Welcome to Forgiving Heart United Church of Christ

Rev. Emily A. Bel came to us from Atlanta, Georgia, where she spent nine years as an associate pastor, working closely with the late Rev. Reid Christensen. Before working with Rev. Christensen, Emily trained under Rev. Alice Jones in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition, she has worked with small groups in McAlester, Oklahoma, Lafayette, Louisiana and Macon, Georgia. Rev. Bel has been working with our church since September, 1995. At that time she served as the liaison between our church and the district. A year later, she became our interim pastor. In the beginning, Rev. Bel commuted from Atlanta every other week. In 1998, she relocated to Columbus and on February 17, 1998, she becamse our permanent pastor.

         As pastor, she works closely with our board of directors and members to equip God's people to bring God's love to others. Since her arrival in Columbus, she has also served in many community organizations. She is a past president of the Chattahoochee Valley PFLAG and was a member of the Columbus Pride Committee for several years. She was instrumental in the founding of the Community Outreach Program, a non-profit social service agency, serving HIV positive individuals and their families.​