In October, The Bison published the The Generation of Change series regarding millenials in the church and the most recent Searcy church plant, Living Way Church of Christ.
The church plant began meeting in November for services at the Re/Max building on Beebe Capps Expressway. They moved to a new temporary location on Sunday, March 18 at the Willow Wind Event Center.
The building is a “south-western style” house located on the west side of Searcy. Andrew Diles, a current member of the church, said he is excited and thankful for the church’s new opportunity.
“We’re extremely thankful for the new meeting place,” Diles said. “We have been looking for a building because we were about to outgrow our original location. We prayed specifically for a new meeting place and asked others to join us in that prayer. God answered our prayers and has already blessed our group immensely.”
The owners will be leasing the building to the group on Sunday mornings for at least the next six months. Dr. Donny Lee, one of the current elders of the church, said the building is not the most important aspect of a church congregation.
“This will not be ‘our’ building, but we are grateful to have a place to meet for the time being,” Lee said. “We will continue to pray and search for what God wants to provide for us to meet in and grow. We understand we need a place to meet, but our focus is on people, not buildings.”
The congregation previously met at the ReMax Advantage building on Beebe Capps Expressway. This is where Michalie Brown, a recent Harding alumna and social media coordinator for Admissions, was first introduced to the new congregation.
“The first time I went, they were very welcoming,” Brown said. “They all knew my name, and I received text messages and emails from them thanking me for visiting. It was really encouraging to feel seen at a church, because I think sometimes when you go to churches in Searcy, they assume that you do not want to get involved since you’re still in college.”
The group may be meeting at a different location, but Lee said he wants to make sure the church’s message and mission does not change.
“We are focused on a vision of reaching the western part of Searcy and millennials, in particular, for Christ,” Lee said. “Our vision captures who we are in a brief statement: We are a community of God’s people motivated by grace to share Jesus with our neighbors. Our mission is what we intend to do: ‘Love God, love each other, love our neighbors.’”
The Living Way Church of Christ will continue to meet at Willow Wind, an event center, at 3353 W. Highway 36 at 10 a.m. for Sunday worship.
