Local Church Confirms New Lead Pastor

Phoenix, AZ, November 20, 2014 --(PR.com)-- This weekend, the membership of Mission Community Church confirmed Joel Thomas as their new Lead Pastor, effective January 1, 2015. The hiring of Pastor Thomas comes after a search process that lasted several months and spanned the entire country.

Joel Thomas comes from North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA where he has been on staff for over 16 years. Most recently, he has been the Lead Pastor of the Alpharetta campus. Founded by Pastor Andy Stanley, North Point Community Church is one of the largest churches in America with over 18,000 in attendance each weekend.

“We are very excited to welcome Joel as the new Lead Pastor of our church,” said Gary Sutliff, the Interim Lead Pastor at Mission. “God has led Joel to us in a way that can only be described as His divine work. We couldn’t feel more blessed to have such a humble and experienced leader for our staff and church body.”

Mission Community Church is a church with 5,500 attenders in Gilbert, Arizona and one of the largest Christian churches in the Valley. Started in 1995, Mission’s vision statement is “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God,” taken from Micah 6:8 in the Bible. Mission has committed itself to numerous social justice issues both around the world and in Arizona. Last year, the people of Mission provided clean water and food for 8,500 HIV/AIDS orphans in Malawi, Africa. Mission is located at 4450 E. Elliot Rd. in Gilbert, AZ.

For all inquiries, please contact the church office at (480) 545­4024 or email at press@mission68.org.