Pastor Mike’s journey to pastorship is a testimony of God’s power to transform a person’s life from darkness to light. His powerful testimony has given many people hope and encouragement in the midst of despair and turmoil. It is for this reason, that Pastor Mike opens up his life, the good and the bad, to all whom God leads into his path.  
 

William Michael Stewart was born to Billy Earl and Joan Stewart on September 27, 1956, in the town of Leeds, Alabama. His family moved to a suburb south of Atlanta, Georgia, in 1963. A year later, his young father died from cancer when Pastor Mike was only eight years old. This traumatic event triggered a future lifestyle of trials and self-destructive choices. He began abusing drugs and alcohol at an early age, dropped out of school, and married a pregnant girlfriend by the time he was 15 years old. His first two children had defects and died at birth. To mask his pain, Pastor Mike began abusing harder drugs, and eventually became a severe cocaine addict. He had three healthy children during this marriage. However, he had joined a country-rock band and spent most of his time in night clubs, which fueled his drug addiction and an ungodly lifestyle that ultimately led to a divorce from his first wife.

Pastor Mike’s life was in a downward spiral, and his addiction had become so severe that his family feared he would soon die from a lethal overdose. His Christian mother constantly prayed for God’s intervention. One night in 1983 at band rehearsal while high on drugs, God miraculously commanded light into Pastor Mike’s dark life. He said, “You’re going to quit this band (after playing for 13 years), start going to church, start reading the Bible, and you’re going to preach the gospel.” Needless to say, Pastor Mike was never the same. He had such a hunger and passion for the revelation of God’s word that he studied the Bible for hours every day. Six months later, he began attending church and shortly thereafter taught a boys’ Sunday School class, which had the highest attendance of all the classes in the church.

In 1986, Pastor Mike met his wife, Cindy Stewart, at church, and they were married a few months later. Knowing his calling to preach the gospel, Pastor Mike began sharing God’s word with five family members in the living room of his home. Since the group grew to over 20 within a few months, a small storefront was rented in Conyers, Georgia (an hour away from home), and “Ministries of Grace” was opened. Even though the church congregation almost doubled in a couple of months, God directed Pastor Mike to move the church to the mountains in Hiawassee, Georgia. Two years later, Ministries of Grace reopened in Hiawassee and held services in a small house . Pastor Mike was ordained in 1991, and then moved the church to a larger storefront where services were held for several more years. In 2006, God miraculously opened a door for Ministries of Grace to purchase the church building where it is currently located.

Pastor Mike and Cindy have recently celebrated their 22^nd wedding anniversary. He has five children and eight grandchildren who continue to bless his life daily.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!