Access Church

Lifelong residents of Atlanta, the Scotts began visiting Buckhead Church in 2002. Their kids loved it, and always wanted to go to church there on Sunday. But in the spring of 2004, after feeling drawn to move for almost five years, they moved their family to Ponte Vedra Beach, near Jacksonville. In Ponte Vedra, they immediately got into a church, but longed for the Buckhead experience they had become accustomed to in Atlanta.

Two years later, they called a friend in Atlanta who had helped start Buckhead Church, and were put him in touch with North Point’s director of strategic partnerships, David McDaniel. “We told David that we were really in need of some Andy Stanley-style preaching down here,” they said. “We asked him what we could do to get a North Point church in Jacksonville.”

David gave them the contact information of Michael and Zoie Morales, who had already started gathering names of families interested in starting a strategic partnership in Jacksonville. They called Michael, and soon were meeting with a small group of men who were talking about starting a church. “I thought the other guys had known each other, but we were all strangers at that time wanting to work toward the same goal,” he said. “It was definitely a God deal.”

From that meeting, the group grew and planned and became Access Church in September 2006. “The progression toward becoming a church was so steady,” they said. “Just like in business, growing too quickly or lagging behind can be bad. Access was a continual progression. It was like clockwork.”

Access Church’s dedication to reaching unchurched people excites the entire Scott family. “In the beach area where we live, there’s a unique collection of people from all over the place, and many of them are not going to church anywhere,” they said. “We see Access as a new opportunity to bring those people into church. So many are in need of a quality place to worship and hear the truth. That is the heart of Access Church.”

The Scotts are also happy that they will have Andy Stanley’s teaching available for their beach friends and neighbors to hear. “We love Andy’s style,” they said. “He sits on a stool in a golf shirt and preaches the Word in a kind and gentle way that draws people. It’s non-threatening, and it’s not pretentious.”

They believes that Access will be a great success. “We have high expectations,” they said. “Just like in business, if you have a quality product and there’s a demand for it, it will work.”

Together, they can’t wait to see what God will do through Access Church. “It’s God’s work, and we’ll just let God do His thing."

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