In early February, Movement Church in Hilliard, Ohio, celebrated the opening of their first permanent home. The church, which was planted in 2012, has been meeting in the local YMCA for the past decade. Lead pastor Mark Artrip reflects on the journey that brought them to where they are now.
How did Movement Church start?
Movement Church started in the fall of 2012. I had been on staff at Grace Church in Powell with Sean Spoelstra, who planted Encounter Church in Dublin, Ohio, in 2008. Sean and the elders of Encounter knew our heart to someday plant a church and the rest is history.
Movement Church first launched services in a dance studio in 2013, and later relocated to the Hilliard YMCA in 2014. We grew to two services, and during the 9 years and 11 months we met at the YMCA we sent out 25% of our adults to plant two other churches in nearby communities. We always knew a building would be a long term need. In 2018 Movement was gifted some land and we began saving seriously after that. We had already planned to do a capital campaign in 2020, and when Covid happened and we were displaced from the YMCA for 14 months, we knew we couldn’t wait any longer.
How do you hope God will use this building in your community?
The goal of this project was to give us a permanent presence in Hilliard. We want to see Jesus take hold of lives and families and this building gives us a home to minister out of. It is perfectly situated across the street from Bradley High School and Memorial Middle school in our growing district, giving us a visibility to families and a platform to do ministry from. Having been portable for so long, we are excited to have consistent room for worship, space to minster to students and kids, and flexibility for events that minister to our community. Things like tailgating parties before football games and our free Christmas store in partnership with families from the school will be easy to accommodate.
How did you get connected with the Charis Fellowship?
I have been involved with the Charis Fellowship since the day I was born. I grew up at Rittman Grace Church in northern Ohio, participating in things like Momentum Youth Conference and Momentum Travel Teams. I attended Grace College and Grace Theological Seminary. I interned at Wooster Grace Church in northern Ohio. I was a student pastor at Grace Powell Church in Central Ohio. I have also worked with Assist Church Expansion.
How did you end up as a church planter?
I went on a Momentum Travel Team when I was 17 and saw different facets of the local church. On that trip I saw multiple portable, startup, and restart churches and for some odd reason was drawn to those things. I had been drawn to pastoral ministry but was in denial that was my calling. I think practically that lane of church ministry fit my personality and heart. I committed that summer to someday plant a church. As I explored that calling over the next years of school and student ministry, I realized I wanted to lead a church that never stopped multiplying. My heart is that Movement Church continues to grow locally as well as exponentially as we have a vision to plant 25 churches. This fall we will send our third church plant (Bright City Church, led by Josh and Sarah Taylor) in Sunbury, Ohio.
