Christ Presbyterian Church, otherwise known as the secret church, has opened their new location on Sisk Avenue.

They had their first service there at the new location on Aug. 2. Their opening was without a lot of fanfare on purpose.

“There were a number of different factors that kept us from being a sort of public opening,” said Les Newsom, the lead pastor at Christ Presbyterian. “We wanted time to get all the nooks and crannies, and kinks worked out of the building before we had a large public gathering.”

Prior to the move, the church was located next to the Shell station on University Avenue. The space was a rental while they worked to get their new building sorted out.

“A brand new building is a whole new animal,” Newsom said.

Christ Presbyterian is a church that exists to proclaim hope, to build a home and to launch a healing. These phrases are what make up the church’s mission.

“That first one about proclaiming hope, we believe is centered in the gospel of Jesus Christ is found in the scriptures,” Newsom said. “That second one about building a home, talks about the community that we want to form and fashion, that we believe is called a church, is vital to the lives of God’s people. That last one about launching a healing is about the posture that we want to have towards our community.”

The church offers three services for people to attend. The service at 8 a.m. is for people over the age of 65 and are immunocompromised. The other two are at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. which anyone can attend. For people who do not wish to be inside the church but would still like to attend service, they offer a video version of the service on their website.

Due to COVID-19, the church asks that people inside the building wear a mask. They also ask that people sit with at least one row between each row and at least 3 seats between each person on either side. If a person is there with a roommate, family member or significant other then they can sit beside each other.