How our church was born

In the late 1980's there was a group of believers meeting in a rented storefront building on the court square in Murray, KY. The church at that time was known as New Life Christian Center with Mark Welch as Pastor. The church prospered at that location until 1993, when the Fire Marshal suggested we needed larger facilities. On August 1 of that year, only a week before we had to find another building, Martin's Chapel Methodist Church offered the use of their facilities to the growing body of believers. At a time when Martin's Chapel needed additional financial support and we needed more facilities, the union was perfect. The dual use of their facilities by both churches came about only by the miraculous grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

October of 1997 saw the beginnings of a fruitful relationship with Covenant Life Fellowship Church in Kirksville, Mo. After a year and a half of input from CLF and the powerful working of God in our lives, we started to see the local church with new insight. From that insight was born the desire for a church whose foundations were firmly planted in biblical doctrine and not tradition. We knew a move toward an eldership type of government was necessary.

In 1999 Pastor Mark Welch chose to leave this body of believers. At that time the leadership, with a clear vision of team ministry and a strong desire to build a church oriented toward families, changed the name to Murray Family Church. Throughout 1999 and 2000 teaching was focused on the foundational principles of God's word from Hebrews chapter six. This was done with the guidance and assistance of Covenant Life Fellowship. They provided apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers and evangelists to mature the saints for the working of service (Ephesians 4:11-13). Old religious foundations were replaced with proper doctrines of church structure.

July of 2001 saw the completion of a phase in the church's transformation when Butch Seargent was ordained as an elder and pastor of the growing congregation. He and his wife, Jan have been an active part of the church since February 1992. Seargent's ordination was the next step in God’s plan to move us deeper into His purpose.

Butch Seargent retired from his job as Director of Planning and Engineering with the City of Murray on Dec. 31 of 2001 to pastor the church full time. The Murray Ledger and the Paducah Sun covered the change.

Then in July of 2002, Brent Armstrong was ordained as an Elder serving Murray Family Church. Brent and his wife Lisa have been an active part of the church since July 1992.

Vision

During a return trip from Pittsburg, KS in October of 2002, Butch and Brent felt a great need to consolidate all of the areas of focus God had given the church into a clear, concise vision statement. The result was a statement, inspired by the Holy Spirit, which has been the standard of measure from that point on—"Building God's Church by making disciples, restoring families and training leaders." Several weeks were spent communicating the vision to the church, which brought us into greater unity and imparted a sense of direction.

The Move

The ten-year anniversary of our union to share facilities with Martin's Chapel United Methodist Church was both a milestone and a bittersweet occasion. Late in 2002, God spoke to Pastor Butch Seargent and told him that we were suppose to move. Since that time we had been actively pursuing any suitable facility that was available. Nothing seemed to work out. After months of frustration, Butch, Jan, Brent, and Lisa were praying about the situation when again God spoke to us. In the original word He had given Butch, God said that He would provide the place for us to worship in. Yet, we were the ones doing the looking. He again reiterated that He would provide the place; we just needed to pray and trust Him.

Soon after that late May prayer meeting in Butch and Jan's living room, Butch contacted Brother Michael Blake, Pastor of Martin's Chapel United Methodist Church, to give him three months notice of our intent to move. Knowing there were no buildings available within the city limits that fit our needs, making that call was a major step of faith and obedience to God's Word.

Within a few weeks, God had us signing the lease on a building at 92 Chestnut Street that had been available the whole time we were looking in our own strength. No one noticed that it was available because another group was renting it on a month-by-month basis for a weekly coffee house. The owner gave us an occupancy date of September 1, 2003, the day after our last service with Martin's Chapel, further confirming that God's hand was guiding us. He also gave us the month of August to update the structure to meet our needs.

An able crew of volunteers, led by Rick Walls rewired, moved doorways and walls, sheet rocked, painted, moved ductwork, laid carpet, and installed nearly seventy recessed lights. The result was the transformation of a building that had previously been used for everything from auto repair, retail, computer training, and even another church building about ten years ago, into one ready for use in "making disciples, restoring families, and training leaders."

In 2007, the leaders and members again began to sense God’s leading to a different location.  We felt it was now time to purchase our own building. We began to pray, and at the end of a three-week Daniel fast (see Daniel 1:11-12), the leadership felt confident that purchasing the building at 411 Maple Street, the former Ward-Elkins Appliance Store, was God’s will for MFC. This building, on the court square in downtown Murray, has been undergoing major transformations with volunteered time and services since early April of 2008.  The location is a perfect fit for MFC as God has led us to become more and more active and visible and carry out the mission of serving our community by showing God’s love in practical ways.  MFC has been participating in the downtown Saturday Market since 2006 by handing out free water to the customers and vendors.  We have also been involved in community parades and the Great Beginning events for MSU, among others.  Butch has been an active member of Murray Mainstreet’s board for three years and received the award of “Volunteer of the Year” in 2006.

For the first few months after taking possession of our new location, services were held in the back “warehouse” of the building, while the front room was being prepared to be our main worship area.  We are now holding services in that freshly-remodeled area. The building will eventually house a café and individual rooms and offices. 

This has been an exciting time of deepening relationships and vision for the body, as we work side by side.  We have been privileged to see God’s hand at work in providing what we need to accomplish this task, as we continue to trust Him daily.  Even in this time of transition, new people are coming to be part of our family.  At MFC we are anticipating great things in our future and we can’t wait to see all that He has planned.