Jon Decker

            Jon Decker was raised a pastor’s kid.  His experience of church growing up was in a small, “uber-pentecostal” church in Gap, PA where he saw and heard a lot of things that left him questioning; things like seemingly scheduled public tongues and interpretation, ten-minute-long worship choruses, etc. His many questions and reservations continued to lack suitable answers, so Jon eventually slipped away from, first the church, and then the faith.

            A few years later, Jon rediscovered the hope found in the Lord and dedicated his life to ministering to others in ways that are straightforward and do not cause unanswerable questions.

            Today, Jon is the Creative Pastor at Journey Church, Phoenixville. They meet in a classic movie theatre right in the heart of the town. Yes, meeting in movie theatres has become somewhat of a trend, but Journey’s meeting in this specific theatre is significant.  Jon says that at Journey, they want to be a culture of givers, not takers. Unfortunately, people these days aren’t used to Christians treating them with respect. Journey has changed that in Phoenixville. Instead of looking for cheap deals or ways to work the system, Journey goes above and beyond to bless those who they are renting from. Jon says that it is vital for you to bless and honor those who you are working with.

            Journey Church’s kids’ ministry (ages 3-12) meets across the street at a nightclub. Every Sunday morning, the kids’ pastor Taylor, his wife and his few volunteers deep clean the club before the children arrive. After the day’s activities, they do it all again, leaving the building far better than they found it. This is another example of being good stewards of your relationships and treating people and their things with respect.

            For Journey Church, everything is outreach. Sunday experiences are geared toward the “un-churched,” starting with a “giant army of greeters” when you first walk in, VIP treatment for first-time guests, and every sermon/service ending with an invitation to follow Christ.    

Jon says there’s no “XYZ” or formula to “doing church,” but staying focused on both the people in your doors and those still out on the street.

            Journey Church has been accused of being a “seeker friendly,” because of their rock-concert style worship, simple preaching, and fashion-forward attire.  Jon’s response to this is that, yes, they want to be “seeker friendly” in that they want to be inviting and relevant to the community in which they live, but that that does not have an influence on their style of music or clothing. The worship style is heavier because that’s what the music director enjoys, and the outfits are trendy because they’re trendy people! The only reason the preaching might be viewed that was is because they treat every Sunday as though it’s the first time anyone’s been to church. They leave nothing unexplained and don’t get into too many controversial topics from the pulpit. If people want to talk about those, they can talk about them over coffee.

Journey’s core values:

-To be a church of givers, not takers.

-To never miss a chance to celebrate (Party in heaven=Party on earth).

-To be competitive.

-To worship: All we are for all He is. Excellence.

I think that I’d like to check out this church sometime and see what it’s all about for myself.