Member Spotlight- Journey Mennonite Church
At Journey Mennonite Church in McPherson, faith and community go hand in hand. Located at 201 E. Euclid, the church welcomes people each Sunday for worship and fellowship in a comfortable and inviting space. Campus Pastor Carson Stutzman spoke about the church’s purpose which centers on living out its faith in practical ways. “Our mission is that we are people formed, formed by Christ,” Stutzman explained. “We’re centered on Christ, and that we are sent to go out and show the love of Christ to those in our community and beyond.”
Serving the local community is a key focus for the congregation. Each year, the church looks for meaningful ways to help others, and this past Advent season they partnered with the McPherson County Food Bank. “Every year, we try and figure out what is a good way that we can serve different people, different groups, different walks of life,” Stutzman said.
Through the effort, church members collected more than 800 pounds of food and raised over $2,500 during the busy holiday season. With an average Sunday attendance of about 60 to 80 people, Stutzman said the response was inspiring. Seeing that level of generosity from the congregation was “overwhelming in a good way,” he said.
The church also partners with other congregations and community organizations to host special events, including the annual Night to Shine celebration that was held in February. Now in its second year for Journey, the event brought together more than 250 volunteers from three churches — including Countryside Covenant Church and Trinity Lutheran Church — along with college students, businesses, and other supporters. The evening welcomed about 110 honored guests with special needs at the McPherson Community Building. Looking ahead, the church is exploring another project aimed at meeting a community need: a potential childcare center within the church facility. “It’s a huge need for the community,” Stutzman said, noting that the church already has a designated space and is working on plans. “It’s a hope, a prayer that we have as a church — a way we can connect with the community and serve our community as well.”
Journey Mennonite Church is located at 201 E. Euclid in McPherson. Their office hours are Wednesday and Thursday 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. On Sundays at 9:30 a.m. they have the JourneyGroups for Kids and Students, as well as the JourneyGroups for Adults. The Worship Gathering service at Journey begins at 10:30 a.m. and if you’re not able to attend the service, just go their website at mcpherson.journeymennonite.org to live stream it or view it on YouTube. While you’re visiting Journey’s website you’ll also discover the different ministries and programs that they provide and be sure to check their Facebook page – Journey at McPherson – for updates on things the church has happening. To see photos from Chamber Connections hosted by Journey Mennonite Church go here.