Meaghan Joynt has attended church most of her life but discovered the blessing of fellowship only recently.
She never felt community at the church she attended as a child. And her church experience as a young adult in New York was as part of a professional choir that was paid to sing at Sunday worship.
“My community in New York City was made up of singers, but they were not Christians,” Meaghan said. “I really didn’t start to hear the gospel until I started listening at these different protestant churches where I performed. Bottom line, I discovered that I was really hungering and thirsting for a true church community.”
That hunger drove her persistence in finding a church home when a job change brought her from New York to San Francisco in 2018. “I kept searching for a church in San Francisco, but nothing really clicked. Nothing seemed like the right fit. I wasn’t even being picky. Nothing felt like home,” Meaghan said.
But she increasingly found herself drawn to Half Moon Bay and, eventually, Mariners. “I definitely feel that God called me to this church and brought me here,” Meaghan said. “I enjoyed exploring California after moving here, but I kept wanting to come back to Half Moon Bay. Every time I would visit, I felt the presence of God in a very profound way.”
That feeling has only grown in fellowship with her faith community at Mariners – in worship, in LifeGroup and in service on the First Impressions team and Steering Committee.
“Going to a LifeGroup is hugely important. Those are the folks who really become your community within the larger community,” Meaghan said. “And service has deepened my commitment to my faith community and, therefore, to Christ.”
Her growing relationship with Christ has been the most powerful blessing.
“You get to know Christ through fellowship as part of a community. That’s the big message for me. It doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” Meaghan said. “My faith has grown more in the short time I’ve been in this church than my whole life. My church family is so important. We’re brothers and sisters. That’s how we grow as disciples in Christ. We get to know Christ in different ways based on our different relationships.”
By Dan Page, Volunteer Storyteller
