About CenterPoint Church
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CenterPoint Church began in 1945, as Provo Bible Church. It was started by a group of families who had come to Utah Valley to work at Geneva Steel. The first generation of the church faced a daunting task. Because of the unique cultural situation in Utah Valley the church always seemed to be in transition. Not only did families move in and out but so did Pastors. The church seemed to be in a perpetual struggle to survive. In 1988 as the founding generation of the church was passing away the church faced yet another pastoral transition. This time though there was actual consideration given to closing the doors.
God had other plans. It was at that time that the church experienced a rebirth. Pastor Scott McKinney began his ministry in 1989 with the vision to move the church from a fortress mentality to an outreach mentality. If there was a defining statement in that era it was that “God likes to do things in places where people say it cannot be done”. The church grew. Initially the growth was from people moving into Utah Valley to take jobs with the high tech industries. To accommodate the growth there were two building projects during the 90’s.
One of the things that did not change is the transient nature of the church. As the economy ebbed and flowed many of the high tech jobs disappeared. The good news is that the people moving out of the area were replaced with new people coming to Christ. The vision was being fulfilled. Today over 50 percent of the people in the church have come out of our unique Utah religious culture. Around 2005 the church had grown to about 500 people in a place where there had never been a church like it with that kind of size and influence.
Around that time we began to ask the question- “Is this all that God has for us?” It was at this point that we launched a new vision. Part of that vision was to relocate. The desire was to go from a place where we were hard to find to a place where we were impossible to miss.
We bought 5 and acres on the I15 freeway just south of University Parkway, the busiest intersection in the county. Plans for the new building were drawn up on this amazing piece of property. The church changed it’s name to CenterPoint Church to reflect our vision to make Jesus the center point of our lives and to make Him known from the center point of Utah Valley.
In 2008 plans to build were put on hold. The economy had imploded. Our old building had been leased out to a private school. We were a church on wheels. We had no idea that when we began this journey we would be moving in and out of schools for the next ten years for our worship services. We moved office locations four times. These were difficult times. Yet, these years included some of the best ministry in the history of the church. During our decade of wandering hundreds of people come to Christ and were baptized. There were thriving ministries at both BYU and Utah Valley University. Our children and student ministries encouraged the next generation to walk with Christ.
During these years we learned some things that we probably could not have learned any other way. Even in times of great uncertainty Jesus is a solid foundation. We learned that the church is not a building, but a body of people. We also saw God’s faithfulness. After coming to a point in the year 2015 where we were ready to give up on the dream the Lord provided a way. Doors were finally opened and we were able to build a 26,700 sf. building on our property at the center point of Utah Valley. When we began this journey our prayer was that when all was said and done that there would be no other explanation but God. God answered that prayer. Today we are in a building that is home to a church that is still all about seeing God do something in a place where people have said it cannot be done.
