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Building the Gilbert Community
The Vision Newsletter
by Kristen Levitt, Staff Writer
Nestled in the valley of the San Tan Mountain near Phoenix, Arizona sits Gilbert Community Church. From the outside, the church may appear similar to other young churches, meeting in a school facility. But when you enter the building and attend a service, you’ll encounter real people in a high-energy atmosphere who are passionate about sharing the gospel in a relative way.
Atmosphere and message topics aren’t the only unique traits to Gilbert Community Church’s Sunday experience. "We’ve created a kind of abnormal worship service that’s focused on building relationships and creating opportunities for people to encounter God," said Tom Carlini, Senior Pastor of Gilbert Community Church.
The service kicks off at 10:37 a.m. with lively, upbeat music, followed by a brief welcome. To make sure everyone’s awake and engaged, Carlini opens with a crowd-involvement activity. It may be a few trivia questions or a game of tennis on a Wii that will somehow relate to the day’s topic. Parents and children worship together until the kids are called to their classes during what’s called a "Community Break." This is a time not only when kids are released, but when people get a chance to talk and also go out into the lobby to sign up for events and classes. "We have a well-trained welcome team that takes advantage of this time to engage people and answer questions, instead of just trying to catch them as they head to the doors after service," Carlini explains. After the Community Break, lasting about 10 to 15 minutes, the service resumes with a message that includes a multi-media presentation or drama tied in. Carlini said, "People really seem to enjoy this service style and have responded well. It’s allowed us to establish and grow relationships with our people, which is, we believe, the key."
Serving the community is another important key value of Gilbert Community Church. "We want to instill this value in our church and teach them the importance of reaching out!" exclaimed Carlini. One way they teach this is by hosting monthly community services events, continuously encouraging people to get involved. Some of their activites include partnering with the local Girls & Boys club to demonstrate Christ’s love to people in the community.
This fall, Gilbert Community Church is moving to a more central community location. The Boys & Girls club is allowing the church to use its facilities for their Sunday service. "We’ve built a great relationship with this organization and are blessed to be able to use their building. By moving to the heart of the community, we hope to raise awareness for the church and also better connect with the people," stated Carlini.
Carlini’s connection to CMA came from a relationship with Robin Wood. Carlini attend Mountain Park Community Church and served as a lay leader when Robin was the pastor. After a few years of service, he felt called into full-time ministry and started taking classes at Fuller Theological Seminary. His first full-time position in ministry was as senior pastor at Crosspoint in Tempe, Arizona. Carlini led there for two years before he felt prompted to begin a church plant. Early in 2007, Carlini gathered a core team to plant and also began raising funds. Gilbert Community Church launched on November 4th, 2007 with 320 people in attendance!
For more information on Gilbert Community Church, please visit their website at
www.gilbertcommunitychurch.com
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