Wesleyan Life - Spring 2009 Back to Wesleyan Life Home

Love Chapel Hill

A new church plant in Chapel Hill, N.C., has an easy and unique plan for their first year in the city: learn the city and love the people.

The small group of four (two co-pastors and their wives) moved to Chapel Hill five months ago and started City on a Hill Project, a Wesleyan church plant from the North Carolina East District.

“We are taking a year to learn the community and love the people before asking people to come to a worship service,” says Matt LeRoy, co-pastor.

On December 9, 2008, Matt, as well as Justin Simmons, the church’s other co-pastor, did just that. The two braved cold temperatures and camped out one morning in “The Pit,” University of North Carolina’s central part of campus, to distribute free hot chocolate to students during final exam week. The duo didn’t advertise the church; they simply wanted to serve. Showing God’s love in a tangible way produced a mixture of reactions but brought a smile to most students’ faces.

“We simply wanted to be an encouragement to college students during their exams,” says Matt. About 50 students enjoyed a warm cup of hot chocolate while commuting across campus.

The team is also partnering with Interface Council, an organization in Chapel Hill that runs a community soup kitchen, food pantry, and homeless shelters. The couples also collected food items in their respective apartment complexes from their neighbors to donate to Interface Council. To date, numerous boxes of food items have been collected in their “Think Inside the Box” campaign.

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