Typically, birthday parties are just for children. However on Sunday Jan. 30, the Orchard Oxford celebrated its 4th birthday as a church.
Granted, there was cake, but the day wasn’t celebrated like most birthdays. Pastor Pat Ward decided to celebrate by holding a service that broke down the traditional ideas of what a church service really is.
The service incorporated audience participation, which put the audience in a circle rather than everyone facing one-direction. There was also no music nonetheless, that didn’t stop attendees from packing the house to the point of being forced to bring in chairs from the children’s Sunday school rooms.
Since the church’s conception it has struggled to find a definite location.
The Orchard held its first service at the Powerhouse January 28, 2007. They remained in that location until the summer of 2009, when they had the chance to move into the Amp movie theater.
Although they were only there for about three months until it closed.
“We loved being in the Amp and then one day at home we got a call that we had to move all of our stuff out that day so we didn’t have anywhere to meet that Sunday,” Sarah Ward, Pat’s wife, said.
Pat said he really enjoyed having the church at the Amp and saw a lot of growth but they were forced to move back into the Powerhouse while they searched yet again for a new location.
Moving back into the Powerhouse was not easy though. Often when setting up on Sunday mornings they would encounter remains from a party held during the week.
“There were times we’d go to set up on Sunday morning and there’d been a wedding reception, crawfish boil or leftovers from a party,” Blake Thompson, associate pastor of The Orchard, said. “So, half the time things would be in order and others it wouldn’t, so you’d never know what you were going to run into.”
Although the church was encountering struggles with Sunday morning messes, they didn’t lose hope. They began meeting at Rooster’s Blues Bar on Sunday nights to alleviate their growing need for additional space.
In late 2009, the church found a building for lease that was in their price range, a former funeral home on Molly Barr Road.
“We finally found a church home, a building that we can be in, but while that has edified us a church body, it has forced us to focus on ourselves,” Pat said. “While that hasn’t been a horrible thing, if we don’t begin to turn our eyes outward and look to the city and some of the needs that are there I think what God has begun here will stumble.”
The church began meeting at their new location in January 2010 and have seen exponential growth in attendance with most Sunday mornings, packing in people like sardines to the point of standing room only. Their current location holds about 200 people, but on an average Sunday they average around 250 to 275 people.
“The thing that I’m most excited about for the future of this church is that I’m not the only one dreaming anymore,” Pat said. “If we continue to come around the scripture with an open and honest look at community where we listen to each other and honor one another, then our collective dreams are much more important than mine.”
Blake Thompson, Pat & Sarah Ward can all be contacted at 662.259.0094
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