Around that same time, some close friends began telling them about the need for a new church on the Outer Banks, North Carolina. After much prayer, Winfield and Kay resigned from their church in Tennessee and moved to the Outer Banks with only faith, and a few possessions.
Church of the Outer Banks began meeting in a home with only five people. After a few short months, they quickly outgrew the home meeting space and began looking for a new place to meet. The Lord opened a door for the church to meet at the YMCA in Nags Head, which allowed them to continue to grow. Since moving to the YMCA, the church has grown to several hundred people from cross the Outer Banks.
On Sunday mornings you will notice a diverse mix of people from all ages and backgrounds. People come from Catholic, Baptist, Episcopal, Charismatic, and Methodist backgrounds, just to name a few, while others have no church background at all.
Many of the young church members are surfers. The founding rector, The Rev. Canon Winfield Bevins is also a surfer and he enjoys using surfing as a way to reach out in the community. Church of the Outer Banks has intentionally engaged the surfing community, which has allowed them to reach dozens of surfers for Christ. Bevins says, “Surfing is a wonderful way to build relationships with surfers and to share with them the love of Christ.”
Several times a year, they gather at the beach to perform ocean baptisms. After new believers are baptized the church gives them an olive wood cross to commemorate their experience and entry into the community of faith.
As an Anglican church, Church of the Outer Banks seeks to bring together the best of church tradition with a contemporary worship experience that connects with the hearts and minds of young and old. They consider themselves a “fresh expression of an ancient faith.”
In an effort to reach more people with the gospel of Jesus Christ they recently started two Sunday worship services, a traditional service at 8:30 a.m. and a contemporary service at 10:10 a.m. On Sunday mornings people can find a welcoming, family-friendly atmosphere and a unique worship experience at one of the two worship services.
Since its beginning, Church of the Outer Banks has sought to be a church on mission that touches peoples’ lives locally and globally. They began locally with adopting beach accesses, which the church cleaned once a month to show the community that the church cares about the beaches. They have been involved with helping organize an event called Surfing For Autism, which helps children with autism learn how to surf.
The church has many artists, some of whom began an art-mentoring program to reach at-risk youth in the community. In the past, the church has hosted art shows that have reached hundreds of young people from the community. They even helped open an art gallery that hosted art shows and concerts to build bridges between the church and community.
The church also seeks to be involved with mission globally. They have recently been involved with sending cows to Rwanda, sponsoring children through World Vision, and sending Christmas shoe boxes around the world through Samaritan’s Purse.
They are also actively involved with mission by helping to plant churches throughout the Carolinas and have been a part of planting or sponsoring dozens of new churches. Winfield Bevins also serves as Canon for Church Planting with Kardia Church Planting Initiative, which is a ministry of the Diocese of the Carolinas that exists to plant, re:mission, and resource healthy gospel-centered churches in the Anglican tradition and to partner with others who are like minded to encourage church planting across denominational boundaries.
