BUILDING the FAMILY of God,
by BUILDING families in FAITH.
Encouraging them to walk in LOVE,
SERVE their community,
And BRING GLORY to GOD!

Many years ago my wife, Shirlene, and I received what we believe to be the vision for starting a new church in the western portion of Union County, North Carolina. This came at a time when we were seeking God’s leading for a new direction in ministry. I had been in the full-time ministry for four years, and during those years of ministering to children, teens, couples, and families, we began to see that church had become a place where family members were pulled apart, rather than brought together. Traditional ministries for children, youth, men, and women tended to segregate, and did not encourage families to grow together in their relationships with the Lord. We came to realize that families are the basic building blocks of the Church, the family of God. Our country has suffered greatly from the disintegration of the family, and the Church has not been successful in stemming the tide of this trend. On the contrary, it has unwittingly contributed to this trend by constantly pulling families apart in the name of age-oriented ministry. Churches have mistakenly assumed the role of taking primary responsibility for the spiritual training of children, which they were never given in the Bible. The Bible teaches that parents have this responsibility.

The vision that we have is “home-centered” and not “church-centered”, supporting parents in their efforts to bring up their children to be strong in the Word of God and in their relationship with God. This type of “family-friendly” church encourages families to come and be in church together. Church activities and meetings are limited, so as not to hinder family time. Instead of having a separate, program-oriented ministry for teens, teens are mentored to learn to minister alongside of adult members. Parents are trained and encouraged to participate in special events and activities for their teenagers and children. This vision for the church is summed up in the vision statement above.

– Scott Gray, Pastor