While growing up and being exposed for years to revival-like church and ministry, Freddie and Mary Gaye enjoyed and participated in regular tent revivals hosted by Evangelist Steel.  They also learned their parents' appreciation for such pentecostal / charismatic forerunners such Oral Roberts (he prayed for Freddie on two occasions), Jack Coe, A. A. Allen (he also anointed and prayed for Pastor Freddie), William Branham, and others. 

     That era continues to bear an influence on their ministry today.  Later on, the Steels were influenced by the Charismatic Revival and drew from anointed Bible teachers such as Derek Prince, Jack Hayford, Kenneth Hagin while serving as Youth and Associate Pastors to Reverend Rudell and Audrey Bloomfield in Oak Hill, West Virginia.

     Freddie started his evangelistic ministry as a teenager and has witnessed great moves of the Spirit in his revivals.  Many of Freddie's revivals lasted up to seven weeks in length and were reported by pastors to be some of the most impacting their churches had experienced. 

     The years Freddie and Mary Gaye spent under the ministry of Rudell and Audrey Bloomfield influenced and shaped their present-day ministry greater than any other.  Pastor Bloomfield performed Freddie and Mary Gaye's wedding ceremony and, following their honeymoon, became Youth Pastors at the Mountain View Church of God. 

     Pastor Bloomfield's commitment to hermeneutic excellence as well as his commitment to true Spirit-anointed ministry set a high bar and standard that the Steels would follow from that time onward.  During this same period of ministry and service with the Bloomfields at the Mountain View Church of God, Mrs. Edith Honaker, a gifted Bible scholar and teacher, personally mentored and invested in Freddie and Mary Gaye's life and ministry in profound ways. 
 

     
     In 1984 Freddie and Mary Gaye moved to Charlotte, North Carolina and enrolled in East Coast Bible College, now a part of Lee University of Cleveland, Tennessee.  Shortly after moving to Charlotte, Freddie and Mary Gaye became Youth Pastors at the Eastway Drive Church of God serving under the tremendous and anointed pastoral leadership and preaching ministry of Dr. Bobby G. Ross. 

     Following his ministry at Eastway Drive, Freddie joined the staff of East Coast Bible College, first as Bookkeeper, then as Director of Campus Affairs, and finally as Dean of Men.  Working under the leadership of President Dr. Ron Martin proved to be as valuable a learning experience to Freddie as his academic studies.  Ron and Linda Martin were the finest of leaders, second-to-none, and were great examples of faith, integrity, and servant leadership. 

     Freddie graduated earning a degree in Biblical Studies.  They continued living in Charlotte, North Carolina grateful to be a part of the Central Church of God family sitting under the ministry of Pastor Loran Livingston.     

     The Steels moved back to West Virginia several years later, Mary Gaye continued her education at Appalachian Bible College and Freddie pursued a masters program at the Church of God Theological Seminary in Cleveland, Tennessee.    

     Throughout their ministry, Mary Gaye has touched and blessed thousands through unusually powerful voice, dynamic range, and anointed singing.  All eleven siblings in the Kirk Family are wonderfully gifted with music composition and performance ability, vocal and instrumental.  Their children and their grandchildren have also been given the similar grace.  

     Mary Gaye was blessed to be guest soloist for the first Charlotte Mayor's Prayer Breakfast, at the invitation of the Honourable Sue Myrick (now U. S. Senator Myrick).  Mary Gaye also won the PTL talent contest and was a regular guest at campmeetings, various denominational and ministry leadership and training events, and civic gatherings.  Mary Gaye was also entered in another talent contest by a local radio station and won the contest along with the prize and privilege to sing duet with the fabulous Larnelle Harris in concert.

     Wherever Mary Gaye has served, she set out to establish or enhance the music and choir ministries.  Her choirs have achieved acclaim for the similar unique qualities her personal talen resonates:  quality, power, and anointing.  Her choirs have regulary received invitations that extended beyond their local home church ministry and have also enjoying partnering with the likes of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra.    

     Pastor Freddie and Mary Gaye are the grateful and proud parents of one child, Kaitlind, eighteen and a senior in high school.  Kaitlind has been blessed with the same musical abilities as her mother and her maternal and paternal grandparents.  She works in the youth, drama, and media departments at Life Church and is 'the daughter' to so many of her proud Life Church family. 

     Pastors Freddie and Mary Gaye and Kaitlind invite you to scroll down and enjoy the pictorial montage of their appalachian heritage.

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