Love Gospel Assembly, the Grand Concourse church gutted in a July 25 fire, is ramping up its fund-raising efforts and asking the public for help as they work toward rebuilding.

In a letter, Assembly head pastor Bishop Ron Bailey asks “Fellow Co-Laborers in Christ” to “stand with us prayerfully and financially during this critical time in the life of our ministry.”

Considered by many congregants to be a beacon of a light in the community – the church is located on the Concourse between 183rd Street and Field Place – Love Gospel Assembly has some 600 parishioners and also operates a soup kitchen out of its basement.

“We have the awesome privilege of ministering