Faith Corner: Eagle Pointe Church

Acworth contributor Cindy Butson asked Pastor Howard Koepka about .

Acworth Patch: When was the church established?

Pastor Howard Koepka: Seven years ago the church was on the verge of closing its doors. We re-started the church with 40 people. After a trying the first two years things began to turn around. The last five years we have grown to 450 members.

Acworth Patch: What are the fundamental beliefs of your church? Are you part of a larger association?

Koepka: We are a casual, contemporary, non-denominational Christian church. We team up and work with a number of like-minded churches and ministry organizations. Some of these include: The International & North American Mission Boards, Purpose Driven Churches, Willow Creek Association, and ChurchPlanters.com.

Acworth Patch: How many members, pastors and staff do you have?

Koepka: We have 450 members, two full-time and one part-time pastoral staff.

 Acworth Patch:  When and where do you meet?

Koepka: Eagle Pointe Church at 5100 Old Stilesboro Road, Acworth, GA 30101 Sundays 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Acworth Patch: Do you offer contemporary or traditional style worship?

Koepka: Contemporary. As we say, “It’s like church meets rock n’ roll. Who says you have to dress up for church?” and “Church for people who don’t ‘do’ church”. Approximately 60 percent of those attending Eagle Pointe had never attended church or had not attended for many years prior to coming to Eagle Pointe. In 2010 the church baptized over 60 new believers and has already baptized 40 so far this year.

Acworth Patch: What kind of fellowships or Bible study groups do you have and when do they meet?

Koepka: We have numerous home small groups which we call ‘Life Groups’ meeting all over Acworth, Kennesaw, Marietta and Cartersville.

Acworth Patch: What programs do you have for children (parents) attending Sunday school at the church?

Koepka: We do have a Sunday morning Bible study on Sundays 11 a.m. on campus. We also have baby/preschool ministry and dynamic Children’s ministries offered during both Sunday morning service times. Our high school and middle school ministries meet on campus Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. for a large group event and offers life groups at homes as well.

Acworth Patch: What’s unique about being a pastor in Acworth?

Koepka: Coming from Miami, Florida I have had to adjust to a slower, more family friendly environment here. It’s a great community and I love having my kids grow up here. I also love that this community is such a melting pot of people from all over the country and world who have come here. I meet very few people who are actually from this area. 

Acworth Patch: Anything else you’d like to share about your church community?

Koepka: Many people around the country say that Eagle Pointe is more of a “missions organization” than it is a church in the traditional sense which I take as a compliment. I think the 1st century church Jesus established was more of a missions organization than it was a church in the traditional sense. We are actively involved with helping at homeless shelters, children’s homes and nursing homes in our area year round. Most of our people serve here at the church and volunteer with different groups in our community. On Sunday July 24th we are doing what we call “Faith In Action” Sunday. This is where we cancel all Sunday morning services and send our entire church to different locations to help and serve. We kind of force the issue and tell people “you can stay home, go to another church or come help us make a difference in our community” and most all will come and help. We have seen this also help people catch a vision for this and as a result helping our neighbors and community becomes a lifestyle rather than a “2 times a year” event. Below are links for each of the mission projects we do:

We are also sending work crews to Alabama to help with tornado clean up. We have been on the ground since two days after the tornado outbreak and have been sending crews and supplies regularly ever since.

We have an International Orphan hosting program where we bring orphans from Ukraine, Latvia and Russia during the summer and at Christmastime to stay with host families. We have about 200 orphans we have hosted this summer.

We have had teams on the ground in Haiti since four days after the devastating earthquake doing rescue and disaster relief. We continue to send teams of medical and construction workers about every two months while supporting an orphanage, church and medical center in Carrefour, Haiti. Carrefour is a southwest ‘suburb’ of Port Au Prince, which was also the epicenter of the earthquake.

We also have a preschool, orphanage and church we sponsor in Panglau, Philippines. We provide medical care, feeding programs and distribute mosquito nets to prevent deaths from Malaria and Dengue fever.