New Around the Mission

The YMCA More Than a Venue for Charlotte Church

January 27, 2011

Four thousand people a day walk through the doors of the Charlotte, North Carolina, YMCA. They don’t know it yet, but they are Rector Randy Forrester’s mission field.

Clergy pray at an ordination service in the Y's aerobics room.

Forrester pastors 160-attendee King of Kings Anglican Church meeting on Sunday mornings in the Y’s aerobics room. The church has met at the Y since its inception in 2000, with no plans to move elsewhere. The built-in childcare facilities and gym, as well as people constantly streaming through its doors, make the Y a perfect match for the church, and vice versa.

“Part of the Y’s mission is to put Christian principles into practice, so they already value Christianity to some degree,” Forrester says. “There’s really an opportunity for us to say, ‘Hey, can we partner with you?’”

As a strategic partner, Forrester sees the Y as far more than a weekend venue. During the week, he serves as Y chaplain, making himself available to the staff for prayer and counseling. He works out frequently at the Y and encourages church members to join him.

The cross leads the processional at a Sunday morning service in the Y.

“I tell them, ‘Do what you do anyway, but do it on purpose. Work out, take your kids to dance class, just be there and build relationships and pray.’”

The ministry opportunities are plentiful. For the past two years, Y staff has asked King of Kings to provide the message, communion and worship at its annual Easter and Christmas services. In a recent outreach called Room in the Inn, church members worked alongside Y volunteers as the Y opened its doors to the homeless to feed and give them a place to sleep. Forrester and another church member serve on the Y’s Christian emphasis committee, helping plan ways to execute the Y’s mission.

Similar partnerships are springing up across the country. King of Kings is part of a growing movement of churches intentionally planting in and serving their local Ys. Forrester urges theAM church plants to become aware of and seize these partnership opportunities.

“Think strategically and missionally about space and place,” he says. “I would love to see Anglican churches prioritize the Y. There are a lot of churches with big buildings that say, ‘Come into our building and see what we’re doing.’ But theAM vibe is more missional. Paul says he’s going to talk about the gospel in the marketplace, a gathering place in the city. The Y is our marketplace.”

Learn more about King of Kings Anglican Church.

Posted By: Cynthia P. Brust
Categories: Faith in Action