Mission Community Church

This church is sandwiched within Morrison Ranch. You might want to check it out, as they just opened a new sanctuary.

About Mission Community Church

Established: 1995 in Gilbert.

Affiliation: Converge Worldwide (Baptist General Conference), a Christian fellowship of evangelical churches.

Congregation: 4,000, mostly young families drawn from the Southeast Valley and beyond.

Lead pastor: Mark Connelly.

Vision: "In the name of Jesus, do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God." (Micah Chapter 6, Verse 8)

What's new: Grand opening on Sunday of new, theater-style worship facility seating 1,500. Services are at 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 11:59 a.m.

Grand opening project: Through an arrangement with a New York-based organization called charity:water, the church will donate five years of drinking water to a person in a developing country, for every person who attends this Sunday.

Where: 4450 E. Elliot Road, Gilbert.

Details: 480-545-4024, mission68.org.

Ongoing charitable projects

• Rescuing girls from the sex trade industry in the South Pacific. The church, teamed with Homes of Hope in Fiji, is in the process of building a 43-acre village in Suva, Fiji, where girls rescued from exploitation and trafficking are rehabilitated. The village is 70 percent completed, and when done, will house 200 girls. More such villages are to be built.

• In partnership with the non-profit Somebody Cares Malawi, the church has adopted the regional village of Chikudzulire, in Malawi, Africa, an impoverished country. About 1,000 children orphaned when both their parents died of AIDS live in the village, where the church has established clean water, wells, a feeding center, community center and pastoral care.

• Closer to home, the church helps House of Refuge East, a non-profit that helps homeless families and individuals in crisis by providing transitional housing and supportive services. Church volunteers work with children, transition families to a sustainable lifestyle, manage donations, coordinate service projects and assist in the development of future mission opportunities.

• Supplying food and personal items to Open Arms Care Center in Gilbert.

• Open Table is a ministry (a life-coaching program) designed to help people trapped in the cycle of poverty break the cycle and become self-sustaining. Their slogan is "from homeless to wholeness, one life at a time."

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