A crowd of 140 recently gathered at Valley Elementary School in Pelham to witness the first official worship service of Shelby County’s newest addition to the religious community. Offering an alternative to traditional Baptist churches, Perimeter Pointe Church promises to point people to God through regular worship and small, home-based study groups.
“Our goal is to break down every barrier for people who don’t go to church,” said Senior Pastor Mark Gainey. “We want to be friendly, casual and contemporary. We only have one rule — you can’t wear a tie.”
In a two-part sermon combined with praise and worship songs, Gainey presented one of life’s most commonly asked questions, “What is the point of life?” After a short video displaying the unfortunate confusion of many Americans, he presented the biblical answer to the question.
“People think that as long as your good works outweigh your bad on the scale of life, that’s enough,” Gainey said, former outreach director at Valleydale Baptist Church, Birmingham, which sponsored Perimeter Pointe. “To bring purpose to your life you must have a relationship with God no matter what it takes, where it leads or what it costs.”
As a church of next steps, Perimeter Pointe will strive to help both Christians and nonbelievers develop growing relationships with Jesus Christ, according to Gainey.
“We are real people in search of real truth on our spiritual journey through life,” he added.
Since leaving his position at Valleydale a few months ago, Gainey and his 21-member congregation have been reaching out to the rapidly growing communities of Pelham, Helena and Alabaster through various neighborhood events. Once, the group gave out soft drinks and water to shoppers at Helena Marketplace to inform them about the new church.
“God has given me a heart for this area and the response has been very positive,” Gainey said. “Everywhere I turn, people are yearning for an alternative to the contemporary church. We are a real place for real people with real answers for real life.”
Though Gainey urges everyone interested in joining a church to consider Perimeter Pointe, he strongly disagrees with any satisfied members of other congregations leaving their church home.
“We are not here to steal fish,” Gainey said. “Our target is the unchurched.”
Perimeter Pointe has scheduled another preview service at Valley Elementary on Feb. 9 and another in March. On Easter, the church plans to launch its weekly worship services.
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