The Harvest Community Church is a new church plant in Corry that opened April 7, and it has been getting more popular as the year goes on.
Harvest is a plant sent from Edinboro Community Church in Edinboro, PA. Cameron Atha is the lead pastor and church planner at Harvest. At the church, their mission is to, “Love God wholeheartedly, love others sacrificially, and make disciples of the real Jesus.” On their website, they spread this message here in Corry simply because they love it here.
The website the church has set up does give a pretty good idea of what this church does. However, I wanted to interview Atha myself to get the full picture of what is happening in the community.
When asked about the purpose of opening the church, Atha answered with three main points. The first being Matthew 28:18-20 “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’” These verses are known as the great commission, and Atha says that he opened the church because the Bible says to.
The second reason he mentioned was that there is a need for more gospel. He mentioned that there are 7,000 people in Corry, and even if half of those people know the gospel and are saved, then 3,500 people still are without God.
Finally, the last reason was it is simply his calling. He said he was called to serve by the Lord.
As to what this particular church believes in, Atha explained using the term “Great Commission Baptist” or more commonly known as Southern Baptist. He said that they are based upon the foundations of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), but they also believe in a full-body submersion in water as baptism as a profession of faith.
Atha described the message the church is trying to communicate. He said, “John 3:16, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” He explained that the simple message they are trying to put out is the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
What makes Harvest different from the other churches in Corry? Atha took his time answering this one, but he ended up saying that there is no major difference. “We aren’t different because we are all united in the Gospel that is Jesus Christ.” However, he answered the difference between the denominations. He said that the only major difference is that they believe in the believers’ baptism.
Closing the interview, Atha spoke about the future. He said that the church plans to do a lot of community outreach. He said that they plan to landscape the area around the church to make a full softball field, concession stand, and make a park area for the Gospel to reach the community.
