EAST MANATEE -- There’s a bit of a coffee-house, social-networking, informal feel to Oasis Church that 30-somethings will immediately recognize.
Steve Coad, the lead pastor, asks folks to just call him Steve. When he presents his sermon, he’s wearing blue jeans and standing at a table, rather than a pulpit.
Services tend to be short. There’s a coffee bar. The congregation is auditioning guitar players, drummers and others for its band.
“Starbucks on me!” is the slogan on mailers. It’s a casual invitation to come in and learn more about Oasis.
The same mailers have a tag, similar to a bar code, that smart phones can scan for more information about the church.
The church, which has services 10:30 a.m. Sunday in rented space at Braden River Elementary School, 6125 River Club Blvd., also has its own website, Facebook and Twitter addresses.
Coad is the child of missionary parents and grew up in the Dominican Republic.
He feels a kinship with another missionary kid, Tim Tebow, who has been the talk of the NFL this year for the way he has quarterbacked the Denver Broncos into the playoffs with his late-in-the-game comebacks. And the way he wears his faith on his sleeve.
Tebow is an example of someone who has achieved success in the world while adhering to his faith values, says Coad.
No doubt, a decision to launch a new church takes a certain amount of, well, faith, and bravery, too.
Coad studied the demographics of the Manatee-Sarasota area and concluded that more than 80 percent of the population had either no regular church or didn’t attend services at all. He also found that among new residents, one of the largest blocs were those he calls the “young 30s.”
There seemed to be plenty of room for a new church in the area.
He was also drawn to the area by the fact that his wife, Kristin Coad, grew up in Sarasota.
Prior to starting Oasis in September, Steve Coad had served five years as a youth minister and had pastored a satellite campus.
Nine months of preparation and planning went into launching Oasis, during which Coad was able to raise a major part of his salary, and enlist support from friends, associates and other churches in this area.
“We have taken a team approach,” he said.
While Oasis welcomes people of all ages to its services, it is most focused on those who have no regular church. It is affiliated with the Assemblies of God, and one of the mentors for the new congregation has been Church of Hope, located off Fruitville Road and Interstate 75 in Sarasota.
“Our vision is to help people discover God and connect with his purpose,” Coad said.
Coad met his wife, Kristin, in college. The couple now have three young children and Kristin works as an occupational therapist.
The couple thought they might one day follow Steve’s parents’ lead and enter the foreign mission field.
But as time passed, it became evident to both of them they would be working to establish a new congregation statewide.
“It takes a lot of trust in God,” Kristin Coad said.
One of Steve Coad’s approaches to the new ministry is to create circles within the congregation, everything from women’s groups to sports teams.
Members are seeking divine direction, and to draw closer to God, their pastor says.
“We are very serious in our walk with God,” he said.
James A. Jones Jr., East Manatee editor, can be contacted at 941-745-7021. Tweet to @jajones1
IF YOU GO
What: Oasis Church
Where: 6125 River Club Blvd., East Manatee
Service: 10:30 a.m. Sunday
Pastor: Steve Coad
Information: 941-677-8838
Website: www.oasischurch.ag
