Perimeter Church is a megachurch in Johns Creek, Georgia. It is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America, and has approximately between 4,000-5,000 members. [1] [2] The church was founded by Rev. Randy Pope. He is currently the President of Life on Life Ministries, and is the author of four books including "Insourcing: Bringing Discipleship Back to the Local Church" and a discipleship curriculum used globally entitled "The Journey". [3] In September 2019, the role of lead teacher and directional leader transitioned to Jeff Norris. [4]
Facility
Perimeter Church is located on 110 acres in North Fulton County at 9500 Medlock Bridge Road. About 5 acres of the property includes 2 lakes. There is parking for about 2,000 cars. To facilitate activities for Perimeter School, the church also has a Junior Olympic Swimming Pool, 200 meter track and field, 2 baseball fields that can be converted into 3 soccer fields, and a full ropes course along with a picnic pavilion. [5]
Completed in August 1996, the heart of Perimeter Church, Buildings A & B, are 140,000 square feet. It features a 2300-seat auditorium, a fellowship hall, a gym, and classrooms for Perimeter School. In 2004, renovations added a Youth Auditorium that seats 800 along with a bookstore to the facility. [6] Building C, originally completed in 2000, is the hub for Children's ministries containing the nursery, children's ministry auditorium, and more school classrooms. The 7,000 square foot Annex and Church Offices buildings were completed in 2008. The Day Chapel and Ministry Center were completed in October 2010. The chapel seats 462. Founders Chapel is an outdoor chapel that seats 40. It was completed in 2014. [7]
As of late May 2017, a new 9000 square foot atrium and cafe have been established by the main entrance of the church, as well as a new relocated bookstore. [8] The construction project received a first place 2018 “Build Georgia Award” from the trade organization, Associated General Contractors of Georgia. [9]
Multisite Church
Perimeter was a pioneer modern Multi-site church. Randy Pope founded it with a four part vision:
- ”one local congregation” with one hundred locations around Atlanta;
- ”one senior pastor with local pastors at each congregation”;
- “one board with three representatives from ‘each congregation’”; and
- ”one overall program of outreach conducted through each specific congregation”.
The main church was founded in 1977. The second congregation, Perimeter West, was founded in Marietta, Georgia in 1980. There were four congregations as of 1990. [10] There were forty congregations as of 2017. [11]
Notable Leaders
Laura Elvington, the church’s Executive Director of Worship Environments and Resources, [12] won the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song
References
- ^ "Megachurch Search Results - Hartford Institute for Religion Research".
- ^ www.gskchurch.com/pca/About_PCA.pdf
- ^ "Perimeter Church | Atlanta, GA | Randy Pope Recommends". Perimeter.org. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
- ^ "Perimeter Church | Atlanta, GA | Jeff Norris Recommends". Perimeter.org. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
- ^ "Perimeter Church | Atlanta, GA | The Facility". Perimeter.org. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
- ^ Pope, Randy. "Map of the Perimeter School Campus" (PDF). perimeter.org.
- ^ "Perimeter Church | Atlanta, GA | The Facility". Perimeter.org. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
- ^ "Perimeter Church | Atlanta, GA | Construction Update". Perimeter.org. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
- ^ 2018 Build Georgia Awards, Atlanta Business Chronicle, June 8-14, 2018
- ^ Brad House, Greg Allison, “MultiChurch: Exploring the Future of Multisite”, Zondervan, 2017, page 35
- ^ Bobby Harrington and Josh Robert Patrick, “The Disciple Maker’s Handbook: Seven Elements of a Discipleship Lifestyle”, Zondervan, 2017, page 186
- ^ Perimeter Church Staff