What’s the timeline – when did the church start?
I (Andy) moved here with my wife Robin in November 2024 – we were called here by Lake Forest church (Huntersville) to start a new church in Cabarrus county. I spent the first few months getting established, learning the area, and meeting as many people as possible. We started with a Launch team at the end of April, growing and meeting consistently through the summer on Sunday afternoons. We began setup and take down practice at the school in mid-September, and we launched worship for the first time on Sunday morning, September 28, at 10:00am.
Where do you meet?
West Cabarrus High School – 4100 Weddington Rd. You can find the school from either of the two entrances off that road. We worked for months to find space for Sunday morning gatherings that will be stable and available as we grow – one with easy access from most of the population bases in Concord, Kannapolis, and wider Cabarrus county. We are thrilled to be at West Cabarrus and become a great community partner for them.
Will my kids be able to come to the worship service?
Yes, always! We will always welcome kids of all ages in worship. We will absolutely make available high-quality space for nursery for kids 0-3, and we are planning for a ministry for kids 4s-3rd grade during the preaching portion of a worship service. We will adjust those or develop them further as time goes on, but we put a high value on families worshipping together.
Is your worship style going to be more formal or informal?
You’ll find it informal in every way – music and dress and feel: we want to people to come as they are and be welcome in that same way. Over time, you’ll start to recognize a repeated pattern in what we include in a worship service – these are gifts from God that form and shape our hearts to love and serve him! You’l find that you get to participate in every bit of it: it’s an all-play, not a spectator sport.
What will the music in worship be like?
We aim to reflect the music and culture of our time and area. We’ll include many of the songs that we enjoy right now and pull from the best of familiar hymns and songs as well. But the songs will mostly draw from the scriptures, lead us to praise God, and always hold Jesus at the center of our stories and relationships.
Is this church part of a denomination?
We are a plant of Lake Forest and part of the EPC (Evangelical Presbyterian Church). It’s a younger, growing denomination (started 1981) and has just over 650 churches across the country.
What are your core beliefs?
The EPC is committed to the essentials of our Christian faith and works toward 4 key priorities: multiplication (church planting), transformation (evangelism and healthy church), outreach in mission to the world, and growing biblical leaders. But here’s the fun fact: you don’t need to know any of that to come and worship with us. In fact, we expect that week after week we will get to introduce people to Jesus for the first time and lead them in the way of following him.
Can I see the budget and finances?
Once we get going, yes! We’ll have an annual budget and a report you can view, and we will share it with the church every year. We want to be bold and open with both our commitment to being generous and our good and wise stewardship of funds.
Who can your pastor count on for help, and who is he accountable to?
One of the great benefits for our kind of church (presbyterian) is that it is “led by elders.” Your pastors, together with men and women called as “elders” (shepherd-leaders) in the church, make up the leadership team. They are equal to one another and together seek the mind and guidance of Jesus as the church. For the next few years, our team of elders will be those at Lake Forest: Andy is one of them, and accountable to the Church Multiplication team.