DEENA HARDIN
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Pastor Travis McKamie of what was Unity Church wants the community to know that Magnolia Christian Center (MCC) recently merged with that church and will now be Unity Church Magnolia. The old MCC sign is coming down soon--possibly today--to make way for the new.
McKamie and his wife, Pamela Porter McKamie, are locals who were away for a few years. "I grew up in the area, and my wife graduated from Magnolia High School," he said. "We met at church when we were in high school. One of our first dates was to homecoming her senior year."
The McKamies married and became youth pastors at University Assembly of God in 2003, where they served for three years. "That's when our ministry began here in Magnolia," he said.
After three years as music pastors in Radcliff, Ky., the couple returned to Magnolia. "We founded Unity Church in February of this year," he said. "We were meeting at the college, at Foundation Hall, for about three months, and then we were meeting at 2210 N. Jackson in the shopping center. We now have a ministry there called Chi Alpha, which is a student organization, student fellowship of Christians. They meet Mondays at 7 p.m. That's an extension of this church. We fed around 400 students on Sunday night in the mall area on campus."
At the time McKamie founded his church, MCC was searching for a new permanent pastor. "They had an interim pastor. They were looking for a pastor, and we were looking for a building."
Just last month, on July 17, McKamie had a dream about merging the churches. "On July 18, a board member from Magnolia Christian Center contacted me. The conversation began about the possibility of merging the churches. We just said, 'The Lord's will be done. We'll just wade in and see what happens.' At that time, I wasn't sure and they weren't sure. I had never preached here."
After only two services of the combined churches in the MCC facility, there was no doubt left. "It was really amazing. I can't imagine how it could have been any better. It was well attended by both churches. We met again on August 4, and that's when the board of MCC communicated to us that they were ready to begin the merger process. It became official on August 14, and we announced it to the congregations," McKamie said. Subsequent combined services have also been well attended.
"The great thing is that the churches have had, from the beginning, the same fundamental doctrine--maybe worded a little differently but the same doctrine, the same beliefs. When we started talking about our vision and our mission for the church, we just started seeing that there's no reason for us not to get together. Back in February, I believe the Lord laid it on my heart to name the church Unity Church because He was going to do something miraculous in our community that was going to bring churches together. We just had no idea this would be it. Unity is what we're seeing. When we came together, it was literally like a family reunion with people you've never met before, but you knew you were connected, you knew you were close, you knew you were meant to be together. It's a win-win."
There's an excitement in the air that the merged congregation shares. MCC board member James McClellan said, "We knew Travis and many of the members of his congregation. In fact, Unity folks often turned out to assist in MCC work projects. We knew that their core beliefs matched ours. We were in 100 percent agreement that a merger of the two congregations was not only the right thing to do, it was the God thing to do. I've been asked many times recently, 'Why did Magnolia Christian Center merge with Unity Church? The short answer is, 'God told us to.' The name Unity reflects a new generation of believers and a renewal of MCC's vision to reach the city, area, and the world with the Gospel."
The new church's five-point mission plan spells out UNITE: Unite through fellowship; Nourish through care; Instruct through teaching; Train through discipleship; and Evangelize through outreach. "The vision of the church is to train and equip disciples to be instrumental in breaking down spiritual barriers and uniting the Body of Christ as displayed in Psalm 133, our mission scripture," McKamie said. "Our vision is that this will be a place that God will just command a blessing, where people in need will find hope, find restoration, find healing through the ministry that takes place."
While Pamela is also serving as the church secretary, McKamie said, "She definitely serves with me in ministry." The two have degrees from Southwestern Assembly of God University, Brownsville Revival School of Ministry, and Global University.
McKamie said he's excited about the facilities at the new church, too. "We had rented two spaces in the shopping center across from the college, 2204 and 2210 N. Jackson. The space at 2204 was my office. God just really blessed us during that transition from February to August. We were settling in, remodeling that, but now it'll be used by Chi Alpha. It feels good here. It feels like we're home. We feel like this is what God had intended. It wasn't on our radar but there's no doubt about it, the way everything just fell into place. There's such a sweet spirit in the congregation."
He quoted a friend who is also a minister: "If anything ever happens to your church and the community doesn't realize you're gone, then you have failed in your mission to reach that city." He added, "Our heart is to make an impact in this city. Our vision is not for these four walls, for the boundaries of this property. Our heart is for the Kingdom of God." McKamie is an active part of the Magnolia Ministers Network and a chaplain for the Magnolia Police Department.
"If we can be of service to any church or minister or anything we can do for the Body of Christ, we're all about it. We believe that God is positioning the churches in Magnolia--not just our church--for something great, and we want to be a part of it. We've got to be about the Father's business," he said.
One of the biggest changes, besides the sign on the building that faces the highway, is the move from being a non-denominational church as MCC to being affiliated with Assemblies of God as Unity Church Magnolia. In the future, McKamie is looking forward to doing some remodeling and updating of the facilities.
Unity Church Magnolia is located at 92 Highway 79 North. Sunday services are at 10:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., and the Wednesday service is at 6:30 p.m.
"We want guests to feel welcome, regardless of race or social class. We want everyone to feel welcome to worship with us. That's our heart. That's unity. We want this to be a place where you walk in and say, 'The name fits.' We're excited. We're ready," McKamie said.