Next Level Church is a church in

Matthews Matthews may refer to: People * Matthews (surname) Places * Matthews Island, Antarctica * Matthews Range, Kenya * Mount Matthews, New Zealand United States * Matthews, Georgia * Matthews, Indiana * Matthews, Maryland * Matthews, Missouri * Mat ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, a

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

suburb. It was founded in 2005.

History

Next Level Church initially began meeting as a launch team in January 2005 at Park Church South in

Pineville, North Carolina Pineville (; locally ) is a suburban town in the southernmost portion of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States, situated in the Waxhaws district between Charlotte and Fort Mill. History Pineville became known as a mule trading cen ...

. Meetings were held on Sunday nights and drew around 40 people. The church held its first public worship service on Sunday morning September 11, 2005, in the gymnasium of Community House Middle School located in the

Ballantyne Ballantyne may refer to: People * Charles Ballantyne (1867–1950), Canadian politician * David Ballantyne (1924–1986), a New Zealand journalist, novelist and short-story writer * Edith Ballantyne (born 1922), Czech-born Canadian executive secre ...

area of

. Due to potential damage to the wooden gym floor, Next Level Church's lease was terminated in July 2006. The search for a new location yielded a campus with three buildings on and another church named Tri-County Community Church (TC3) in Matthews which was meeting weekly on Saturday nights. Next Level Church met in the Matthews facility for the first time on August 20, 2006. TC3 and Next Level merged into a single congregation under the name of Next Level Church. In 2007, Next Level adopted Project 485, an ambitious plan to begin Next Level campuses near every exit of

Interstate 485 Interstate 485 (I-485) is a auxiliary Interstate Highway encircling Charlotte, North Carolina. As a complete Ring road, loop, it is primarily signed with "inner" and "outer" designations, though at some major interchanges, supplemental si ...

, the loop highway surrounding Charlotte. The first Project 485 campus, in the Ballantyne area, launched on February 2008, led by Campus Pastor Robbie McLaughlin. On February 10, 2008. Next Level Church launched its second campus in the Ballantyne area of Charlotte.

Mission and values

Next Level Church's mission is to be a church for people who are "spiritually curious or committed, looking for life purpose and meaning, trying to figure out how spirituality and real life intersect, or just trying to find some real relationships". They aim to be a place where anyone can come and take the next step in a relationship with the Christian God. They call themselves "a place for the screwed and the screwed up". The three core values of Next Level are: #Living Life Together #Giving Ourselves Away #Connecting Disconnected People

Church "planting"

Next Level planted a church in November 2006 known as The Journey, which meets within a few miles of uptown Charlotte. The lead pastor is Mark Griffith. On January 28, 2007, Next Level planted a church called Element, led by Brian Phipps, along with Bill Babson and Frank Hamrick in the Southwest suburbs of Charlotte. Element had an attendance of approximately 330 on their first Sunday of public worship services.Valle, K. "New church starting at Ayrsley theater" ''

The Charlotte Observer ''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American English-language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. I ...

'', January 25, 2007

References

{{Reflist

External links

Next Level Church

Matthews, North Carolina Matthews is a town in southeastern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States. It is a suburb of Charlotte. The population was 27,198 according to the 2010 Census. History In the early 19th century, the new settlement that would become Ma ...

Evangelical churches in North Carolina Churches in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Evangelical churches in Charlotte, North Carolina