Our Mission
Common Places is commmitted to making disciples who
Trust Jesus
Be Transformed
Start Churches
We are a multiplying, Spirit empowered family on mission with Jesus for the Gospel.
We strive to launch new, nimble churches in common places. You are invited to join us on this journey!
Our Values
At Common Place Church, we belong to Jesus and share life with His family.
In Jesus' family we mature emotionally and spiritually.
Within Jesus' family, we love and serve each other
Our family moves into new neighborhoods and multiplies the good news of Jesus
Our Strategy
Common Places may be a little different in how we do church from what you have experienced in the past.
Simple, Small Church on Purpose We believe that smaller church families help build and maintain healthy community. To that end, our goal is not to grow one large church in a centralized location, but instead to start simple, smaller gatherings that reach new neighborhoods.
Co-vocational Pastors Because our churches are small, our pastors have other jobs in addition to being a pastor. This reminds us that all of life is important - being a pastor isn't any more holy than being a carpenter or nurse. Our pastors can connect with their people because they live life like them.
A Variety of Preachers If you attend a Common Place Church, you will notice that many different men and women take a turn teaching God's Word. This provides fresh perspectives to our understanding of following Jesus. We might not all be polished, perfect preachers, but we try to be sincere communicators.
Unique Locations. Because our churches are small and nimble, we try to start them in places where people already gather like coffee shops and community rooms. The goal is to create access and remove barriers that people may have to attending church.
Missional Families In addition to gathering together at Church, we meet together in smaller communities called missional families through the week. Missional Families are communities of 15-40 individuals (children-adults) who organize themselves around their mission to a neighborhood or group of people while living out Common Places values together in the rhythms of life. Some missional families may even become a future church location.
Working Together in a Hub Our churches and missional families share resources like offices, finances, staff, and work together to help each other care for their communities.
Our History
The Early Years The Common Place is a continuation and new expression of a church that has been in Lock Haven since 1938; it actually began life as the Fairview Community Alliance Church. In 1938, The Williamsport Gospel Crusaders held revival meetings in the area and the guest speaker was the District Superintendent for the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church, headquartered, at the time, in Williamsport, PA. After successful meetings in Lock Haven, there was a desire to plant a church and the District Superintendent appointed his brother, Rev. Paul Conley to head up the charge. In 1939, the church was formed and began to meet in the Pastor’s home in Lockport for a time and then moved to a storefront in Mill Hall.
A Growing Era A few years later, the church purchased a lot in Lock Haven at the corner of Peach St. and S. Fairview St. and then relocated an army barracks onto the property and held services there for the next 20 years. In 1964, the church was finally able to build a permanent church building and over the following 23 years, experienced fruit both in their adult and children’s ministries.
A Church In Decline During the late 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s, the church struggled with both attendance and relevance within the community, and as a result, dwindled in size. The Alliance tried to revitalize the declining church, but ultimately, it wasn’t enough.
Replant: It was during this time that the decision was made to shut down the original church and re-launch the historic Alliance church with a new vision and under new leadership. A core group of former members along with new members, began to develop the strategic plan to start a church in a coffee shop. As this group dreamed and planned, they gathered weekly in Aungst Family Restaurant preparing for a new vision and a new initiative as the church. In that year, the groundwork was laid. In 2009, all of this planning came to fruition with the birth of The Common Place Church and Avenue 209 Coffee House.
Common Places: God blessed the ministry of Common Place at the coffee shop and it grew and made disciples of Jesus. However, the small size of the coffee shop also proved to be challenging for handling a growing congregation. After plans fell through to relocate and build a bigger coffee shop, the church felt that perhaps Jesus was calling them to start more small churches, rather than build a big one. In 2021 Common Place Church planted another congregation and added an "s" to it's name. This is the vision fueling the mission of Common Places to this day!
