Open Arms, Loving Hearts

“Church isn’t just a place you go or something you do — it’s who you are,” says Pastor Mike McAvoy of Open Arms FMC (Bradford, PA).

“The heart of our church,” he adds, “is authentic Christian community — where people develop a relationship with Jesus first, then with each other, then with those outside, who can readily see that we are simply a group of ordinary people experiencing an extraordinary God.”

Open Arms was planted by Allegany FMC (NY) in 2002, using a long-closed Free Meth-odist church building in Bradford as the starting point for an edgy, contemporary ministry. By October 2004, Open Arms was welcoming some 150 to Sunday-morning services, most of them drawn from the unchurched. In fact, that’s why Open Arms has such a huge children’s ministry — many visitors are young families, new to the church experience. “We don’t just want to get them into the building,” says McAvoy. “We want to draw them into a relationship with Jesus.

“We’re very relaxed and comfortable,” he adds. “But we are very serious about preaching and teaching God’s Word.” Such dedication carries over into the lives of church attendees, young and old, who readily participate in the church’s “kindness outreaches” such as a free barbecue in a local skate park and voluntary gift-wrapping at local stores during the Christmas season. A variety of cell groups provide opportunities for personal relationships to deepen while members of the body gather to study the Word, pray and fellowship.

Open Arms is indeed an excellent name for this fruitful plant where everyone who comes can feel warmly accepted and genuinely appreciated, and where people soon discover that Jesus stands ready — with arms wide open — to receive them and love them forever.