Living by Faith

Garry Stone's life story is what he calls a tale of "rags to riches to rags to His glory." 

The 48-year-old pastor of  in Canton was born in Gwinnett County but grew up in Forsyth. Until he was 6, he lived with his grandmother in a three-room house that had no indoor bathroom and a water supply that was borrowed from a neighbor. A wood stove provided heat, and his grandmother had to warm water on the stove for his bath.

Aside from a few visits with his grandmother, Stone wasn't raised in the church. But he does recall an early experience with the Holy Spirit that he didn't fully understand until he became a Christian.    

"I remember playing with my trucks and things, building roads in my grandmother's garden, and a voice was talking to me explaining life," Stone said. "Once I was born again, I realized it was God teaching me because I didn't have a daddy. He basically taught me what life principles I needed to apply as an adult."

Those first six years with his grandmother were stable ones. But when he went to live with his mother and an abusive stepfather, Stone said the "nomad life" began.

He changed schools 32 times before graduating from . A lot of the moves were the result of his mom and stepdad separating and getting back together. Also, his stepfather worked in construction, and the family moved for job reasons.

"We were very poor," Stone said. "It was a very abusive, dysfunctional family."

Despite his transient childhood, he graduated at 17 and entered Southern Polytechnic State University. He graduated four years later and returned for a master's in construction science.

He was successful in school and business. At the age of 20, he said he became the youngest person to earn the Master Plumber Class II unrestricted license in Georgia. His success in the construction industry made him a millionaire.  

Around the same time, Stone felt God leading him to ministry.

"A compassion came over me when it happened to me," he said. "I walked around for two weeks crying. My heart was so burdened for people that I was overwhelmed. I could think about orphans in Africa and cry."

While Stone continued to work in construction, he became an evangelist and developed a healing ministry. He prayed and witnessed miracles. The credit began to shift from God to the evangelist.

"I allowed the world to puff me up a little bit and I didn't realize it was happening," he said.

It was, he said, a real-life example of scripture's admonition in Proverbs 16:18 that pride goeth before a fall.

Stone became involved in drugs and lost his business as well as his ministry. At his lowest point, he said he heard the Holy Spirit speak to him again.

"I was in a mess," he said. "The Holy Spirit whispered in my ear, 'If you don't make things right today, you'll die.' I began to pray and 6½ hours later I had repented of all my sins.

"I had been strung out on meth for several months. Immediately I was delivered. No withdrawals. No cravings. I was totally healed in that prayer."

During his career, Stone said he's been CEO of three companies, and continues to work in construction while he leads The Source.

In 1996, Stone became a senior pastor of a Pentecostal church in North Fulton. After six years, he started a church in Cumming and has been on staff of other churches before starting The Source six months ago.

A core group of 70-100 has been meeting in preparation for today's grand opening. Stone is especially eager to help folks who have had hard times in this difficult economy.

"I came out of that poverty stricken state, earned a master's degree and had a very successful business," he said. "I've been wealthy a couple of times, gone from poverty to wealth and back to living by faith.

"That's part of our adult testimony. I've been up and down. I'm okay when I'm on top and I'm okay when I'm down. I've learned to live a balanced life no matter what comes our way."

ABOUT THE PASTOR

Hobbies: Stone said he has no hobbies. “Ministry is my life. We love people, we love the Lord. This is our life."

Family: Garry and Jonie have been married 10 years. They have two children, 7-year-old James and 5-year-old Hanna. Jonie is the church's worship leader.

ABOUT THE CHURCH

The Source Worship Center is at 207 Marvin Land Ln., Canton. Sunday worship begins at 11 a.m. Also, there's a service on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. For more information, go to www.thesourcewc.com or the church's Facebook page.