Pastor William Burnham and his wife moved to Covington 12 years ago, but it wasn’t until two and a half years ago that God laid on their hearts the potential of starting a ministry, and it wasn’t until Feb. 14 of this year that the ministry arrived in Covington.

When he received this calling, Burnham was the pastor for a church in Decatur. He had been there for 12 years, but the timing just wasn’t right to make his move.

"After all the preparation work (for the new ministry), God told us to hold off," Burham pointed out.

He said it was around Thanksgiving of last year when people started asking about the new ministry, "and we felt God was telling us it was the right time."

The pastor asked about 20 people to attend a come-and-see meeting. Those in attendance signed a paper saying they were committed and wanted to move forward with what was to be called Point of Grace Ministries.

"The cross is the point of grace," Burnham said. "As people of grace we’re nonjudgmental and accepting as God. We call sin sin but don’t judge; we just hate sin. Every one of us comes through the cross."

With so much force behind it, worship meetings started that next week at 2 p.m. in the pastor’s in-law suite behind his house.

"The transition (of leaving his church to start the new ministry) was pretty easy," he said. "It appeared to be God’s timing and place. (It) went pretty smoothly."

He explained how people pulled together, were just open and shared fantastic testimonies.

However, it wasn’t long before the group began to outgrow their venue, which lead them to Covington in the old H2O Building on Elm Street.

"We prayed about a new place for about three to four weeks and were blessed with that," Burnham said.

Point of Grace has approximately 30 to 40 followers, with about 22 more in the youth group.

Burnham said he would like for his ministry to grow in Covington, and he wishes to eventually purchase a property further into the "hub" of the city that will be Point of Grace’s permanent home.

Point of Grace Ministries is a non-denominationally affiliated spirit-filled church plant with a mission to empower people to become transformed followers of Jesus Christ by connecting them with God, others and the world they live in.

According to Burnham, their motto is "we are a people grounded in God’s truth, growing together in grace."

Point of Grace welcomes families to worship and fellowship every Sunday at 2 p.m. and Wednesday at 7 p.m. at 2171 Elm Street, Covington. For more information, call (770) 354-2634.