S.C. Megachurch Launches Fifth Campus in Charleston
A South Carolina megachurch officially launched its fifth campus in Charleston on Sunday, aiming to reach the 84 percent of "unchurched" people in the area.
NewSpring Church Senior Pastor Perry Noble welcomed the new site, located at the North Charleston Coliseum Convention Center, with applause during the second morning service.
"At the first service in Charleston, they had 280 people show up and they had two people surrendered in Christ," Noble joyfully reported to his congregation. "I got a text that they are putting out more chairs right now."
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The launch comes about a year after NewSpring announced it was going to open a campus in Charleston. Andy Green, pastor of the Charleston campus, held several preview services in the fall of last year before its debut Sunday.
"We are so glad that you guys are with us," Noble told the Charleston campus, which was watching the sermon broadcast.
By the end of the 11:15am service, the senior pastor reported on his Twitter that over 600 people had joined in worship at the Charleston site.
Around 10,000 people total attend weekly services at Newspring Church's other four campuses in Anderson (main), Columbia, Florence and Greenville.
Among all the campuses, the Charleston location is in a community that has the lowest church attendance rate.
The majority of the population in each of the megachurch's locations are "unchurched": Anderson County (53 percent), Greenville County (61 percent), Florence County (75 percent), and Columbia (81 percent), according to Noble.
"The goal for our church is reducing that number in each community to zero percent," Noble wrote on his blog last year. "I have a passion that I want it to be impossible for a person in the communities we are planted in to go to hell."
NewSpring Church is expected to announce the locations where it plans to open more campuses next month.
