Kernersville Street Church

Luke and Anna Cope will kick off the opening of Kernersville Street Church on September 4 during a block party at Interactive Resource Center (IRC) to serve the homeless community.
Luke and Anna both grew up in Kernersville, graduating from East Forsyth and Glenn high schools.
While Anna works with youth at Tumblebee’s in Greensboro as a gymnastics coach, Luke transitioned from working at The Summit to working on opening their church, which is located at 310 Smith Edwards Road.
Luke explained that the idea for the church grew out of his interest in offering a church that focuses more outwardly on local missions.
“When I was 17, I started working on staff at The Summit Church, but I was also in a Christian band with Chris Barrans, called Vital Cadence, and we had dreams of doing church a little different than it has ever been done,” he said. “Church has been more about bringing people in than serving the community. I love corporate church and what they’re doing, I just have a desire to do it differently.”
Luke left The Summit in January and in March, he, Anna and five other families have been discussing their ideas for Kernersville Street Church. He said the goal for Kernersville Street Church is to be a place for people to come together, but also to serve, first.
“There are also a lot of people our age who want to feel a calling to something and that’s what we want to provide. We want to provide an opportunity for people in the Triad to get out of their comfort zone and serve,” he said. “There is only so much you can get out of sitting in a seat at a church. We want to be hands-on and create a church to serve other people, but also provide an opportunity for people to serve others.”
Luke said he wants to serve locally because of the large need in the area.
“Winston-Salem, Greensboro and High Point are ranked nationally as a place where people cannot put food on the table. I believe there is good in doing (international) missions, but there’s a lot we need to do locally,” he said.
Luke noted that Kernersville Street Church meets in an old race garage on Smith Edwards Road; therefore, they have no overhead.
“We have no overhead, so I feel that the other stuff will fall into place,” he said.
Luke explained that their main targets will be to serve the homeless community through IRC in Greensboro and Naaman’s Recovery Village in High Point.
“Our first serve project will be on September 4. We are doing a Labor Day block party, where we will be grilling out and doing corn hole and things like that. We want to give them something fun and love on the staff there,” he said, noting that they want to help the homeless and the people who are in danger of becoming homeless. “The reality is that being homeless or becoming homeless can happen to anyone.”
Luke explained that Naaman’s Recovery Village is a Christ-centered rehabilitation facility for men in High Point.
“Because the guys are trying to get clean, they are having to start from the bottom, which makes it easier to fall back into their addiction because it’s stressful,” he said. “Mark, the owner, has provided a place for them and opened a thrift store at the end of the street so they can earn some money. We’ve helped them with groceries and plan to continue to help them so they don’t fall back into their addiction.”
Luke shared that they held a block party for Naaman’s Recovery Village, as well.
“It’s an opportunity for them to get their mind off of things,” he said. “God cares as much about you as anybody else. He doesn’t care who you are, where you’ve been, or what you’ve done. We don’t want to be a church that just says that, but models it.”
Kernersville Street Church will meet every Sunday for worship at 10 a.m., and will serve every other week, following the service, using Naaman’s Recovery Village and IRC as their two main ministries.
“September 4 will be a mini church opportunity for us to grow spiritually, and in March or April of next year, we will do a hard launch. We will be building it up until then,” he said.
Kernersville Street Church is located at 310 Smith Edwards Road. For more information, visit them on Facebook, info@kernersvillestreetchurch.net, or call 336-908-2619.