Five years ago, a few families realized that Jacksonville didn’t need another church, but our city did need a place where children and adults could get excited about attending on Sunday and inviting their friends. A place where skeptics could feel welcomed and heard. Jacksonville was a city where there were more than 800 churches, and yet 80% of the city wasn’t attending church. We wondered, what if we could design something new and different—a place where the teaching was practical, the music connected, and the kids had fun?
We’d seen something like this in the form of North Point Community Church, in Atlanta, Georgia. Andy Stanley’s practical, biblical teaching really made sense. Kids loved the 252Basics program that North Point had developed. The music was unlike anything we’d heard in church before. And, best of all, adults were connecting in homes, all week long. Life change was happening in community groups!
In March, 2007, Access Church launched as a video campus, or strategic partnership, of North Point Ministries. We strive to lead people into growing relationships with Jesus Christ, and do this by using skilled volunteers and staff to create environments where people are encouraged to pursue intimacy with God, community with insiders, and influence with outsiders. We share the mission, values, and strategy of North Point Ministries, as well as Andy Stanley’s practical, biblical teaching.
For the last four years, an amazing group of volunteers and a local staff team have strived to create irresistible environments for children and adults at Access Church. Each Sunday these adults have unloaded a truck and two trailers and set up 30,000 pounds of gear. Then just two hours later they have packed up all that gear and towed it away.
All along we have been working to create a different kind of church—a church that unchurched people love to attend. And when we saw how our friends, neighbors, and co-workers responded to their experience at Access Church, we knew it was worth it!
But along the way, we’ve sometimes wondered…How amazing could our environments be if we didn’t have to tear them down every Sunday afternoon? What if we never had to worry about scheduling conflicts? What if our entire church wasn’t stored in a truck and trailer during the week? And what if, culturally, we had an all-week-long, physical presence in the community?
This web site is about the amazing opportunity God has given us to occupy a permanent space at 4911 Losco Road. We hope you’ll join us there for our launch Sunday on January 8, 2012!
