[This article appeared in the Watauga Democrat on March 2, 2015; Sherrie Norris Reporter/Daniel Barlow Photographer]

King Street Church — meeting people where they are

A casual Sunday evening gathering on King Street in Autumn 2013 — with about five people in attendance who had drifted away from traditional church — has now become a weekly gathering known as King Street Church. As a network of small worship gatherings focused on bringing people into Christian community, King Street Church is people who have never experienced it before or have grown cold to conventional styles of worship, said Pastor Luke Edwards. That’s why he meets people where they are in life — without condemnation, judgment or expectation. As the newest worshipping community of Boone United Methodist Church, KSC launched with church planting support from the Methodist Church, said BUMC pastor, Jason Byassee. The idea for KSC emerged from a conversation between Edwards and Byassee, his pastor, in the spring of 2013. Even before that conversation, Edwards said, he had been thinking about “what it would look like” to start a church service — for those that thought church wasn’t for them, he said. “Pastor Jason asked me if I would be interested in starting a new worship service in downtown Boone,” he said. “At the time, I was the missions coordinator at Boone UMC and was already spending a great deal of my time serving those outside of the church.” Read the rest of the article