Expanding its impact
Just behind the gymnasium of Paine Elementary School is the first playground erected on the property. Faith Community Fellowship Lead Pastor Steve McCarty coordinated efforts with three separate concrete companies, local businesses and volunteers from the church to donate materials and services needed to build the playground.
“The school was brand new at the time, and they were allowing us to rent the gym from them on Sunday mornings. When I asked the principal what she really needed, she said the kids needed a playground,” McCarty said.
Partnering again with local business owners, McCarty is involved in a project to construct three outdoor classrooms along the Cahaba River at Hewitt-Trussville High School. A wheelchair ramp situated along the river will also be built to allow access for all students to take advantage of the space.
“We’re always looking for ways to support the public school system,” McCarty said. “We feel like if we’re impacting the school system, we’re impacting the future. And we don’t just want to be a church to go to on Sundays. We want to impact our communities.”
The same conversations about need were in place at the church, located at 7660 Gadsden Highway, around the launch of Pell City services in August 2012.
“I would say the biggest eye opener for the people in Pell City is that they saw God through the lens of a church. And by coming to a church that does things differently, they saw God differently,” McCarty said. “They understand that their relationship with God isn’t about church experience, but about a personal experience. That’s been so refreshing to us to see life change happen.”
Easter 2016 marked the launch of Springville services in the auditorium of Springville Middle School. During its time renting space at the school, the church has replaced the stage curtains, as well as upgraded the projectors and screens in the auditorium. Next, it hopes to replace the original wooden seating in the auditorium with padded theater chairs.
“Springville has just been fun. We’ve been able to partner with One Eighty and The Church at Bradford Road. We’re not there to take people from other churches, but to work together to reach more people,” he said.
After two and half years of services there, the church is seeking land where a campus can be built in the Springville area. “We have a huge community center idea. Again, we want to impact the community. Right now we’re just waiting on finalized plans and deciding between three options,” McCarty said. “From the very beginning, we wanted to serve families whether they attended FCF or not.”
Faith Academy began with that same concept and now serves approximately 125 children through the age of 5.
Similarly, FCF also serves more than 140 homeschoolers through Faith Community Christian School. Only about 25 percent of the students’ families consider FCF their home church.
Plans to open a coffee shop are included in the third phase of construction for the church’s Trussville location, which is underway. The intent is not only to offer a coffee stop on the less commercialized side of town, but also to create a relaxed environment where people can spend time together. The target date for construction completion is spring 2019.
“The word ‘fellowship’ is in our name for a reason. I tell people all the time that they can’t remember the last five sermons I preached, but they can tell me the five people that have impacted their life the most,” McCarty said.
One of McCarty’s greatest influencers was his grandmother, who passed away last year at age 100. Though it wasn’t ultimately the reason for her passing, there was a season where she was in and out of the hospital for several months battling cancer. Her pastor visited her once during that time and she said to McCarty, “Be a pastor. Love yourpeople.”
“I do my best to love people, but I live with a lot of guilt because I want to do more. Relationships are incredibly important to me and I wish I had more time to spend with people,” he said.
One of the newer initiatives to encourage community fellowship is FCF’s Melon Mobile, which is essentially a block party on wheels.
“We pull into a neighborhood where we have permission to be, open the sides of the trailer, put the ball game on, grill for everyone and set up an inflatable bounce house for the kids. We just spend time together and get to know our neighbors,” he said.
McCarty recalled talking with his wife Dana more than a decade ago about planting a church committed to generosity. “We wondered what it would be like for people to come to church not dreading what was going to be asked of them, but instead wondering what investment would be made into them.”
McCarty said, “I’m honored and humbled that God chose me to do this. I’ve never been a part of a church like this. These people make my life so much better because I do life with them.”
Visit fcffamily.com for more information, including service locations and times.