FARMINGTON -- The pastor of City Point Church in Farmington grew up the son of educators and bi-vocational missionaries. His parents were always helping small churches and he attributes his own desire to see churches grow to the influence his parents had on him.
"I grew up with that as my DNA," said pastor Jim Bob Baker, who has been in ministry for 33 years. "So church planting makes sense to me."
He and his wife, Matilda, started a church in central Arkansas about 12 years ago. When the church was 10 years-old, they decided it was time to do it again.
"We loved this area, prayed about it and thought this is where we were to go."
The first year, City Point Church met in an office complex at New Heights Church in Fayetteville. The church moved to Farmington a little over a year ago to the space formerly occupied by Pulse Fitness on Southwinds Drive. Baker said he probably preferred to stay in Fayetteville but the building in Farmington provided more room for the money.
Baker said the church's name comes from this: "We think the point of this church is the city." He said the church seeks to serve Farmington and the greater Fayetteville area.
The church's website is citypointchurch.tv and Baker gets more questions about the church's website address. Some people wonder if City Point is a satellite site for a larger church but he said TV was the only domain available to go with "citypointchurch." He was amazed at the number of City Point churches across the country. The Farmington church is not affiliated with any other churches and is not on TV, Baker said.
He describes it as an interdenominational church.
City Point's mission is "Love, Serve, Multiply" and this means, Baker said, the church is to love the community the way Jesus did, to serve the community the way Jesus did and to be used to help multiply Jesus' kingdom.
The church's vision is to be Christ-centered, culturally relevant and to be a church planting church. The church gives 10 percent of its offerings to other church-planting churches. These are churches committed to helping start new churches, Baker said.
"I think the greatest way to influence a community is through the church. I believe there's one church but a whole bunch of congregations. The more churches we can have the more good we can do in a community," Baker said.
City Point remodeled the former Pulse Fitness space with donations and volunteer labor. Mirrors covering walls in the gym were taken down and volunteers installed 12-foot high walls and a stage for the worship area. Prairie Grove Christian Church loaned padded chairs for the worship area.
The welcoming foyer has a coffee shop, tables made out of giant wooden spools and other furniture made from pallets. Others donated flat screen TVs and paintings for wall decorations. The building owner has been very generous in donating items to the church and helping in other ways, Baker said.
The children's area includes a baby and toddler room, a large, inflatable playset, mirrors, bright colors and other furnishings for children to enjoy.
The church has about 140 members and an average attendance of 80 people. Services are held 10 a.m. Sundays and smaller groups, called City Groups, meet in homes throughout the week.
When church members and visitors come each week, Baker said the intent is to touch all five physical senses of a person.
The sense of smell comes from fresh coffee -- "We buy really nice coffee." The sense of taste comes from a large selection of doughnuts. Hopefully, he said, each person is greeted with the sense of touch, either from a handshake or a hug. The worship service uses video screens and contemporary music to bring in the senses of vision and hearing.
"Our premise is that if we can touch the five physical senses, maybe something will be awakened in the spiritual senses," Baker said.
The church is made up mostly of younger people, families with young children and younger adults. Many students come from the University of Arkansas and it has a growing youth program and many children and babies.
Baker thanked the Farmington community for a warm welcome. He said city officials, the school, chamber and police department have been helpful.
"We've been overcome with gratefulness," Baker said.
General News on 07/16/2014