Agape Fellowship International church gets new pastor

Agape Fellowship International Church has a new pastor — Louis Accardi.

Accardi, who previously served as a pastor for a Roswell church for seven years and moved to Clovis last August, took the position when the church's previous pastor, Houston Wallace ,recently died.

Accardi said as pastor he would like to stay flexible and work with other pastors in Portales.

"I think we have some good pastors in this town," said Accardi, who worked as a special education teacher in Roswell for a little more than 12 years.

"I've lived here before and I feel like I know this community."

Accardi said he would like the congregation to grow and gain more financial support, but these are not his main priorities.

He said his goal is to help church members grow spiritually, become well-versed in the Bible and understand why they believe what they believe.

"I'm not into counting nickels and noses," Accardi said.

"Some pastors have said that the work is not getting done unless you get a lot of people in there. They also talk about budgets, how much money is being brought in."

Much of Accardi's spiritual work has been done with individuals of different cultures. Accardi said he has done extensive missionary work on Native American reservations in Montana, Arizona and New Mexico. His church in Roswell was predominantly African-American.

"I believe that working with people from other cultures gives you a lot of insight," Accardi said.

"I learned a lot from Native Americans and can relate to the culture very easy. It's the same thing with the African-American culture. If you ever go to a black church you won't get tired or bored with the music. That's what I loved."

To become an ordained pastor, Accardi had to defend various doctrines before several pastoral boards. Accardi defined a good pastor as one who can lead his congregation into a deeper Christian life.

Bonnie Reed, a 20-year member of Agape Fellowship and longtime friend of Accardi, hopes her congregation will grow and have a stronger presence in the community. Reed believes Accardi is the right man for the job.

"He (Accardi) has a great heart and he really cares about people."

Accardi said he enjoys playing the bass and the guitar and crafting guitars from wood. He said he and his wife Joan do everything together— read, cook, attend church and eat out.