By F.D. Purcell

In a world full of options both positive and negative Chris Williams knew his city of Antioch thrived for something new and innovative, a place of worship that was groundbreaking, fresh and new.

“A lot of my congregation was moving to Antioch,” Williams said of the former church that he pastored for 16-years, Bethany Baptist Church in Oakland. “I had to leave my comfort zone and lead where the people are.”

A third generation of ministers, Williams the eldest of three boys knew at the tender age of 16 that he was chosen to carry on the family tradition. While many teens his age were straddling their occupational goals, by 17 Williams had already retired from his drumming duties in the church his father pastored, a position he’d held since the age of 12 to focus solely on his ministry.

“I can’t explain how it happened, there was just a feeling of knowing that came over me,” said the Bay Area native about his choice. “It helped that its (pastoring) multi-generational in my family, between my aunts and uncles there is approximately 13-14 of us that are ministers so when I felt things were changing I started asking my dad a lot of questions and he told me to pray about it.”

A pastor for nearly 30-years Williams got his undergrad in Biblical Studies from California Baptist University in Southern California and went through intense training at Faith Theological Seminary in Washington State.

“We want to provide a place that’s full of energy, a place of neighboring and empowerment. I am humbled to be a part of this,” said wife Emery who like her husband grew up in the church, the daughter of two ministers.

The first of their five previews began in late August. The previews were held monthly until December and gave the community a taste of what they could expect through music, song, and dance and The Church @Antioch: A Place to Belong officially kicked-off on January 4, 2015 with a red carpet event. The nearly 250 in attendance included the Mayor of Antioch and a performance by Grammy Award winning songwriter KJ Scriven as well as praise dancers and a dramatic skit about a single working mother.

“Pastor Larry from Golden Hills has been a mentor to me and has opened his doors to us,” said Pastor Chris. “They have offered to help in any way they can and have opened their doors to us, as well as other sites with no sense of control.”

In fact their new members class, The Encounter at The Church @Antioch is held each Thursday at the Antioch campus of Golden Hills Church, 1800 Woodland Drive at 7 pm.

They even provide weekly reminders via text regarding new members classes and services.

Sunday services are held at 10 am in the theatre at Black Diamond Middle School, 4730 Sterling Hill Drive, Antioch.

For more information call (925) 679-5757 or visit their website at churchatantioch.org, or on Facebook: The Church @Antioch.

the attachments to this post:

Emery and Chris Williams.

Church@Antioch congregation

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