OUR CHURCH
Eastwind UPC is a dynamic Apostolic church located in Lincolnton, North Carolina, about thirty minutes northwest of Charlotte. Eastwind prides itself in being an inclusive congregation centered around God, family and community.
Eastwind has always been and will always be a part of the United Pentecostal Church International, fully supporting the organization's mission of preaching "the Whole Gospel to the Whole World by the Whole Church."
Eastwind is a church of participators, not spectators. Everyone who becomes a member of Eastwind is immediately encouraged to discover their ministry. The church leadership provides training and mentorship to all individuals who desire to be involved.
OUR PASTOR
Pastor Mark Fowler, a native of Lincoln County, graduated from East Lincoln High School in 1987. Before Eastwind’s first service, he had already met Pastor Jimmie Gideon when they were coworkers at the
La-Z-Boy plant in Lincolnton. Pastor Gideon offered him a Home Bible Study and he eagerly accepted. About six weeks into their Bible Study, Pastor Mark felt the need to repent of his sins; that night, he was delivered immediately from his addictions to drugs and alcohol. Pastor Mark was baptized in January 1992 and received the Holy Ghost in May 1992. A few months later, he met Dana Collins, who was attending the First United Pentecostal Church of Gastonia. They married on June 11, 1994. They have since had six children: Mark II, Danielle, Addison, Nathanael, Jeremiah and EmmaLeigh.
Pastor Mark has served in many different capacities over the past two decades, most notably as a Sunday School teacher, the Sunday School Superintendent, Assistant Pastor and Associate Pastor. He became a licensed minister of the United Pentecostal Church International in April 2007. On June 7, 2015, Pastor Mark was elected as the new pastor of Eastwind United Pentecostal Church upon Pastor Gideon’s retirement. It is Pastor Mark’s desire to continue the legacy of Pastor Gideon and to lead the church into a season of revival.
OUR HISTORY
Eastwind UPC was founded by Pastor Jimmie Gideon and his wife, Donna. They were living in Joplin, Missouri, when God called them to start a church in Lincolnton, North Carolina. They moved to NC on September 1, 1990. Exactly one year later, after tireless work and prayer, the Gideons held the first church service on Sunday morning, Spetember 1, 1991, in the basement of their home on Industrial Drive in Lincolnton, NC.
The church continued to grow and, in December 1993, started renting out space beside Al Lane Motorsports. In September 1996, Eastwind UPC bought the convenience store across the street, the location the church occupies still today.