City On A Hill United Methodist Church

Website: www.coahumc.org

Services: 6:30 p.m. Saturday, 9:35 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Sunday.

Average attendance: 400

Pastor: Chris Bryant

Denomination: United Methodist

Purpose statement:

“To create a community where people can see and then become deeply committed followers of Jesus.”

History:

In June 2004, Bryant was appointed to Hillside United Methodist as an Associate Pastor of New Church Development who would plant Hillside's second daughter church. After 18 months of training, research and prayer, Bryant and a team of 35 adults began a six-month strategic and planned launch of the new congregation.

City On A Hill’s first service was Aug. 13, 2006 at Johnston Elementary School. Members recently remodeled the former Woodstock Public Library, which was opened as a 24/7 worship and missions facility last month.

Pastor’s path:

The Ohio native became a pastor at age 19. Bryant, who was just a few months away from turning 20 and just shy of his first year wedding anniversary, also was a full-time student at Kentucky Wesleyan College, a youth director and played football while serving as pastor of two small churches.

“We would be on the road all night, coming back from a football game and sleeping on the bus, and I would get up after just a few hours sleep to preach on Sunday morning,” he said.

The busy student graduated with a double major in religion and philosophy, and psychology with a minor in sociology. He moved to Atlanta to attend Candler School of Theology at Emory, and served several small churches in Pike County. He graduated in 2002, and continued serving the congregations until he was appointed to Hillside.

Ministries:

Bryant describes the church as “highly missional, which means making an impact in our community and beyond.”

The church’s 5th annual Single Mom’s Gas Giveaway is taking place Saturday. Bryant estimates the bill will come to $10,000 for gasoline for more than 300 women. The impact, especially this year as prices approach $4 a gallon, is monumental.

“We’ve had single moms run out of gas trying to get here. We’ve had to push them to the line. With tears, they tell us they didn’t have any hope, didn’t know where help would come from,” Bryant said.

Members hosted a community Easter egg hunt with more than 12,000 eggs, and served 800 hot dogs. City On A Hill has paid the lunch debt for children at Johnston and Woodstock elementary schools, so the students can start the new school year without a balance due.

“Jesus is always paying someone else’s debt,” Bryant said.

Worship is inviting and thought-provoking, according to the pastor, who creates sermon series that invite questions and discussion with topics like, “Why Church?” and “When Church Isn’t Christian.” Church leaders use social media outlets to facilitate discussion.

Internationally, COAH supports the Haiti Children’s Project and gave a record-breaking amount of $15,000 collected during a Christmas offering in 2009.

Thoughts from the pastor:

“If you currently don't have a church home, we invite you to make it COAH. We're not perfect, but we are real -- real about faith, real about our struggles, real about our desire to make a difference that anybody can see. We are City On A Hill."