2000 to the Present Day
2000 - to the Present Day
The new millennium brought the birth of Christ's Church of the Valley in the Philadelphia suburb of Collegeville. Begun in a movie theater complex, the congregation experienced rapid growth from its inception, and was running over 1000 by the time it moved into its first permanent building in the summer of 2006. In June of 2009 the church completed its second phase, a large multi-purpose building, and an expansion of their original building, adding significant children’s ministry space.
The new millennium also brought the birth of Harbor of Hope Christian Church, in the northern suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. By 2004 this congregation had beautiful leased facilities in an early 19th century mill, with granite walls, exposed beams, and the look and feel of a giant "Starbucks."
2001 brought the birth of Journey's Crossing Christian Church in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Gaithersburg, Maryland. By its 4th birthday the church had already started its second campus location. By its 4th birthday the church was already averaging well over 500 in attendance.
2002 brought the first foray back into Manhattan, as an intern was placed in a new congregation started at "Ground Zero" called Mosaic Manhattan. The joint venture with Saddleback Valley Church and others, proved a great proving ground for the new churches to be planted in New York City during the first decade of the new millennium.
In 2005 the Church at Park Slope was born in a family-oriented artistic neighborhoods in Brooklyn, New York. The church operates a coffee shop in their neighborhood called Postmark. The shop serves as a nerve center for the congregation.
Forefront Christian Church was started on the East Side of Manhattan in the Fall of 2005. The church now meets in the Blender Theater, on 23rd Street, between Third Avenue and Lexington. Brian Moll serves as senior minister of the growing church. By the time of their third birthday, they were averaging over 300 in attendance. In the spring of 2009 the church began a second campus on the upper west side of Manhattan.
At the other end of the New York metropolitan area, a new church was started on the east end of Long Island, New York. North Shore Christian Church was started in Riverhead, New York. Jerry Halpin was the founding minister of the church. In 2009, Dave Smith was added to the church staff as the congregation continued to grow.
2006 saw the inaugural services of one of Orchard Group’s fastest growing churches, True North Community Church. True North was begun in the building once occupied by the Port Jefferson Church of Christ. In just three years the congregation grew to over 700 in size, and in August of 2009 moved into a new temporary facility to accommodate their growth. Bert Crabbe is the founding pastor of the church.
In 2006 Orchard Group also came alongside Mountain Christian Church in Maryland, as they began a daughter congregation in White Marsh, Maryland, Community Christian Church. David Robinson, the Mountain church youth minister became the senior minister of the new church. The congregation had over 900 at their first services, and was averaging over 600 by the end of their first year in existence.
In the late1990s, Claudio Divino, a Brazilian native, moved to New York to begin our first Portuguese-speaking congregation. In 2008 Antioch Christian Church gave birth to its first daughter congregation, Igreja de Cristo. Both churches serve the Brazilian population in the suburbs north of New York City.
In the spring of 2009 a new church was begun near the Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Mosaic Christian Church, started by Carl Kuhl, was averaging over 100 within three months of its launch.
The fall of 2009 brought three more new churches to the Northeast. Legacy Christian Church was started in Allentown, Pennsylvania by a Lehigh Valley native, Richie Merritt. On the upper west side of Manhattan, Jared Witt took the lead in establishing a new congregation, Church of the Incarnation. The church is the first church planted by Orchard Group with a more liturgical worship service. A new Indian congregation was also begun in the fall of 2009, serving the sizeable south Indian congregation arriving in the northern suburbs of New York City. C.T. Abraham is leading this first Indian church planted by Orchard Group.
Currently, new northeast churches are being planned for the following locations in 2010 and 2011:
Annaplis, Maryland
Baltimore, Maryland
Buffalo, New York
Manhattan, New York
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania/Wilmington, Delaware
Orchard Group is also assisting efforts to plant churches in urban locations in two American cities outside of the Northeast. A new church is planned for Salt Lake City, Utah, and another for Seattle, Washington.