We are a young church and our story is still being written! The Grove Church is a new church planted in Hattiesburg, MS (Lamar County).
God began to influence Pastor Greg Johnston through a series of events that he needed to start a new church for the purpose of leading more people to find Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The Hattiesburg, Lamar County area was chosen because of the numerous unchurched families – and also because it is one of the fastest growing areas in Mississippi. Many new subdivisions are planned for The Grove Church area.
The church started as a Bible study in the home of Lead Pastor Greg Johnston. He developed relationships within the community and got to know his neighbors. A core group of people committed to start the church was gathered and weekly meetings were held at the Lamar Baptist Association building. The church was grateful for the use of this building, but it soon became clear that the location was not suited for reaching people. The core group prayed about a location and God opened up the opportunity to use the former movie theater in Turtle Creek Mall – the hub of the Hub City! Of course, it took a lot of work and volunteers to turn a theater into a church meeting place!
Since we have been blessed with the use of the movie theater in the mall, our church has much more opportunity to reach out and serve the community in a Christ-like manner. For instance, we have been the venue for multiple benefit concerts that raised money to help end the sex slave trade, to aid an organization that works to end teen suicide, and to help a man with the high cost of surgery. We have been given a unique opportunity to really be the hands and feet of Christ. We love knowing that we are a different kind of church with an amazing, loving atmosphere reaching out to those in need.
The pastors believe that a church does not need to search for a purpose, for God has given the church her purpose. Many passages describe what the church is to be and do, but two statements from Jesus summarize it all: The Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40) and The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).
We would like to invite you to join us in this exciting work!