Nehemiah Ministries opens a new church

First meeting at site held on Mother's Day

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In the Bible, Nehemiah was the cupbearer for the King Artaxerxes of Persia. Hearing of the ruined condition of Jerusalem, he asked Artaxerxes to send him to the city as its governor. Once he was established there, he organized the Jews, rebuilt the city walls and reinstated religious observances.

In Las Vegas, the Rev. Kelcey West borrowed the name for the ministry he established, Nehemiah Ministries Christian Church. Last month the nondenominational church moved from worshipping in his home to a leased location at 3620 Rancho Drive, Suite 112, inside the Rancho Gowan Business Park.

"When we were still setting up the ministry, people told us all the time, 'As soon as you get a place, we'll come,' " he said. "People, for some reason, don't want to go to a person's house to hear you preach."

The first service at the new spot was held on Mother's Day. Fifty-one people attended. The number is considerably higher than the two dozen or so who prayed when congregating at the West home.

"For basically a year, we didn't have a house," he said, referring to his wife, Carmen, and their two young sons, Cameron, 5, and Kyle, 8. "We took our dining room and living room and set them aside as a sanctuary. It's an 1,800-square-foot home but it was awkward. It's two stories, so the rooms were all choppy with angles and all that."

Where the West family home had limited space, the business park location can accommodate up to about 60 people.

Social worker Felicia Tucker, 27, learned about West from a friend. She began seeing him for premarital counseling in January 2006. Then she began attending services.

"A lot of people will tell you things are in the Bible but he could quote a scripture or a word to support it," she said. "It was something I needed for my spiritual growth."

Corrina McKinney, 45, was visiting various churches in her quest to find the right fit when a co-worker told her about Nehemiah. She went to services and ended up joining about four months ago.

McKinney said West and his wife were helping her through a tough time in her personal life.

"They've always been there for me when I needed them," she said. "No matter what time of day, you can call them."

Besides services and Bible study, the church offers an afternoon school program for teenagers whose parents work.

Community outreach programs include feeding the needy. Other uses for the new location include a thrift shop, which provides school clothes for youngsters.

West, 35, has lived in Las Vegas for 17 years. He is a 1996 UNLV graduate with a degree in communications.

He earned his certificate of ordination in 2005 and his certificate of license in 1996 from the Greater Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church.

Prior to studying for the ministry, West wrote and produced plays for The 32nd Street Theatre, which he founded. It now meets at the church.

The youth group has evolved to include trips for high school students to historical black colleges on the East Coast.

West usually escorts 50 or so students each spring. On one trip, he took just over 100 people.

"Our heart's desire has been to follow the example of Nehemiah and work with people from different backgrounds and cultures to help rebuild broken walls in people's lives," said West. "The only way we really know how to help people is through teaching and encouraging them how to help themselves through not only hearing, but doing what the word of God commands us to do."

West said he signed a one-year lease on the facility for a reason. His hopes are that the church will grow so quickly, it will need to find an even larger space.

Nehemiah Ministries holds Sunday morning Bible study from 8:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. and worship service from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

For more information, visit www.nehemiahlv.org or contact West by e-mailing to nehemiahlv@aol.com.