HIStory
The Dwelling Place began in 1999 as Maranatha Christian Fellowship. Several friends received a similar prompting from God to start a church together in Wilmington. As we prayed and discussed what to do we were directed to ask John Hobbs to consider pastoring this new church plant. Maranatha began meeting in September of 1999 in the McAnderson’s Inc. Corporate Office.
These early gatherings were simple and intimate. Each Thursday friends would gather simply to love God and each other through song, teaching, prayer, communion and fellowship. People were drawn by people and the presence of Jesus and His love was evident in the lives being touched. We were not concerned about building something because God was building what He desired in living stones. Jesus was enough. Friendships were formed, people invested in each other.
As the church grew in number, it moved to Holly Tree Elementary School. The first Sunday Service on October 31st, 1999 was agreat celebration. We continued to also meet on Thursdays as a very informal Bible study with personal prayer. Word of mouth spread and the church grew. Programs began to take shape. But, the space we were meeting in felt less personal and intimate than with our humble beginnings. There were questions about what to do with children, youth and classes.
Through much searching Maranatha moved to 1111 The Cape Blvd. in June of 2000. So many people came together to transform a dated Real Estate office into a church. We began to promote the church, placed a sign out front and word spread. As we grew, with programs and staff added, we needed more space. So, in May of 2003 Maranatha purchased the 5 acres and building they were leasing. We now had 100% 24 hour access to do ministry. Incredible things were happening in the lives of people.
In the Summer of 2006 Pastor John received a vision during Sunday worship…
It was a typical Sunday service. We were going through the same routine we go through every Sunday. As we came to our time of worship, I was engaged as I usually am somewhere between sorting out the last thoughts of the sermon I am about to deliver and half listening for any last-minute promptings from the Holy Spirit and trying to worship. All of a sudden I am arrested by God with a vision. I am engulfed by what I see in the Spirit as everything in the natural fades into the backdrop till I am only aware of God and what He’s showing me. And, this is all I see…
I was taken outside of our Church building as I watched a storm appear. It was sudden with no time to prepare. You could not see the storm, only it’s effects. It was like seeing one of those storm stories about a hurricane or tornado on the Discovery Channel. The power of the wind began to tear the building apart starting with the shingles. Piece by piece the building tore apart, shingles, plywood, timbers and bricks, til all that was left was the concrete slab foundation. Then as quickly as the church was torn apart and stripped away, God began to build it back. Suddenly, I found myself back standing in our sanctuary singing our last song if worship.
I tried quickly to compose myself. What now? I sensed in my spirit that God was about to do what I saw, but I had no idea what that meant. As I said before, it frightened me and captured me. I heard the Lord say, “surrender.”
I made my way up front and stood before the people God had been so gracious to bring together as our church. I felt compelled to share what I saw and what God said to me. When I was done sharing the vision, I said to the church that I sensed God telling us to surrender, that if He needed to strip anything away, we needed to surrender and let Him. If I needed to go, the building needed to go, any programs, any people, finances, ideologies about ministry or personal issues, then we needed to surrender and let Him. I asked everyone to pray with me a prayer of consecration.
What began to happen, no one would have expected. Outside in our community and nation, we began to enter into some of the hardest financial times we had seen in decades and for some these were devastating. In our church, the personal struggles had their trickle down effect. Within 30 days of the vision people began to fall away from the church. First to go were those who had seen Maranatha as a place to attend, but never opened their lives up to let others in. They were the ones who came late and left early. There was never any clear explanation why. They just drifted away. As the personal struggles in peoples lives increased with loss of jobs and loss of homes, so increased the difficulties in the church.
As we prayed for direction the stripping away continued personally and as a church. In the process God began to reveal something much simpler to us. Though the loss of relationships was painful, we found that Jesus is enough. In the process of becoming a growing church we had developed so many things that had clouded what was most important. We had lost sight of the church in the midst of building a church. We could not see the church outside of its building and programs. We had developed a “yall come to our building” mentality of ministry. God began to strip all that away to reveal the essence of what it means to His child, the body, the church – His Dwelling Place!
In 2008 we changed our name to what we had become – The Dwelling Place. Since that time we have discovered the original vision of being the church and began to let God build us as we love each other. We have moved from our building into our homes and are being the church where the church actually lives. The church is the people whom God has called out to be His. The church is the people living Kingdom life together, day in and day out where ever they are. It’s no longer just a place for us to attend for and hour on Sunday. Church is gathering in and going out.
The Dwelling Place
We are presently meeting in the home of our pastor. We use the word “Gathering” instead of “service” for when we get together because it better describes what we do. We do not come to be served but rather serve God and each other. We gather to worship, learn, share our stories, pray, share communion, give, love and laugh. It’s interactive, intimate, personal and informal. It’s not schedule driven but Holy Spirit driven. We value each persons gifts and contributions. We love each other.
Thursday nights we gather for a Fellowship meal. Each person brings something (if they can) to share for a common meal. It’s a natural gathering with no driven agenda other than to spend time with each other. We eat, talk and what ever else seems natural to do together amongst friends sharing life together.
The thing we are finding is when you spend time together naturally with the belief that you are the church and the Holy Spirit is always present, God begins to do stuff. Relationships that are looking for God find life always gives natural opportunities for ministry and the spiritual gifts we possess. In a casual moment a friend could share about a struggle, it gives a natural opportunity to show love, encouragement and prayer. God has given us the greatest gift through his son Jesus – life! We get to share this with others in natural, not artificial ways.
We are not anti-church nor anti- building or program. But we are believers in a simplified life. We want to love Jesus, not things. And we want to value people the way Jesus did, laying his life down as a sacrifice and ultimate expression of the Father’s love for all of humanity. This is our journey – this is The Dwelling Place!
If this resonates with you, we invite you to come along with us.
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