Amos Crews is passionate about two things: sharing the love of Christ and the performing arts. As pastor of Pillar of Hope Christian Church (POHCC) in Tarrant, Alabama, he and his church focus on finding ways to combine his two passions to serve his community.
“We’re all about service,” Crews said. “We see you through God’s eyes, not our own.”

Currently, Pastor Crews and Pillar of Hope Christian Church are working to serve their neighbors by growing and sustaining the Youth Performing Arts Initiative that they founded a few years ago. The Initiative’s purpose is to provide economically disadvantaged children with ways to experience music and to have a creative outlet. They offer ballet classes and a community choir opportunity for participants. They are also working to add group piano lesson offerings, and in the long term, they hope to launch orchestra and theater programs.
“The arts expand horizons. If you learn music, it improves your math scores and your reading comprehension,” said Crews. “There is something about the soul that is reached with music. Music allows you to soar. Kids can feel confident. They’re not being judged on performance; they’re part of a group, part of a team.”

The Youth Performing Arts Initiative is just one way that Pillar of Hope Christian Church aims to serve their community. Pastor Crews said that one hundred percent of the church’s members are involved in some area of service, and that their willingness to serve is his favorite thing about the congregation. Service is at the forefront of the church’s mission; in fact, one of the first things they did as a newly formed church body was to start a food pantry to help feed the hungry in their community.

“Most of the people in this community have no electricity and no running water,” said Crews. “They’re either squatters, homeless, or severely below the poverty level.”

Several years ago, when he was in the process of finding a new church building for his congregation, Pastor Crews went to visit their current church property. At first, he was opposed to buying it, due to concerns about the area in which it was located. His mind was changed, though, by a man he met while there, who referred to the neighborhood as ‘the community that God forgot.’

“That’s when I had a change of heart,” said Crews. “I said, ‘This is the place. Right here.’ And I had a vision, a huge vision, of a church that’s about being the church and not just having church. It’s what we do Monday through Saturday that counts.”

Pastor Crews and Pillar of Hope Christian Church are passionate about helping the youth in their community have the chance to participate in quality artistic activities, regardless of their financial situations. They do not want economic challenges to stand in the way of young people experiencing the benefits that music has to offer.

The next goal that Pillar of Hope Community Church has for The Initiative is to offer free group piano lessons. Currently, they are seeking the funds to hire a piano teacher for the classes, pianos or electric keyboards, and lesson curriculum materials.

“The arts in poor schools is gone. Tarrant Middle does not have a choir,” he said. “[The Youth Performing Arts Initiative] is not trying to have the biggest, best program. That means nothing to me. I just wanted to start a community choir to get children interested in singing.”

The Pillar of Hope Christian Church has a vision to develop a Community Youth Performing Arts Initiative encouraging the underserved children of our community to engage in music, dance, technology, costume and set design, and faith to change the trajectories of their lives.  This will be accomplished through partnerships between Pillar of Hope Christian Church, our Community Development Corporation, and community partners such as Samford University.  To learn more about the Pillar of Hope Youth Performing Arts Initiative, and how you can partner with this community, contact pillarofhopechristianchurch@gmail.com.

The Samford Center for Worship and the Arts, The Center for Congregational Resources, and The Samford Office of Community Engagement are pleased to partner with Pillar of Hope Youth Performing Arts Initiative through providing resources and the coordination of Community Cadres and other touchpoints with Samford’s student population.

Rev. Amos L. Crews Jr. was born in Marion, Perry County, Alabama, in 1958 and was raised in Birmingham. He attended A.H. Parker High School before pursuing his education at Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN. Pastor Crews has been happily married to his wife, Mrs. Sharon Sanders-Crews of Selma, Alabama, for 30 years. They have four sons: Joshua, Brandon, and twins Clayton and Clinton, as well as six grandchildren. In 1994, after feeling called to the ministry, he was licensed at Harmony Street Missionary Baptist Church. Serving as Youth Pastor until 2000, he was then appointed as Pastor at South Park Baptist Church, where he remained until 2002 when he felt led to establish a new church. In 2002, Rev. Crews, along with 14 followers, initiated Christ First Community Church in the basement of his home, driven by his vision of a Christ-centered church. He now pastors Pillar of Hope Community Church in Tarrant, Alabama.

Libby Criswell is a recent School of the Arts graduate of Samford University. She grew up in LaGrange, Georgia, where she first discovered a passion for worship that she has pursued throughout her college experience. In her time at Samford, Libby served as a Student Resident at Samford’s Center for Worship and the Arts, a worship leader for Samford’s Women-Led Worship series, a cellist in the Samford Orchestra, a vocalist in the Samford A Cappella Choir, and a guest conductor for both ensembles. Libby is currently pursuing her Masters in Conducting at the University of Kentucky.