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'Charismatic' church eager for new start in Eighty Four
For the Observer-Reporter
newsroom@observer-reporter.com
There's a new church in town. Family Worship Center of Pittsburgh will hold its grand opening at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 29 in Nottingham Christian Church, Eighty Four.
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"This is not choir and old hens; this is drums, guitars, bass and microphones," said Beverly Owen of Peters Township, whose husband, John, will lead the worship.
In other words, this is not your grandmother's church. FWC is a Full Gospel Pentecostal Church.
"We are very much worship-based," Beverly Owen said. "The worship team that we have is almost complete. The Lord has really blessed us."
The worship team includes local musicians Matt Malik, Mitch Malik, Sharon Kampe, Tony Montecalvo, Rich Leasure and Stephen King. The band leads the congregation in upbeat Christian music.
Pastor John Owen began his ministry in 1995, serving on the worship team of Nottingham Christian Church for several years before being called to serve at South Hills Assembly in Bethel Park. While there, he also served as a youth leader and interim youth pastor. He then became a youth pastor at Carpenter's Home Church in Washington, and later worship pastor at Victory Church in Peters Township, which moved to Washington. In August 2009, he began the Family Worship Center.
The new church is an offshoot of the Family Worship Center of Paraguay, a church with more than 10,000 members and 40 daughter churches in South America. FWC of Pittsburgh is the first daughter church to open in the United States.
Beverly Owen's sister and brother-in-law, Bethany and Emilio Abreu, operate FWC of Paraguay. About 20 years ago, they started a group Bible study in their home. This grew to renting buildings, to building a church for 2,000, and eventually to a building that holds 14,000. It is now the largest church in Paraguay.
At the grant opening, FWC will have a live feed from the mother church.
In addition to worship services, FWC of Pittsburgh also partners with Nottingham Christian Church's youth group, which meets Thursdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Children's church is provided for 3- to 8- year-olds after the worship service, and nursery school is available for infants through children 2 years old.
"We are blessed to have a youth group, because we have so many young adults," Beverly Owen said. "The Lord has really blessed us every step of the way when we took this direction; he just opened doors for us."
The couple hope to attract new members and grow the church into its own building.
"Our worship is really different for this area, extremely contemporary," she said. "It's a very charismatic church."
Family Worship Center holds worship every Sunday night at 6:30 at Nottingham Christian Church, 1028 Linden Road, Eighty Four. Its Web site is www.fwcpgh.org.
