Grace Community Fellowship may be a church, but pastor Jon Barrett wants the building to serve as something else as well.

"Our mission is to make this a place you can call home," he said. "And what is home? It's a place you can dwell in, a place you can be comfortable and a place you can feel relaxed and welcome."

Barrett became pastor at the church, located at 1483 N. Colebrook Road, Manheim, last summer. Over the past few months, he's been working on encouraging people to walk through the doors.

"My heart hurts for how many people in our community are struggling with loneliness," he said. "People have also lost their trust for the church. I want our community to know they can come here, and they will feel love. Our church family is so warm, and I want to share that with our community."

While Barrett is focused on the Bible and bringing the Word of God to people, he also wants to meet people where they are in their lives.

"People are looking for a place to go and be with other people, a place to belong," he said. "As a pastor, my heart is to see people come to know Jesus. I want people to know the Lord loves them."

Before Barrett became pastor, the church had been without a permanent leader for more than a year. He noted that although the congregation is small, the church has a long history and a strong foundation.

"The people in this congregation are so loving," he said. "My congregation really inspires me. When people come in, they will see smiling faces and friendly people. They are not judgy. They're real, and we want people to come as they are."

His vision for the church expands beyond Sunday morning worship. "Manheim doesn't currently have a hub or one place people can go for everything they need," he said. "We'd like to be a place people can come and lives can be changed. Times are tough, and every one of us is broken in some aspect. All of us need healing in some form or another. We're inviting people to come and be broken with us together. We want to get down to the root of issues and help change lives rather than just put a Band-Aid on problems."

Along with worship service on Sundays at 10:30 a.m., Grace Community Fellowship offers Sunday school for people of all ages at 9:30 a.m. A men's group meets on the first Monday of each month, and a ladies' group holds quarterly events. The congregation also hosts fellowship meals throughout the year.

Barrett noted that although the church members welcome anyone, he hopes people who come to the church will be ready for change.

"We want anybody to come as they are, but we don't want them to stay as they are," he explained. "We want them to know the life-transforming power of Jesus and the life-transforming power of relationships. If you really need love and you're not afraid to receive it, we can be that place in our community."

For more information, visit https://gcfmanheim.org.