MainStreet Covenant Church holds Grand Opening in Mound
MainStreet Covenant Church recently held the Grand Opening of its dynamic new venue in the Stonegate Plaza strip mall in downtown Mound on March 17 after a kick-off concert on March 9. Both events drew capacity crowds with standing room only for the first Sunday service. The venue is designed to feel more like a coffee shop than a church building.
MainStreet Pastor Jeremy Berg said, “The vision of MainStreet is to imitate the Apostle Paul who engaged unbelievers not just on Sunday morning in the sanctuary but ‘in the marketplace daily with all who happen to be there’” (Acts 17:17).
Berg said the idea for a church acting as a community-gathering place began from his experiences when he was involved with youth ministry in Mound a few years back. In 2005 he began using music events to connect with local area teens.
“I noticed a trend of people running away from the church,” he said. “We started hosting live music events, and young people flooded the place looking for a spot to gather.”
The new building features a café gathering area and an auditorium for hosting open mic nights, hot topic discussion forums, providing an after school youth hangout, a place for community groups such as book clubs, Zumba, etc.
“Every city needs a place for people to connect and grow,” Berg said. “Why should coffee shops have all the fun when we’re serving up something far more potent and life impacting than mere coffee!”
MainStreet began this ambitious building project only a few months into their first year as a church, believing this kind of a space is what is required to be faithful to God’s unique vision for MainStreet.
“God has been faithful every time we have stepped out in faith and obedience,” Berg said. “We raised the money for the project in only a few months’ time thanks to the generosity of many supporters, especially our sister church Excelsior Covenant.”
Berg shares how he first peeked through the windows of their new space over 7 years ago and wondered if that empty storefront might someday be used for ministry in Mound.
“God honors big dreams when we place them in his hands,” Berg said. “After a year and a half of meeting first in a senior center and later in a nursing home facility, it was a pretty amazing moment to stand up that first Sunday and say, ‘Welcome to Main Street—for real!’”
Learn more about the unique vision and mission of MainStreet Covenant Church at www.mainstreetcovenant.org.