Love Chapel Hill is a church plant rooting itself in the cultural center of downtown Chapel Hill. Lead Pastor Matt LeRoy calls it “a beautiful collision of college students and homeless men; young professionals and families; artists, activists and academics.”
We believe that the most eloquent articulation of the Gospel is a love that gives itself away. This belief fuels our evangelism efforts and strategies. So we give ourselves away through “Strangely Warmed,” an initiative to collect and personally deliver warm winter clothing to our homeless friends. We orchestrate “piano drops,” leaving a piano on a busy street corner for artists to play and crowds to enjoy. Sounds weird, for sure, but in a creative town that draws artists and musicians from all over theSoutheast, it’s like speaking to them in their native language. We started “Grace on Wheels”—a partnership with the local Transit Authority providing neighbors in poverty with free transportation to job interviews and medical appointments. Our kid’s ministry focuses on a local shelter for women and children. (These are not random acts of kindness, by the way. They are intentional moves of love.) And of course, we proclaim the compelling love of Jesus with bold creativity through worship gatherings and Bible studies. Through the work of The Father, Son and Spirit, we are experiencing the kind of grace that has the power to spark real transformation in the real lives of real people. – Executive Pastor Justin Simmons
God is using Love Chapel Hill to reunite his people to himself from college students to homeless people. The pastors shared the story of one such reunion in the life of a man named Felix. Drawn in by their hospitality and compassion he offered his story. He shared how he never knew his father, how he felt like he didn’t belong anywhere with anyone. He poetically mused, ‘I have the Samaritan’s curse. Nobody wants me.’ Because of his struggle and pain, he confessed that somewhere along the way, he gave up on God. With a sense of awakening and confidence, he continued, ‘But now I see that God never gave up on me. The thing about God is, He’s not a quitter.’
Matt Leroy summed it up well with this “And there you have it. Relentless grace that seeks us out and just won’t give up.”
Every Sunday, Seedbed will feature stories of how God is working through the people that make up the Church. We want to hear how God is working in your church. If you think your church should be featured in Seedbed’s Sunday series then email us at seedbed@asburyseminary.edu