The PORCH

Why we chose this name — and what it's meant to picture.

PORCH is more than a name.

It comes from a place we see in the New Testament: Solomon's Portico, or Solomon's Porch. It was a covered colonnade along the temple complex in Jerusalem, and it became a significant place where Jesus and His followers gathered.

Jesus was there. His disciples were there.

And after Jesus' resurrection, the Apostles continued to gather there to teach, worship, proclaim the gospel, and engage the people around them.

John tells us that Jesus was walking in Solomon's Portico when people gathered around Him and asked Him to speak plainly about who He was. John 10:23 In Acts, Peter and John were there after the healing of the lame man, and Peter proclaimed Jesus to the crowd. Acts 3:11 Luke tells us that the Apostles regularly gathered there, and that people from the surrounding city were drawn to them. Acts 5:12

That picture is part of what we want PORCH to be:
a place where we gather around Jesus without turning inward.

A place where we learn His Word, worship, pray, share life together, ask honest questions, encourage one another, and proclaim the good news of Jesus.

But there is something else about a porch that fits what we want to be as a church.

A porch is connected to the home, but it faces outward. We want to be deeply rooted in Christ while always facing toward the people around us.

We gather around Jesus.
We welcome people in.
We make Him known.
We live faithfully in the middle of our city.
And we wait with hope for the day our King returns.

PORCH isn't meant to be a place where we hide from the world. It is a place where we meet with Christ, grow together as His people, and then go back out into the world with His good news.

That is the picture behind PORCH.