By Jon Zirkle
On Sunday March 15, Eastside Church in Harrisonburg, VA celebrated its 16th anniversary as a congregation. While on a Mennonite Men visit to Virginia, I had the pleasure to see the building firsthand and later had a conversation with one of the pastors about Eastside past and present.
For many years the congregation rented worship space, and as many can attest, renting worship space can present some challenges and constraints. “I don’t know what we would have done during COVID if we were still worshipping in a school,” said pastor Peter Eberly.
In November 2021 Eastside Church moved into its current building, having raised enough money to purchase the building and secure a loan. Among several sources of funding, Mennonite Men’s JoinHands program awarded the congregation a $40,000 grant, representing about 10% of the funds Eastside needed to make the purchase possible. Skipping ahead to 2026, the congregation just paid off one of its loans this week, perfect timing for a celebration.
I asked pastor Peter Eberly what impacts the new building has had on the life and mission of the congregation.
“First of all, our current church building’s location is near a busy intersection. I estimate that 25% of our current congregation has started attending since we moved into this space. People see our sign when driving by and decide to check us out,” said Eberly.
Current attendance at Eastside is approximately 200 people on a given Sunday. Pastor Eberly noted the remarkable variety of groups and activities now filling the building.
“Upstairs we have two tenants who pay rent to use space. On Friday nights, we have over 100 college students come to use our space through Young Life. On Saturday we have a training for Isaiah 1:17 House, an organization providing physical and emotional support for children awaiting foster placement. On Sunday mornings we have Haitian folks who come for worship, and after the service many of them stick around for prayer. All of this is possible because we have space,” says Eberly.
I could tell from our conversation that Eastside is a unique congregation and has taken deliberate action to meet people on their faith journey and articulate an Anabaptist commitment. I could also sense this when reading about them on their website, which states:
We are firmly in the Anabaptist tradition, but do not find our value or identity within denominationalism. We strive to translate Anabaptist faith to this generation by lowering cultural hurdles, speaking God’s truth to political powers and setting our sights on the Kingdom of God.
Join us in praying for Eastside Church and for congregations throughout the U.S., Canada, and around the world who are trying to build their ministry, live out their faith as followers of Jesus, and secure a safe place for worship.
Mennonite Men’s JoinHands grant program continues to accept applications for new Anabaptist congregations pursuing the purchase their first worship space. We hope to receive applications from congregations in 2026, and also want to raise additional funds to bolster this ministry program. Access to funding for purchasing a building can be challenging for new congregations, and we want to help, continuing Mennonite Men’s long tradition of helping grow the church. To learn more or to donate to this ministry, visit https://mennonitemen.org/joinhands/ today.