CHELSEA – After four weeks of a soft launch, the new Chelsea campus of Double Oak Community Church officially opened on Sunday, Aug. 12.

The new church is meeting temporarily at Chelsea Park Elementary School, with plans to build a permanent home in the coming years on property already owned by the church adjacent to the Chelsea Park development, Double Oak Executive Pastor Frank Patrick said.

Kevin Johnson, a 2007 graduate of Oak Mountain High School, will serve as the primary pastor of the new campus.

Community groups meet at the Double Oak Community Church Chelsea campus at 9 a.m. each Sunday, with the worship service following at 10:30 a.m.

The new campus features live preaching and worship with no simulcast.

About once a month, Johnson will present a message at the Mt Laurel campus, and Senior Pastor Adam Robinson will visit the Chelsea campus.

“That’s just part of us being one church,” Johnson said.

Patrick said conversations have been ongoing for longer than a year about adding a second Double Oak campus.

“The reality is the campus is pretty maxed out,” Patrick said about the Mt Laurel location that serves more than 1,200 people weekly. “We moved to three services and noticed that a lot of our people were coming from [the Chelsea Park area]. We’re committed to being a church here in Mt Laurel, so the question was, ‘Where do we go from here?’”

The new campus being part of Double Oak instead of a completely new church gives it advantages because of shared resources, Patrick said.

Johnson said the vision for the new campus was to recreate Double Oak’s approach in a new location.

“It has had that community, family feel from Day 1, and that’s exactly what we’re looking for,” said Johnson, Double Oak’s teaching pastor.

Hallmarks of Double Oak that will be shared at Chelsea include engaging worship and learning about salvation through Jesus Christ alone, Johnson said.

The soft launch period included services of more than 300 people and was used as a time for the campus’ core group of people to adjust to their roles and responsibilities.

Johnson said he believes people respond to the concept of a community church, where attendees worship alongside others they also see at the grocery store and ball fields.

“I think people want that, and I think it’s a good thing because what happens is you can build those relationships,” Johnson said.

Double Oak Community Church’s annual Music in the Park event will be held on Sept. 23 at Chelsea Park, while the annual Trunk or Treat will be held in October at the Mt Laurel Town Square.

“Our goal is to be a good member of the community and do fun things in the community where the community sees us,” Patrick said.