When Gray Harwell

speaks, people listen. His voice is like hot buttered toast rich, well-modulated,

but with just enough gravel. Harwell speaks with compassion and love,

particularly when he's speaking about the new Peachtree City Community

Church (PCCC), scheduled to hold its very first service this weekend.

Harwell, 56,

and his wife Sandy, 55, have lived in Fayetteville since the late 1980s.

Prior to moving here to pastor a church, they hosted a Christian television

program on marriage. More recently, he has been in ministry to local pastors

a pastor's pastor.

With four adult

children and two grandchildren, the Harwells will reach their 36th wedding

anniversary in August.

But, for the

Harwells, Peachtree City Community Church is not about their 30 years

of ministry experience.

"You have

to have God calling you to [start another church]," Harwell says.

"You can't do it because you're unhappy with other churches."

He adds, "It

has to be built on relationships. We've attended North Point, and as Pastor

Andy Stanley says, 'church exists for people to be in relationship with

God and each other.'"

Sandy Harwell

continues, "It's not about religion, it's about relationship; that's

what God wants for us with him and what he wants with each other."

For that reason,

the leadership team for PCCC has already begun meeting together, praying

together.

"The first

thing the Lord said to us was to build a strong relationship with the

founders, the leaders of the church," Harwell said.

Every Wednesday

and every Sunday for the last month, this team has gathered, often for

a meal, always to pray for their new community. Last week they explained

what drew them together.

Tommy and Suzanne

Parrish of Peachtree City needed advice on which local church might be

a good fit for them, having left their former church a month or so before.

In his "retirement" from corporate work, Tommy Parrish led in

administration at his previous church. He was looking forward to "sitting

back and relaxing." But God had other plans.

The Harwells

had dinner at the Parrish home with their care group, a small praise,

prayer and Bible study gathering.

Rather than

asking the Harwells about a church, Tommy found himself asking, "Have

y'all ever thought about starting a church in Fayette County?" It

was something the Harwells had been praying about for several years. They

always thought God would bring them the right people to start it.

In an instant

the group knew that this was from God. They would build a church. The

Parrishes brought in other friends from the care group.

Signing on

right away were Bob and Diane Hartman.

"Everyone

expressed that we wanted to see and be in the presence of the Lord,"

Hartman said.

His wife added,

"We've been seeking a place where God's presence would be. We knew

we would know when we would find it. We believe God is accomplishing something

we've been praying for for years."

Harwell plans

to preach a series on what God wants in a church. And, to that, Suzanne

Parrish says, "That's the cry of my heart, not what I want, but what

God wants. It's for the Lord's glory, not ours. We want to know Him better.

We want to glorify Him."

Harwell says,

"My first responsibility is to love the people, before preaching

and teaching. If I love the people and feed them with the Word, they will

be healthy and grow, and I will earn the privilege of leading them."

Harwell's wife

says of her husband, "I think they will see God's love in him and

God's love is irresistible."

Harwell says

the new church wants to be a church that's passionate about God. "The

presence of God changes lives. First he changes us, then our homes, then

our communities, then the world," he said.

To demonstrate

the life-changing presence of God is the desire of the whole leadership

team. They exhibit that in their words, and in the way they treat one

another. They are working together to share responsibilities. Sandy Harwell

says, "We can all be like Jesus, because he lives in us."

Her husband

added, "The people in the church are going to reach out to nonbelievers.

We become an expression of Christ,"

The Harwells

want to avoid religious "trappings " and Harwell says that the

advantage to starting a new church is a clean slate. "You can direct

it in the way God has put it in your heart," he says.

Suzanne Parrish

adds, "A lot of people reach over God to build a church. We

want to follow after God." Her husband Tommy is now out of

retirement, again, and has taken on the responsibility of the new administrator

of PCCC.

The new church

begins holding worship services this Sunday at the Peachtree Wyndham Conference

Center. Services start at 10:30 a.m.

Back

to the Top of the Page