On Warren Road on the south side of Taylorsville, the small town seat of Alexander County, New Life Church gathers a congregation around two simple anchors: the careful teaching of Scripture and the steady practice of praying together. From Sunday morning through Wednesday night, the church fills its building and the surrounding homes of its members with classes, services, prayer, study, and service, and it pours a significant share of its offerings into missionaries and ministries across the country and around the world.
Sundays at New Life Church
Visitors who arrive on a Sunday will find a full morning rather than a single service. School of the Word, the church's long-running verse-by-verse teaching hour, begins at 9:30 AM and runs until about 10:15. At 10:30 AM the main Worship Service begins in the sanctuary. Both hours are livestreamed, with the stream carried on YouTube and Facebook, so anyone unable to be in the room can follow along at the same pace as those who are present.
The Sunday morning schedule leaves space before the worship hour for adults to join classes during the 9:30 hour and for children to head to their own program at 11:00. An on-screen prompt during the service tells parents when to take their children to New Life Kids and again when to pick them up at the end of the service. New Life Youth meets at the same time in upstairs rooms, with separate space for middle school and high school students, plus a once-a-month Service Sunday when the class leaves the building to serve in the community.
A Statement of Beliefs That Draws Clear Lines
New Life Church is non-denominational, and its published Statement of Beliefs is unusually specific. The church confesses one God who exists eternally in three co-equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It teaches that God the Father created and sustains the world, that Jesus Christ is God's only begotten Son, fully God and fully man, born of a virgin, who lived a sinless life and made salvation available through His death and physical resurrection, and that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, indwells every believer, and leads the Church into all truth.
The Bible is described as the authoritative Word of God, inspired, infallible, and free of errors as originally given, and as the final authority in determining all doctrinal truths and the rule of all Christian life and practice. Salvation is presented as a free gift, received by repenting and accepting Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord. The church teaches that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost to empower believers to preach the gospel and serve the world, and that all the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the first-century Church are available and to be earnestly desired today.
On marriage, sexuality, and life, the statement holds that marriage is a biblical covenant uniting one biological man and one biological woman, that sexual intimacy belongs within marriage, that sexuality is defined by God as male or female from before birth, and that human life has inestimable worth from conception to the grave. The statement also teaches the resurrection of the dead and final judgment, the reality of angels and demons, and that the Church is the Body of Christ on earth, made up of genuine followers of Jesus, existing to glorify God in worship, fellowship, intercession, evangelism, and good works.
The House of Prayer: Sundays and Wednesdays
Long before the morning services begin, a smaller group gathers in the sanctuary for the House of Prayer. The Sunday gathering runs from 7:30 to 9:00 AM, and a second gathering meets on Wednesday evenings from 7:00 to 8:00 PM. The church describes these as its primary prayer gatherings, set aside to come together as one unit with a purpose: to partner with the Holy Spirit and pray what is on the Father's heart for New Life Church, for families, for the region, and for the nation. The church frames the gathering with Matthew 18:20, that where two or three have gathered in His name, He is there in their midst.
Anyone in the congregation can also submit an individual prayer request through a form on the House of Prayer page, and the Congregational Care Team follows up on those who ask for prayer.
School of the Word: A Teaching Church
New Life Church's reputation for sustained Bible teaching shows up most clearly in the School of the Word. The School meets during the 9:30 AM Sunday hour and is currently running what the church calls A Study of the Book of Acts with Paul's Writings, taught by Alan Smith. The series began in January 2024 and has continued week by week past its 130th lesson, with each lesson posted as an MP3 with notes for anyone who wants to follow along at home or catch up on a missed week.
That single series sits inside a much larger archive. Earlier School of the Word tracks include the multi-year parables study Unlocking the Prophetic, which ran from 2017 into 2020, and As In the Days of Noah, which began in 2022 and ran through early 2024. The Sunday sermon archive itself stretches back to 2015 and contains long-running series on the Book of Revelation, the Book of Romans, the Book of Hebrews, the Kingdom Lifestyle, Spiritual Gifts, the Clash of Kingdoms, and many shorter book-by-book and topical walks through Scripture.
The current preaching rotation draws on a small team. Pastor Steve Watson, who is named as the long-running teaching pastor across most of the archive, is joined by Trevor Craig, Ed Khouri, Brian Cone, Michael Fox, and Erik Hays, each of whom takes regular turns in the pulpit. The most recent sermon series on the archive includes The Church, So Be It, Cathedral, I Lose My Ability, and Still the King, with the present series titled Holy Song, focused on the holiness and worthiness of God.
New Life Kids
New Life Kids is built around Bible stories, songs, and group activities designed to teach children about life with Jesus in an environment the church describes as full of energy and excitement. A volunteer greets families in the front lobby each Sunday to help with the sign-in process and to walk parents through what to do, when, and where to go. Children are dismissed from the service to their classrooms at 11:00 AM after an on-screen prompt and are picked up at noon after a second prompt.
The check-in system uses parent identification security tags, and the church has a plan in place to reach parents during the worship hour if they are needed. All New Life Kids volunteers are trained and have passed a comprehensive background check. Childcare for infants under one year is not currently available, but a nursing mother's room is open, and a volunteer is ready to direct families to it. Melissa Grogan directs New Life Kids and is the contact for any questions about the program.
New Life Youth
New Life Youth serves middle school and high school students in two weekly rhythms. Sunday morning classes meet from 9:15 to 10:30 AM, with the middle school group in the upstairs Meeting Room and the high school and post-high school group in the upstairs Classroom. On the first Sunday of each month, the class trades the classroom for the community; that Service Sunday uses the class time to go out and serve, and students must sign up ahead of time. Wednesday nights bring small groups from 6:30 to 8:00 PM, with middle school and high school together in the New Life Lounge. Lori Mason coordinates New Life Youth, and the youth ministry keeps an active Facebook page with current details.
Life Groups: A Calendar of Small Communities
The Life Groups at New Life Church are where the congregation breaks into smaller circles, in homes or on the church campus, to learn to experience and share God's presence and participate in Kingdom activity as they share life together. The church runs an unusually rich menu of groups, each with its own leader, schedule, and flavor.
Creative Sewing, led by Jeanine Deal, meets twice a month on the first and third Wednesday from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM at Jeanine and Mike Deal's home in Statesville. The group shares a meal, swaps testimonies of God's goodness, prays together, and takes occasional trips to a fabric shop. The Games Group, led by Adam and Grace Deal, plans activities about once a month for nine months of the year, with dates and locations announced as events are scheduled.
God and America, led by Chuck and Allison Houchins, meets once a month on the third Sunday from 12:30 to 2:30 PM in the New Life VHQ. The group uses DVDs, books, and other media to explore God's providential hand in the country's formation and national life, gathering around a shared meal and time for testimony and prayer. Hebrew Roots and the Church, led by Ivan and Sandy Sagal, meets on the fourth Tuesday of every month from 7:00 to 8:30 PM in the VHQ. The group works through a book by Messianic Jewish leader Asher Intrater called Alignment, learns two or three new Hebrew words per meeting, and updates members on current events in Israel and the Middle East.
His Hands and Feet, led by Aaron and Lerin Berwick, is a service-oriented group that meets as projects arise. Members build handicap accessible ramps, do small plumbing repairs, yard work, cleaning, packing, moving, firewood cutting and delivery, bathroom safety installation, meal delivery, gutter cleaning, shed building, and trash hauling. All ages and physical abilities are welcome, and church members can request help by calling the church office. Iron Sharpens Iron, the men's group, gathers on the fourth Saturday of each month at 6:00 PM at Mike and Jeanine Deal's house in Statesville, with a meal, fellowship, occasional guest speakers, and outdoor activities from wild game cookouts to fireside chats and fishing trips.
The New Life Garden Group plants and cares for a garden at the church property on Warren Road. Led by Michael Fox, the group welcomes experienced gardeners willing to mentor beginners and aims to provide food for New Life families, for neighbors with food needs, and for group members. Rev. 3:22, led by Craig and Sabra Schroder, gathers for potluck dinner and prayer on the first and third Thursday of each month at 6:15 PM at the Schroder's place in Moravian Falls, with the shared goal of enjoying His presence together around a table.
To join a Life Group, visitors can contact the leader directly.
Missions at Home and Around the World
New Life Church sets aside 15 to 20 percent of its general offering for missions, and the list of partners it supports reaches across continents. Globally, the church walks alongside Church Growth Ministries in India led by Josh Kallimel, Church Planting Development East (CPDE) in the Mideast led by Nate Schrader, Cross Cultures International, Go To Nations and GloDev with Tim and Nancy Lovelace, Kingsway Connection in Northern Ireland with Robert Mearns, Living Word Ministry International in Thailand with Charlie and Kathy Milbrodt, Missionary Ventures in Europe with Tommie and Gunilla Naumann, New Covenant World Missions in Guatemala with Tim and Doris Spurrier, One Simple Thing Mission to Romania with Joel Hollingsworth, and Way of Hope in Guatemala with Dick and Mary Jo Crandall.
Nationally, the church supports 957 Mobile Cafe, Caring Hearts Crisis Pregnancy Ministry, Christian Crisis Center of Alexander County, Equipping Hearts for the Harvest led by Ed Khouri, Graham and Rachel Marshall with The Send, and Western NC Overcomers, a halfway house. Trevor Craig leads the Missions Team, and giving specifically to missions is set up as a separate option in the church's giving platform.
The Congregational Care Team and Grief Share
A volunteer Congregational Care Team provides support and care to individuals in the church during difficult seasons. The team offers a ministry of support, hope, and caring through prayer and visitation so that no one in the congregation feels alone in their hardest times. Michael Fox serves as the main contact, and the team includes Selena Fox, Dave and Liz Dauler, Tim and Jill Wingler, Jori Mason, Larry Boyer, Laura Hensley, Linda Craig, Pat Coiner, Richard Owens, Len and Elana Rogers, Richard Green, and Steve Howard.
The same team hosts Grief Share, a 13-week support program for people grieving the death of a loved one. Grief Share provides a safe, welcoming place to work through the difficult emotions of grief with guidance and tips aimed at relief, comfort, and peace of mind. Anyone with an individual care need can submit it through the form on the Congregational Care Team page.
Christian Fellowship of Ministries
Beyond its own ministries, New Life Church runs a Christian Fellowship of Ministries that gathers individual believers, leaders, pastors, and organizations for mutual support, shared resources, and collaborative evangelism. The fellowship is rooted in the New Testament idea of koinonia, or partnership, and is designed to prevent isolation and strengthen the collective impact of the wider church. Its stated goals are encouragement for leaders who often face intense isolation, shared mission through pooled prayers and relationships that sustain ministry, and mutual accountability that helps maintain sound doctrine, ethical standards, and godly character through peer guidance.
The fellowship maintains an online directory of ministries and ministry leaders, and the New Life Elder Team communicates upcoming dinner meetings and other connection points by email. Those interested in joining submit an application and are notified by email upon approval.
Next Steps, Volunteering, and Resources for Newcomers
For people newer to the church, New Life Church runs a NEXT STEPS class on Sunday morning in the downstairs Meeting Room 2 from 9:30 to 10:20 AM. The single session covers what it means to follow Jesus, how to connect with others at New Life, and the volunteer opportunities available within the church. Class size is capped at twenty participants and registration is required through the church office.
Children and adults can be baptized by signing up through the baptism page. The church also makes Right Now Media, a streaming library of Bible studies and Christian video content, available to its members and regular attenders for free through a dedicated signup link. Sermon resources from 2018 include titles by Derek Prince and Andrew Murray on prayer and fasting, and the church's older preaching resources remain archived as MP3s going back to 2015.
Giving, the Building, and How to Connect
Online giving runs through the church's giving platform, where first-time givers create a new profile before their first gift. The giving page encourages generosity with the line God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.
The church sits at 46 Warren Road in Taylorsville, with a separate building called the VHQ, or Victory House Quarters, at the same address used for Life Groups, Congregational Care Team meetings, and the Garden Group's plot. A second campus location is listed at 44 Warren Road for the garden itself. The mailing address is PO Box 1063, Taylorsville, NC 28681. Visitors arriving by car can use the maps link for directions.
The best ways to stay in touch with New Life Church beyond Sunday morning are its livestream and sermon archive for regular teaching, its Facebook page for news and updates, its Instagram feed, its newsletter sign-up form, and Right Now Media for on-demand Bible study. The church office can be reached at 828-632-9589 or administrator@newlifenc.com, and the contact page includes a form for general notes.
A Note About What Makes New Life Tick
What stands out about New Life Church is the combination of deep, sustained teaching and a high density of small communities. The School of the Word, the lengthy sermon archives, and the long-running Life Groups together point to a congregation that values digging into Scripture over a long stretch and sharing that study in homes, on the church campus, and around tables. Layered on top of that is a generous missions footprint, with a tenth to a fifth of the offering leaving the region every year to support workers across the world. Wrapped around all of it, the House of Prayer gatherings on Sunday morning and Wednesday evening hold the teaching and the community together with the steady work of prayer.