Congregation grows in small ways
MARSHALL TWP, Allegheny County — While the Discovery Christian Church continued to grow since its foundation three years ago, members believed it was important to preserve a small church, tight-knit community feel.
So, the congregation earlier this month launched two new worship locations, in the Waterworks Cinema and the J. Verno Studios on the Southside of Pittsburgh. The church will continue to meet in the Regional Learning Alliance off Route 228 in the Cranberry Woods Office Park.
"We're really excited about the new locations and keeping with the idea of a community feel," said the Rev. Bryan Gratton, pastor of community involvement, adding that the additional locations in different areas enables the church to reach out to as many people as possible.
Discovery Christian Church's congregation, which celebrated its third anniversary this fall, numbers more than 700 at all three of its locations combined.
The initial campus of the Discovery Christian Church launched its first service on Sept. 21, 2003, in the Carmike Cinemas in the Cranberry Mall.
Last October, the church moved to its current location in the Regional Learning Alliance and operates administrative offices off Freedom Road in Marshall Township.
The Regional Learning Alliance and Waterworks campuses are described as "places where you can come as you are, explore your faith at your own pace, and make friends to share life with — through the good, bad and everything in between."
The churches use multi-media during services, with modern music and current movies and television shows to illustrate their faith.
Both campuses also offer a full children's program on Sunday mornings for ages birth through fifth grade.
The Southside campus is tagged as "a church for people who don't like church."
The music and worship experiences are designed more like the downtown club scene than traditional services, incorporating songs from Pearl Jam or Nirvana played by SoulHarmonic, an alternative rock band from Pittsburgh.
This campus also includes a local artist featuring photography, sculpture and painting, at each of its weekly gatherings.
Discovery Christian Church describes itself as an interdenominational church that unites people from all kinds of backgrounds.
The goal of the congregation is to not be defined by man-made creeds and titles, but rather as Christians who use the Bible as their only rule of faith and practice.
"We feel pretty good about our launches (of the two new locations on Oct. 1)," said founding pastor Toney Salva.
"We believe we're meeting the needs of people of all types and styles. The church takes on the personality of those people that they attend."
In the 1990s, Salva said there was a trend in churches to strive for thousands of parishioners, and many people had to drive long distances to get to services.Salva described the new worship locations similar to a lot of colleges and universities that have branched out with satellite locations in suburban communities."Our thought from the beginning was that we did not want to be defined by buildings, styles and regional boundaries. We wanted to figure out a way to continue to grow and serve more and more people in the region, while remaining intimate enough to maintain community," said Salva."Becoming one church in multiple locations has enabled us to do just that. Each of our campuses has their own personality and diverse style with the same core beliefs and values."The church's mission is that it believes God has uniquely called it as a church to present the message of Jesus in an uncomplicated and common sense way, pastors say."We are a church for people who don't have one, and are passionate about a hurting world. We strive to find ways to build bridges to a cynical and jaded society," according to Salva."We aim to take a different approach in reaching out and helping people along the journey. We stress cultural relevancy and utilize all mediums and means to communicate the message of Jesus."For more information on the church, log on to www.discovertogether.com or call 724-779-1010.
