Launching Weekly Worship

Mercy Hill "officially" began weekly worship in September a little ahead of schedule, and in a slightly different way than had been planned.

But we are excited about the changes and about what God is doing at this stage of our new church community this Fall. Here's some background and an update on what God's doing in our church.

First of all, we had planned to begin weekly worship on September 19, 2010, with two "weekly preview" services on the 5th and 12th of September. In reality, though, we began weekly worship services on September 5, a couple of weeks ahead of schedule.

Second, our intention had been to rent the Boyd Recital Hall at Rowan University for the location of our weekly worship service.

But several factors made that a less-than desirable decision at this time. First of all, the size of the facility seemed too big given the present size of our group. While we averaged about sixty in attendance when we met there for our monthly preview services, the space itself seats 225.

Also, given our size, the cost of the facility was prohibitive to using it on an "every week" basis.

Plus, this summer, with our experiences in "Sunday Summer House Church," we realized we lacked something at Rowan which we found by worshipping together in a home: an intimacy and sense of community, both of which are at the heart of our calling as a church.

Being in a home, at this stage in our church plant, seems to effectively communicate some aspects of one of our core values: "authentic Christian living."

So, we have launched, but we're calling the launch a "soft launch" rather than a fully-advertised, big splash event. Our focus is firmly on making and building relationships with non-Christians, non-believers, people who have dropped out of church, and others who don't have a relationship with someone who is a follower of Jesus.

Our weekly Sunday gatherings are a place where such people can experience what Christian worship feels like, and where they can enjoy and be challenged to grow in their faith.

Plus, we have an awesome brunch every Sunday which makes for a great context to get to know new friends.

Please continue to pray for Mercy Hill and the people who are increasingly calling this new church their "church family" and "church home." Pray God would accomplish His mission and display His Gospel through us as we "reach the lost for Jesus through authentic Christian living."