Journey Church Starting New UCC Congregation in Coralville, IA

(source)

I have been aware for the past year or so of a new church plant associated with my own United Church of Christ in this area. The new church is called Journey Church and it has been called by its founding pastor, Rev. Chuck Kelsey, "a church for the rest of us." Keep in mind that this community already boasts two UCC churches (Congregational United Church of Christ of Iowa City and my own Faith United Church of Christ). So my interest in Journey Church has been a mix of curiosity and excitement along with worry about a competing UCC church!

I went to a couple different Journey Church workshops at this summer annual meeting of the UCC Iowa Conference and liked what I heard. Journey Church has an informal worship style along with an inclusive plan of outreach. They have been meeting for worship all summer in local parks. They have been forming small fellowship groups at the local hospital, coffee shops, and at least one bar. They have plans for a working coffee shop to support the ministry. And now they have an official place of worship to call Journey Church.

Journey Church's new location starting tomorrow morning is at 2781 Oakdale Blvd #5 in Coralville, IA. Tomorrow morning will be a special Blessing of the Riders and Motorcycle Ride starting at 10:30 AM in the parking lot of the new church building followed by a group ride to Anamosa, IA, for the Anamosa Hillclimb and Swap Meet.

Next Sunday (September 15, 2013) will be a more traditional worship service and it will be held inside the new Journey Church worship space. It will start with an 8:30 AM Meditation time, which will be followed by a 9:30 AM time for small group discussion/study/community, which will be followed by a 10:30 AM Worship celebration with music provided by Kevin B.F. Burt.

I'm curious about Journey Church. It's unlikely that I will be at next week's worship celebration, but I will definitely be checking out one of their other upcoming worship services.