From Humble Beginnings...
Or as I like to say, "How did God transform 12 people gathering in a garage to a thriving, worshipping congregation of 150 people?"
It all began in June, 2003. We (Pastor Brian Harkness and Family) were appointed by the Bishop of the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church to start a new church in the Hebron, Ohio / Pataskala, Ohio area.
When we moved, we were given the freedom to pick where we would live and how we would proceed. We settled in Hebron, Ohio. We began talking with people in the community and asking if they would be interested in participating in a new church start. By mid July, 2003 we had about 15 people who were ready to help us. We spent several weeks seeking God and defining our Core Beliefs.
On December 7th, 2003 we had our first public preview service at Lakewood Middle School, just east of Hebron, Ohio. We met in the cafeteria. It was an evening meeting and only friends and family came to support us. It was great preparation for the days to come.
On January 11th 2004, we had our first fully scheduled Sunday morning preview service with worship, prayer, and preaching. The preview services were scheduled at a frequency of one per month. We met in the Lakewood Middle School auditorium. After December's preview service we were hoping to have 10 or 15 attendees at our January preview service. WOW!! To our surprise and joy, over 60 people attended worship. We had a great time.
In the development of a new church you must understand that it takes significant effort and dedication by many individuals to start a weekly worship service. We must completely assemble and disassemble an entire church each week. Nursery areas, Jr. Church areas, sound systems, and musical instruments are necessary, as well as teams of workers, sound technicians, graphics presenters, and musicians. We trailer equipment, set up, tear down, repack, and trailer once again back to a storage facility and repeat this process each and every week.
By August, 2004 we had grown to a group of 70 to 80 worshipers who were coming to the preview services and were beginning to help with ministries.
We started weekly worship on September 19, 2004 with 155 worshipers. During the next 12 months, we averaged about 120 children and adults each week. We are still seeing many new families and have baptized nearly 40 people in these first 4 years. God continues to bless us in many ways.
Thank you,
Pastor Brian Harkness
