Heritage Family Church

The long-promised post!

First, our church journey. When my parents first got married, up until I was about 6 years old, we attended a church that I don't remember the name of. Our family then went through something very painful and though it had nothing to do with a problem with the church or the people in it, Mom and Dad felt like they needed to go somewhere else to help them move on some and heal. (We also moved houses.)

We attended Heritage Family Church for 2 or 3 years after that, but did not fully plug-in. We knew a lot of people there (it was much larger at that time), but we weren't all-in, so to speak, yet.

In conjunction with a house move again, we began visiting and then joined Bear Creek Bible Church until I was about 11, I believe. That was a very good thing. We met a lot of sweet people and that's where I first connected with one of my best friends. For a while we were a part of a small group, etc. In the midst of our time there we moved out to where we live now and that meant our drive to church became very long, especially for an 8:00 am service.

Trying to plug in somewhere closer to home we went to First Baptist Church of Justin. Again we plugged into small groups and Sunday School. I attended youth for a couple years there and we were blessed to meet many good friends, our most precious one being "Aunt" Cendei. Eventually somethings began shifting at that church and we became uncomfortable with a few ideas. It was a difficult decision, but the Lord was very clear with my parents that we needed to leave.

Our first visit to another church was to Heritage Family and we knew that was where we were to be. It was wonderful to see some of the people we had known there before and meet new members. We have been back there for 2 1/2 years now and definitely feel like we are where God wants us.

Earlier this year our senior pastor stepped down to focus on his family and whatever else God would call him to. Since then the elders of our Elder-led church have been focusing in on our mission as a church body and our core values.

The mission of Heritage Family Church is to strengthen, encourage, and equip individuals and families to embrace the Great Commission and the Great Commandment for the glory of God and the benefit of the nations!

Core Values-

1. Expository Gospel Preaching
2. Vital Prayer and Worship
3. Participation in Evangelism
4. Whole Family Integration
5. Church Members Fellowshipping And Caring For Each Other

If you'd like to read the break-down of each of these values or anything else about our church you can go here- Heritage Family Church

Heritage Family Church is a family integrated church. That means that we don't separate children and parents, young and old, etc. We don't have a nursery, or Sunday school, or youth group. This is because we want everyone to learn and grow together. Our pastor's motto was "Better the cry of a baby then the snore of a saint." Babies do cry sometimes during the service and it is not a problem! In fact, most of us don't even notice anymore. If they become too loud, absolutely a parent will take them to the back, but babies and children are not a burden or annoyance to anyone. Please don't think this means the children in our church are perfect and can sit still and quiet. They can't! But they are learning and do well because they have the adults and older children as examples.

We have a couple of small groups (one of which is at our house) and the entire family comes. Chloe and I help with the kids and we all do life together.

Although there is no youth group, one of our elders opens his home once a month to young "adults" (13 ish to 25 ish) and parents. Really, though, it is open to anyone. The meeting is called "World Changers" because each of us will change the world in some way and our mission is to change it for Christ. He shares from his heart whatever God has led him to tell us, we pray for each other, encourage each other, fellowship, and often end it by singing together.