JED DOUGLAS

Jed and Nancy came to Asheville from their native Louisiana, along with their two young children, Shekinah and Levi, in 1989, for the purpose of starting a church.  In June 2014, they celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of The Church at Asheville, and what a journey that has been!  In 2015, Pastor Douglas became Senior Founding Pastor, his daughter Shekinah was raised to Pastor of the Church at Asheville.

In the process of growing this church, the Lord has brought such a cross-section of Ashevillian culture, and molded them into a very loving church family, ethnically, economically, and experientially diverse.  Coming from various backgrounds, some were Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Presbyterian, Jehovah’s Witness, Church of God, Church of Christ, Church of God in Christ, Pentecostal, AME Zion, Assemblies of God, Mennonite, and heathen, (and some were just confused).  As Peter wrote in his first epistle: “But ye are…a peculiar people…which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God…” (I Peter 2:9-10).

Jed has a B.A. in Psychology with graduate study in Marriage and Family Counseling.  Nancy is a nurse by profession.  Having said that, none of that matters.  All of our understanding of the human mind and body can just get in the way of God doing such awesome things in people’s lives.  If there is one thing that Jed has learned, it is that God can do more in someone’s life in ten minutes than we can in ten lifetimes.  That’s what Paul was saying in  I Corinthians 2:4-5: “…my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

There is a void in the heart of humanity in the shape of God.  People try to fill that void with all kinds of stuff to make them feel whole, but only God fills it completely.  In writing to the Church at Colosse, Paul said, “…ye are complete in him (Jesus), which is the head of all principality and power…”(Colossians 2:10) When people seriously desire that completion, they are not interested in religion, but rather in an experience with God.  They want something real, something that works, something that will change their lives, their circumstances, their future.

On August 13, 2023 Pastor Jed finished his race and gained his reward.  The last couple years of his life he struggled with his health and was diagnosed with cancer in September 2022.  We feel like we lost him way too soon but we know that his days were ordained by God and we trust in God's plan.  Jed was a man of God that loved people.  Jed and Nancy began a work of love here in Asheville that has grown deep roots and impacted so many.  We are excited to see the continuing effect of this foundation of love ripple outward like the waves of the ocean!