This Sunday, Jan. 26, a new style of church will be opening its doors in Landrum. Some call it an experiment, some call it a fad, but One Purpose Church (OPC) is aiming to see whether anyone is ready for more than just business as usual.

“It is time for churches and church attendees to start doing what they were called to do. To reclaim their purpose in life instead of ignoring it and wondering why we don’t feel God anymore,” said Eric Hammond, spokesperson for OPC. “Its time to pursue God seven days a week and not just on Sundays. It’s time to start showing love in our community not just talking about it inside of our walls. It’s time to start being authentic with each other about our failures, not just pretending we are perfect.”

With nearly a church on every street in the area, any new church will have a tough time standing out in the white noise of religious activity on Sundays, but that doesn’t detour OPC founding member Jay Hardin from being optimistic about the usefulness of his new church.

“One Purpose Church isn’t here to blend in,” said Hardin. “OPC is here to show people that there’s an alternative to church as usual. We may never be a mega-church, but we believe that God can change the world one passionate pursuer of Him at a time.”

Some of OPC’s plans for sticking out include active mid-week “no faking it” small groups, consistent community service ministries, practical nitty-gritty teaching on Sundays, effective relationship support within the congregation, and supply of real life tools and encouragement on how to be a Christian seven days a week instead of just one.

According to the church’s website, OPC has actively decided not to be a part of any governing denomination leaving questions that typically divide churches and communities for another day.

When asked about the style of the church on Sunday mornings Hammond said, “We will approach God in an open and surrendered way. We want to draw attention to God and not ourselves through hymns, contemporary worship, prayer and authentic teaching.

“We want teaching meant to be useful at home, work, school and with our families. To be honest, we are less concerned about our style of worship on Sundays than we are about the style of how we live Monday through Saturday.”

Low attendance is often times a death blow for new churches as people look for larger numbers to worship with. In a recent study by The North American Mission Board, a non-denominational church planting research group,  it was found that more than 80 percent of new churches fail within the first two years of operation.

Standing out and staying true to a vision statement appears to be the key to early church success. Standing out is not only OPC’s strategy, but the church’s mission.

When asked why in key factors such as divorce rate, pornography usage, debt problems and occurrence of suicide the numbers are nearly identical between born again Christians and non-Christians, Hammond answers,

“When we lose grip of our purpose and function in this world, then we lose our ability to stand out and change our environment. I’m just as guilty of it as everyone else, but at some point we have to say enough is enough and come together to help each other be different again in the real world.”

One Purpose Church will be meeting for the first time this Sunday, Jan. 26 at 10 a.m., at 395 S Carolina 14, Landrum, S.C. 29356. For more information, visit www.onepurposechurch.net or call Eric Hammond at 828-863-4133. Sunday’s message will be: “Good Will Hunting: finding God’s will in a tough world.”

– article submitted 

by Eric Hammond