Mecklenburg Community Church

Mecklenburg Community Church is a Nondenominational Church based out of The Northern

part of Charlotte, North Carolina that is about 25 years old. The atmosphere is that of many

modern non denominational churches: very casual dresscode, a Rock Band with loud drums and

guitars, a Childrens Ministry based around a lot of fun and it has seen considerable growth since

its opening. IN under 25 years the church has expanded to three campuses and over 11,000 active

attenders. The church prides itself in being free of Internal politics and open to all people. To

some extent, this is the case; however, there are clear power holders in the Church. The first and

foremost center of Power is the Senior Pastor, James Emery White. He has the power to make,

veto, or override any decision made by other staff member and is only held accountable by a

Board of Trustees approved by the members (it gets included in a long budget email and you

simply have to vote that you approve). Along with Pastor White, There is a full time staff of

around 50 people whom have power over more specific areas. Other than that, a few key

volunteers have limited ability to make decisions while most regular attenders and members

have little-to-no control over the day to day decisions that the church makes.

The church also caters to young families. There is a heavy focus on making the adult

service relevant to people between the ages of 25 and 35 and an equally valiant effort to create an

enjoyable experience for their children. However, there is no program for college students and

very little material catered towards the 50+ age range,

Many attenders and even many newer members are not able to witness and understand

many of the issues within the church; however, when people reach a certain age or Level of

spiritual maturity they often leave. Many members feel that the content being delivered by the

church caters too heavily to new members and that they are not being spiritually taught and
instructed. Others feel excluded from the church when they reach a certain age and struggle to

find a place in the community. We have also had multiple or our Worship Leaders leave because

they did not feel as if The Arts team was being handled in the correct way. There is a heavy focus

on making sure that the people on stage at the North Charlotte Campus are Young, Attractive and

as Racially Diverse as possible. Some argue that this allows the Church to connect to their target

group and others deny that it happens. On the other side many leave because they feel that the

Arts team is discriminating against people based upon their appearance and age.