Bringing Church to the Comfort of Home in Richmond Hill

The Salvation Army’s Neighbourhood Church in Richmond Hill takes on a deeper meaning for congregants seeking to connect and spread the word in a comfortable and relaxed environment.

For the last year and a half, Richmond Hill Salvationists have been gathering at the homes of church members three Sundays a month, with four small individual congregations meeting up for food, fellowship, prayer, discussion, and reflection. On the fourth Sunday, the entire congregation gathers for collective fellowship at a local Royal Canadian Legion branch.

When regulations around COVID-19 restrictions started to relax in Ontario, Pastors Krista and Tim Andrews saw the need to move from on-line virtual church services to small in-person gatherings, from which Neighbourhood Church was born.

“There is a lot of value of meeting together in small groups as a building block. Rather than being a church that meets week to week as a collective and then not being a part of each other’s lives during the week, we flipped the tables and made our mainstay meeting in small groups,” Pastor Tim says.

“We’re putting more priority on smaller groups where people can kind of connect with each other in a smaller setting, which lends itself to a bit more vulnerability and relational contact.”

Each gathering watches a pre-recorded worship message on YouTube, followed by scripture, song, prayer and worship, and a series of reflection questions designed to promote deeper discussion on how to bring God into daily life.

This fall, because of the growing size of the groups, the hope is to expand the number of Neighbourhood Church gatherings to as many as six or seven host homes with a maximum of 10-12 people attending each service. Most who attend each Neighbourhood Church live within walking distance.

Richmond Hill Community Church has a Ministry Centre where programs are held, and youth Bible groups meet. The lack of a physical church building in the community has not stopped Salvationists from making a deep connection through Jesus.

“We really want to center ourselves around meeting together in small groups at Neighbourhood Church, and the collective gathering is an opportunity to celebrate all that is happening in our lives,” Pastor Tim says.

For more details about The Salvation Army Neighbourhood Church in Richmond Hill, please call 905-737-0496 or send an email to info@rhcconline.ca.