on to earn his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the Morgan State University (Baltimore, MD), his Master of Divinity degree from the Wesley Theological Seminary (Washington, DC), and his Doctor of Ministry degree from the Howard University School of Divinity. He also completed the requirements to become a Certified Professional Life Coach through the Certified Life Coach Institute.
While earning his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees, Dr. Hemphill served as the Senior Pastor of three United Methodist churches, in the Peninsula-Delaware Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church (1993-1999). Upon returning to Las Vegas, Nevada, Dr. Hemphill served as the Founding Pastor of the Imani Cathedral United Methodist Fellowship (1999-2004). On December 12, 2004, the Lord released him from service in the United Methodist Church. Upon his resignation from the Desert Southwest Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, he immediately surrendered his Deacon’s and Elder’s Orders.
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On March 26, 2006, Dr. Hemphill was ordained by the late Rev. Willie Davis, then President of the NV/CA Interstate Missionary Baptist Convention and pastor of the Second Baptist Church. He founded and served the Gethsemane Baptist Church from 2005-2011.
Prior to his election to the Pastorate of the True Love Missionary Baptist Church, Dr. Hemphill served under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Willie Jacobs, Jr. as an Associate Minister and as the Director of Christian Education at True Love.
He also serves as a Chaplain with Omni Care Hospice, a Funeral Officiant with the Palm Mortuaries and their affiliates, and a Chaplain with his beloved fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.
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As a visionary and innovative teacher, Dr. Hemphill has created curriculum and has instructed many well-attended classes independently, as well as for differing Churches, Denominations, Conventions, and Fellowships.
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Dr. Charles Hemphill is a consummate overcomer on Kingdom Assignment to empower the Children of God to become more than conquerors (Romans 8:37) and to rob graves of human greatness for Christ. Ministerially, he strives to be for others what he himself has never had - one who is wholeheartedly vested in their greatness!
Dr. Hemphill is married to Mrs. Stephanie L. Johnson-Hemphill and is the proud father of three sons and one daughter and one son-in-law each impacting the world with their own dynamic footprints.
But most importantly, he is a man on a mission to “work the works of Him that sent him while it is yet day…” (John 9:4).