RLM History
Some details about our history
We are excited about what God has done, is doing, and going to do. Let’s get ready for a great adventure.
A little bit about us
1988 – a small group of Jesus-hungry people began meeting together in the living room of the house of Pastor James and Tish Hickman. The group grew as more Believers began to join the Bible study and worship meetings. It continued to grow, so Pastor Hickman asked God what He wanted him to do.
1989 – Resurrection Life Ministries was officially created.
1989-1990
1992
1996
2003
2004
2005
2005-2022
2021-2022
2022-2025
The church meetings outgrew the spaces where they were being held, so the Branding Iron on Elm St. in Picayune was acquired. The church moved in and continued to grow from there.
As the church continued to grow, they needed to move to a larger facility. The V.F.W. Hall building on Stafford Rd became available, so that became Resurrection Life’s new home.
RLM purchased the land next to the church and began to build. This building would become their home until 2003. They kept the smaller building for Manna Ministries to operate their free medical clinic and food & clothing distribution center from.
The church had grown too large for the congregation, so the search for a temporary space while a new home was being built began. Part of the interior of the Mississippi Mall on Memorial Blvd. was available and fit the current needs of the church. The church met in “The Mall” for a little over a year before needing to move again. During this year, the building on Stafford Rd was being rented by another church who needed a meeting space.
RLM relocated from the Mississippi Mall to a strip mall on Memorial Blvd. that housed the following empty buildings next to each other: Walmart, Payless Shoe Source, Pawn Shop, and Delchamp’s Grocery. Renovations were done with the anticipation that the move would be temporary while construction happened on the property purchased close the I-59 South. Soon after the move, the economy took a nosedive, placing a pause on any fundraising for a new building. The church family continued grow. The result of that growth was the need for more than one Sunday morning service in order to accommodate the people.
Hurricane Katrina impacted the community immensely, causing damage to much of the area. Being the first city across the Louisiana/Mississippi state line, many Louisiana residents sought refuge in Picayune. The need for provisions and hope was great, and Resurrection Life Ministries teamed up with many organizations and churches around the country and opened up the parking lot and the buildings to serve the community. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina brought an indefinite halt to plans of building a permanent home for RLM.
We have thrived in the middle of a shopping center. The Church is not the building that’s just where we the church gather. The current facilities have served us well. Weekly services, concerts, community events, weddings, funerals, conventions, expos, lifegroups, even Wrestling shows that were evangelistic in nature and many more meetings have taken place here. However, “we have been at this mountain long enough.” It is time to move on.
The owner of the current facilities has been more than gracious to us and never went up on our rent in 18 years. We have been blessed and are grateful for the current facilities. But God has spoken, and it is time to move.
The “Quiet Phase” of a new building began in late 2021 and has continued until September 11, 2022, where we unveiled the plans for a new building. In that time, we paid off the 56 acres where we will build our new building. The land is free and clear and ready for construction. A team of 6 people from RLM and an army of architects, engineers, businessmen, contractors, and bankers have met weekly via zoom and the occasional face to face meeting. We have worked on design, budgets, AVL, governmental issues, realty issues, and more to lead us to this point in the process.
Giving Campaign Public Phase – “The horses are out of the gates, and we are off and running.” We as the Church are coming together to see that future generations have a place to call home, continue the legacy that was started in 1989 and be a destination where people come to get help, learn, grow, and find a deep and intimate relationship with God. Construction is estimated to begin in December 2022 and continue to completion in 2024, per S&B Construction our General Contractors.
We are excited about what God has done, is doing, and going to do. Let’s get ready for a great adventure.