MATTHEW BURNETTE, Staff Writer

The Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting at Encounter Life Church February 20 despite frigid temperatures.

Initially planted, or started, in 2009, the Encounter Life Church in Manchester held its first service in 2010 before moving into its current building in 2012.

Pastor Billy Levengood explained that church’s aim is to “be the people of God on the mission of God for the glory of God.”

“When we gather, we want to encourage one another to believe the truth of the Gospel, that we have hope and we have peace in life because of Jesus and that changes how we live our lives so we go out of here to say ‘God, how do you want to use us Monday through Saturday?’” he said. “What do you want to do in our lives?’ and then we go do those things.”

Some of the ways that Levengood says that Encounter Life serves the community are a non-perishable food pantry next to the church’s parking lot, a community garden, and working with the Tennessee Department of Health and other local organizations to host a community baby shower in March.

The church also hosts a local Hispanic church that holds services on Sunday and Tuesday nights.

“We do the best we can to make our facility available to those who need it for things,” he said.

Levengood, his family, and others who were involved in planting Encounter Life Church in Manchester moved to Pennsylvania to plant a church there. Upon returning to Manchester, he told the church that his goal was to “give it all away.”

“We want our facility and each of us to be people who are a blessing to our neighborhood and our community,” he explained. “We don’t just want to exist and say ‘Hey look, we did that thing and we got together on Sunday.’ We wanna say ‘Hey God, what do you want us to do with our lives throughout the week?’”