History

Church History

Early in 1994 a group known as the Dover Baptist Association had the desire to begin a new church for the Atlee – Mechanicsville area. The association owned several parcels of land in the area, and desired to see a church start that would accommodate the tremendous growth plans scheduled for the area. In March of 1994 the association hired a Church Planter (a person designated to plan, initiate, and begin a new church) by the name of Doug Frazier. Doug’s assignment was to assess the demographics of the area, and pull together resources for the church start, and get the process going.

North Run Baptist church agreed to parent the new church. They, along with 8 other churches in surrounding areas, (which included a mix of Anglo American, African American and Native American churches) provided the necessary monetary and other resources needed to begin the project. Other financial support was also given by the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, the Home Mission Board (now called the North American Mission Board) and of course, Dover Baptist Association. From the parent church, and the 8 secondary churches, a steering committee was formed.

From the beginning it had been decided that the community needed a church that would be relevant to the surrounding culture, and that the primary focus would be to reach those people that did not attend a church on a regular basis, or had never attended a church at all.

Studies were begun to determine what the “unchurched” community looked like. Door to door surveys were made to find out what type of music people liked, what types of family activities they enjoyed, did these families include children, etc. These studies proved to be valuable in determining that the area desperately needed a church that would reach out to them.

The steering committee then began the search for a pastor for this new church. Resumes were received from all around the country. One resume that came back stood out from among the rest. It was from a pastor of an established church in Richmond that had felt a calling to start a new church that would reach the people in the community with a new approach. He stated his desire to begin a church that wouldn’t care if people wore ties, he wanted a church that used music and other art forms from today’s society, not just those handed down in traditional church. He wanted to start a church that dared to be different for the sake of reaching people far from God. That resume came from Chris Hembrough, who was soon hired on January 1, 1995 as the founding pastor of Atlee Community Church.

The date for the first service to be held was scheduled as March 12, 1995. Between January and March a lot of work, from a lot of volunteers, had to be done. A telemarketing team was established to call residents of the community to let them know that a church was coming that was different. These calls were instrumental in establishing a base of people to send information to, as they responded they would like to know more about this new church. After information was sent to those that had requested it, follow up calls were made to make sure the information was received, and to answer any questions, as well as to inform them of the date of the first service.

On March 12, 1995, in a small rented conference center of a local hotel, over 300 people showed up for the “grand opening” of this new church. Week after week, people kept coming, and by August of 1995 it was necessary to find more space. The Sunday morning programs were then moved to the auditorium of Atlee High School.

For the next 7 years Atlee Community Church continued to grow, and flourish,. Over 1,000 attendees were showing up at the 2 services each week. Small groups were forming, and starting to meet in the homes of the community in great numbers.

Atlee Community Church was soon able to purchase 24 acres of land from Dover Baptist Association at the intersection of Pole Green Road and Verdi Lane. As members and attendees pledged to a building fund, the vision of having a facility to call home was drawing near.

Construction began at the site in June of 2001, as trees were cleared and the land was leveled to begin work on the foundation. In September of 2001, a ground breaking ceremony was held at the site. At the place where the auditorium was to be built, members took wooden tongue depressors and wrote the names of people they knew that they hoped would be reached by the ministry of the church. The sticks were then placed in a large coffee can, and buried where the auditorium stands today.

As construction drew to a close in the spring of 2002, the “Grand Opening” of the building drew near. A special Friday night service was planned for June 7, 2002. Bill Hybels flew in from Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago to speak at the event. The evening was full of excitement as the room filled, and the church celebrated yet another milestone.

Today the church is still growing. In May of 2003, Jeff Boggess was voted into the Senior Pastor position by the church. The staff as of April 2005 consists of 8 full time positions, and 5 part time positions. Plans for completing the upstairs portions of the building are on the horizon, and even further in the plans call for the addition of a 3,500 seat main auditorium.

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