​Open Ministries

ABOUT OPEN MINISTRIES

Founded May 15, 1994 by Pastor Dorice P. Vaughan &
Prophet Angela Thomas-Evans

​

Yesterday...

     Sometimes the hardest step to take is the step of faith!  In 1994, two best friends and partners in ministry, Pastor Dorice Vaughan and Prophet Angela Thomas answered the call to start a church in Albany, NY called Open Ministries.  They left their comfortable lives and jobs in New York City and traveled back to Pastor Vaughan's hometown to begin a great work!  Every step was truly a step of faith.  They did not have a place to live, a church building, or even a congregation; but what they did have was a promise from God and that was more than enough.

 

     Soon after arriving, they held their first service at the Howard Johnson's Inn hotel on Washington Avenue Extension on May 15, 1994 with 22 members (Pastor Vaughan, Prophet Angela, Kimberly Anderson and her sons, Isaiah, Jon, and Nicholas; Shenesa Smith, Joanne & John Thomas and their children, Jason, Chester, & Marshay, Mr. Joseph Lucas, Ms. Matty Croons, Robert and Doris Powell and their children: Tito, Keisha and Izzy; Sandy Stevens and her daughters: Mystique Caldwell, Emonie Banks, & Simone Banks), two mics and a Karaoke. The first message was preached by Pastor Vaughan, "Begin to Encourage Yourself", 1 Thess. 5:18.  Pastor Vaughan told the congregation to "Say out Loud what God says in the Bible about You."   At this first service, the Lord changed the name of the church from Open Door Ministry to Open Ministries.  

 

     Pastor Vaughan and Prophet Angela's vision was to have a church where hurting people could come and be healed, set free, delivered and restored.  They also wanted to teach people how to have a personal relationship with God, how to flow in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, how to worship God in Spirit and Truth, and how to pray. The Lord told them not to pattern themselves after any other church...He was doing a New thing! Soon, people lives were being tremendously transformed and word spread quickly about these services where the power of God was falling every week.  The Lord also blessed them with a beautiful home where they began to hold small Bible Studies. It wasn't long before they were holding classes and training sessions almost every day of the week at overflow capacity in their home and at member's homes. It was time to look for a building.

 

     Taking another step of faith, they were Divinely introduced to Messianic Rabbi Barry Feinman and congregation (Seed of Abraham) which offered to share their space at 40 Russell Road with Open Ministries. This added another dimension to the ministry, as Pastor Vaughan and Prophet Angela began fellowshiping with them, and eventually shared some of the Jewish traditions with Open Ministries.  It was because of this relationship that later Open Ministries would begin holding their weekly worship services on Saturday (the Sabbath).  

 

     At their new location, the church continued to grow and saw an explosion with the youth. It was not unusual to see the youth with their arms upraised worshipping God with tears streaming down their faces, dancing, doing praise and worship, praying for others, prophesying, or acting in plays they helped to write and direct.  We even had youth on the leadership team. After several years of sharing space with the Seed of Abraham, Open Ministries experienced another shift, when the Jewish congregation moved and we began to share space with Pastor David Traynum (Pastor Vaughn's cousin) at New Horizons Christian Center on Catherine Street.  With much needed added space, we were able to move our Bible Study and classes to this location, and we also began our Children's church. We began holding our services on Saturday's at this location, which we still continue to do today.

 

     A few years later, Open Ministries returned to the same building on Russell Road and shared space with Call to Pray Ministries (Apostle Betty Gilmore).  We saw many lives healed and transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit in this location.  It was during this time that members began to find their own callings and stepped out to fulfill their destinies.  Pastor Vaughan and Prophet Angela were proud of the ministries/businesses of their spiritual children:  Youth Unlimited Inc, Daughters of Zion, Expressions of Faith, Queen I Am, Tracy's billing business, VideoTran, Lilliam's Teahouse, Kofi's Textiles, NueCreations, On-Time Gifts, Heavenly Voices by T and others.

 

     During these foundational years, we saw the congregation grow in such a depth of understanding and operating in the prophetic gifts and prophetic worship.  While almost commonplace today, during those years, many churches did not operate prophetically or sing "Songs of the Lord" which was happening at every service at Open Ministries.  There was also a strong teaching ministry with classes being held at member's homes weekly.  Every year at our church anniversary, we awarded certficates of completion to those who completed their courses.  Over the years, we have given hundreds of certificates for classes such as:  the prophetic, engaging the supernatural, praise and worship, ministerial, drama, writing, and many others.

 

​     Although busy co-pastoring a growing congregation, Pastor Vaughan and Prophet Angela found time to counsel leaders and pastors throughout the Capital District, as well as out of state.  They often opened their home to those in need of a refreshing touch from God. Through God's grace, they would nurse their wounded souls back to life.  Everyone knew they could talk with them and it would stay between them and God!  Pastor Vaughan was also gifted with a great ability to love the seemingly unlovable.  She shared the love of God with everyone and could make even the toughest, hardest soul melt under her love.  Prophet Angela ministered under a heavy prophetic mantle that the Lord would use to bring hope, edification and correction to His people.  They were both committed intercessors and would spend hours in prayer daily on behalf of others.

 

     In 1997, Prophet Angela, by Divine orchestration met and fell in love with Prophet Aaron Evans. They were married on September 12, 1998 and moved to Florida where they founded, "Bridge Builders International."  The following year, they proudly welcomed their newborn son, named Josiah. Pastor Vaughan continued the work in Albany and began to mentor her daughter, Kimberly Anderson in the work of the ministry.  In September 2001, after seven years of pioneering a new work for the Lord, Pastor Dorice Vaughan was suddenly called home to be with the Lord.  Not long after, on May 30, 2002 the two best friends were reunited in heaven, as Prophet Angela Thomas-Evans also took her flight home to Glory.

 

     While the church was devastated at the loss of our beloved leaders, God was at work and blessed us with Pastor Kimberly Anderson, the youngest child of Pastor Vaughan to continue the great work.  Under Pastor Kimberly's leadership, the church began to heal from our loss and she guided us to become debt-free.  We also did community outreaches such as feeding the homeless, evangelizing, back-to-school supply give-a-ways, Thanksgiving dinner baskets for the needy, Christmas drives, etc.  In 2006, Pastor Kimberly relocated her family to Atlanta GA to pursue her dream of attaining her college degree and the Lord called His Faithful servant, Pastor Darryl Ford (Pastor Vaughan's youngest son) and his anointed wife, 1st Lady Tracy Ford to take the church to the next dimension of grace.

 

Today...

     Pastor Darryl Ford and 1st Lady Tracy Ford continue the legacy of love and faith that Open Ministries was founded upon, along with their siblings by their side, Alonzo Ford (Tyeisha) and Tanya Ford-Otieno (Thomas).  While the church has weathered through storms, Pastor Darryl's faith is firm and anchored in God.  He is resilient and in great expectancy to see the promises of God come to pass. Under Pastor Darryl's leadership, Open Ministries moved to a beautiful building that we hope to purchase; purchased our 1st piece of property on Third Street, started Abba's Daughters (a Senior Citizen outreach), a Technology Center, a Tutoring Program and Youth Programs.  Pastor Darryl's vision is to impact the community with the Love of Christ. He is also a profound preacher with a deep passion for the Word of God. The church continues to see the Power of God move every week and the healing touch of Jesus restore lives!

 

     It feels like this is only the beginning for we know the Lord has great things in store for Open Ministries and we look forward with eyes of faith to see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit like never before as prophesied in Joel 2.