Ed Akers knew from the time he was 7 years old that he wanted to be a preacher.

"My relationship with Christ developed at a very young age," he said.

Tammie Townsend began going to church with her parents when she was 3, and was almost immediately entranced by the musical aspects of the services.

"That's what I was kind of drawn to," she said.

Today these two, who grew up less than a mile apart from each other in Galloway, are the husband-and-wife pastor team at the Victorious Living Christian Center at 2735 Columbus St.

The couple may not have gotten far from their Galloway roots, but they've come a long way in terms of growth and development from the 13 people who met in their living room in May 1996 to form their church. Today, Ed Akers said, they have about 500 members in their non-denominational, independent congregation, which meets in a complex that encompasses 33,500 square feet.

The Victorious Living Christian Center --the name is borrowed from another charismatic church in California where Ed Akers received encouragement to start his own -- also does considerable mission work in the Philippines, the couple said during an interview last week. The center operates a school there for orphans and street kids through grade six, a Bible training center that has ordained more than 100 ministers and has helped establish 13 tribal village churches, Ed and Tammie Akers said.

They probably didn't envision anything of the sort when they first became aware of one another back in Galloway.

"We were high school sweethearts," Ed Akers said. "We lived a mile apart from each other."

"He started talking to me when I was 14," Tammie Akers added.

Both graduated from Westland High School, Ed in 1978 and Tammie the following year. They got married that fall and will be celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary on Sept. 15.

Both grew up in what Ed Akers termed "evangelical settings," and he knew at a very young age that the ministry was for him. He was drawn to the preachers at his family's church and was mentored by them to such an extent that he was a youth minister at the age of 17.

"I had a real strong feeling for missions, too," Ed Akers said.

Although Tammie Akers drew much inspiration from the music at her family's place of worship, she said that she was too shy to pursue that interest until she "let God heal some things within me."

Ed and Tammie Akers pursued careers in the medical field for some years, he as a cardiovascular technician and she as a periodontal surgical assistant, until first he and then she turned to the ministry full-time. Ed Akers said that he let having a career and raising a family delay his desire to become a minister, to answer the calling he felt, until about 1995 when he preached at a non-denominational church in California called the Victorious Living Christian Center. The pastor there offered to help Akers in starting a ministry of his own.

The 13 people who attended that first meeting in the Akers' living room in May 1996 included as many family members as possible members of a congregation, but incorporation papers had been filed by June and in July the fledgling church held its first meeting in its eventual home of Grove City.

This was in a 2,000-square-foot former telephone switching building downtown, Ed Akers said. Parking problems forced the growing congregation to seek a new venue and they were able to rent space in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church on Demorest Road, holding services on Sunday while the original congregation met on Saturdays. Next up was the old Tosoh Building on Grove City Road.

All the while, Ed Akers said, the Victorious Living Christian Center was growing in membership and identity. In 2004, the site on Columbus Street, once home to a Church of Christ and most recently owned by the Grove City Christian Church, was purchased. The following year saw a major addition that has brought the center to its current square footage, Ed Akers said. Much of the new space provides for children's and youth ministries.

Although it was easier when the church had 13 or 25 or 50 members to "know the inner workings" of each family, Tammie Akers said that she and her husband still maintain personal relationships as much as possible with all 500 now on the rolls. Having more members simply presents more challenges in terms of discipleship, Ed Akers said.

"I'm a building," he added. "I like to see things grow."

The Victorious Living Christian Center has a paid staff of six and seven unpaid elders who help lead the ministry, Ed Akers said. In addition, about 90 dedicated volunteers "help make this work," he said.

Ed and Tammie Akers have two daughters, 27-year-old Joni, who is married to the church's youth pastor, and Bethany 22. They also have two granddaughters.

Although Ed Akers said theirs is a charismatic church, he believes many people have some misconceptions about what, precisely, that means.

"We're not just emotional," he said. "We really believe that the Gospel, the Bible, offers the answers to every area of life. We're open to anyone who will come. We're open to anyone seeking the truth."