Endicott pastor and wife find way to ‘Ignite’ faith and build church

Ignite Church of Endicott is less than two years old but it’s already filling up its pews every Sunday morning.

“We have a good problem,” said Rev. Paul Evans, the church’s senior pastor. “We are already starting to outgrow the building.”

Started in September 2021, the non-denominational church located on East Main Street in Endicott is a “plant church” from Two Rivers Church in Johnson City, where Evans used to work. Two Rivers helps to start or plant other churches.

“The Lord told me to plant the church,” he said. “It’s like he was speaking right to me. He said: ‘Wherever you put your foot, I will be there with you.’”

He and his wife, Cristy, began looking around at various locations for the church but plans always fell through. They didn’t become discouraged, though, Evans said.

“We were just trusting in God,” he said. “This all happened in the midst of COVID.”

Then the couple looked at the former site of the Holy Nativity Lutheran Church in Endicott. The church building was for sale but the church gifted them the building when they found out the couple wanted to start a new church there, Evans said.

“God has just been moving in some amazing ways,” Evans said.

The couple decided to name it Ignite Church, he said.

“Our mission statement is to see people come to know Jesus by being the light in the darkness,” he said. “That’s what Ignite is all about. Igniting people for the Lord.”

Ignite strives to be a welcoming church, he said.

“It doesn’t matter what you look like. Who you are. What your background is,” he said. “We’re Ignite Church, where strangers become family.”

More than 100 people attend Sunday services weekly even though the church seats 92 people. Church officials have to scurry around before the service starts and set up more chairs but are happy to do so, he said.

“God has been growing the church,” he said.

Last week the church started holding an additional service on Wednesday night, Evans said.

“Not everybody can make it on Sunday mornings,” he said. “We get a lot of people saying that they can’t make it because they work on the weekends. We are hoping that they will be able to make a mid-week service.”

The church is active in helping its neighbors, too, Evans said.

“We are very community-oriented,” he said. “Jesus tells us to help people in need. We are going to help as many people in need as possible.”

One way Ignite Church helps the community is through occasional food giveaways done in conjunction with the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW) to people in need, he said.

“We have so many people who are hurting financially,” he said.

His church also hopes to establish an addiction recovery program known as a hope house, he said.