WE ARE LOVED BY GOD
AND
we will Love God Fully & Love People Selflessly

WE ARE INVITED BY JESUS 
AND
we will Abide With Him Communally

WE ARE EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY GHOST
AND
we will Go Outward Boldly

 We will be faithful to walk in prayer & to abide in the Word of God. This might be very basic, but it is also the most essential. Anything that will detract or distract from these two essential disciplines will be dismissed as unnecessary to the mission.

 We will follow God wherever, whenever, & however He leads us. Every day until the last day. No matter the risk and no matter the cost.

We will generously, joyfully, humbly & sacrificially steward our gifts & resources for the good of one another & kingdom advance.  We desire to be a people who practice selfless ministry as a lifestyle. When we feel like it and when we don’t. When others are watching and when they’re not. When it costs us nothing and when it costs us everything.

 We will connect deeply in community & disciple one another individually.  Christianity is lived out in
community, and so we will value it highly.  We’ll gather corporately on Sundays and worship Jesus
in the majority alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ. Throughout the week, we will gather in smaller groups and even one-on-one for accountability and discipleship.

We will be marked by sweet & generous welcoming
of both sinners & saints in our gatherings & in our homes.  We’ll exemplify and instill as leaders the value of opening our doors to the rich and poor alike. To the famous and the forgotten, the successful and the marginalized, the cleaned up and the cast off, and anyone and everyone who God calls us to.

We will missionally invest our personal lives locally & reach out corporately to our town with creativity & intentionality.  We will invest our lives locally in our neighborhoods, leagues, businesses, events, clubs, schools, etc.

We will leverage our resources to advance the gospel outside of our community, our comfort zone, & to the ends of the earth.  We’ll go corporately as a church and we’ll mobilize individuals personally to invest our very lives near and far as we move outward towards the last, the least, and the lost.

We will be intentional in the development
of servants, multiplication of leaders, and the planting of new churches.  We desire to multiply servants, leaders, and churches. To that end, we will value sacrifice over influence, development over excellence, and sending over growing.

 Josh Early and his wife, Faith, along with their three children (Maddox, Hudson, and Anniston) have also lived in Barboursville since 2013. Josh completed pastor training at Redemption Church in Huntington, WV, where he served as a community group leader for several years along with leading the worship band. He’s been leading music in churches as far back as 2006.

Paul Boekell and his wife, Sarah Beth, along with their four children (Isaiah, Phoenix, Ezra, and Abraham), have lived in Barboursville since 2013. Paul served as a pastor at Redemption Church in Huntington, WV, from 2013-2020 before stepping out to join God in the work of Mercy Village Church. Before that, he served in various ministry fields. Paul is currently working towards his Masters in Theology at his own pace.

Back in 2012, we were on the verge of planting a church in Barboursville, WV. But God had different plans. Better plans. Eight years have passed for us since then. But God is so present, so faithful, and so kind in the waiting. And He has been building into our hearts the kind of grace we could have never imagined. We’ve been changed and then changed again. Transformed by the loving hand of our sovereign God. Grace upon grace upon grace.

But through it all, one thing has not left us. Today, more than ever, we believe God is calling us to live our lives out on mission in Barboursville, WV, for the glory of God and the fame of Jesus. And there is now an open door to plant Mercy Village Church. Some might be thinking, “it’s about time!” But we joyfully proclaim: “God’s timing is perfect!” Let’s do this.

One year ago, the wheels were set in motion to plant Mercy Village Church, and we are currently gathering as a small core-team of folks every Sunday in Barboursville. God has generously provided a low-cost space for us to meet in as we work towards building a core-team of around 40 adults. And now we are extending the opportunity for you to join us in the work that God is already doing through prayer, donations, and partnership.

However you choose to invest with us in the work that God is doing, we are deeply thankful! And if you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to ask. Jesus is building His church here in Appalachia in a small town named Barboursville. And we are expecting big things to happen in these West Virginia hills. We’d love for you to prayerfully consider walking beside us in this endeavor.