Ed and Megan Denk

In 2006 Megan Denk was living in Jacksonville and looking for a church home. Friends of hers from college attended North Point Community Church in Atlanta and loved it. They told Megan that North Point was starting a church in Jacksonville and encouraged her to try it.

Megan tried Access Church. “I grew up in church, but my faith didn’t really grow until college,” she said. “The laid-back atmosphere at Access was similar to the church I attended in college, so it really drew me.”

In June 2008 Megan met Ed Denk, and the two began dating. A few months into their relationship, Ed told Megan that he would like to go to church with her. That week Access wasn’t meeting, so Megan took him to a different church. “I didn’t connect,” Ed said. “Megan said she had another church for me to try—Access Church.”

The following week, Ed and Megan attended Access together. “The first time I walked in and heard Andy, I said, ‘This is where I want to go,’” Ed said. “Andy made church relevant to my life. He made me understand that it’s not just about a guy who lived 2,000 years ago. God loves me. He’s a personal God.”

The Access service was different from Ed’s previous experience with church. “I was raised Catholic,” he said. “I went to services, but church never connected personally to me. I walked away from religion altogether for a long time because of that. The atmosphere at Access was laid back and welcoming. There weren’t a lot of formalities. It wasn’t intimidating.”

Ed came to faith in Christ while attending Access Church. “God has taught me so much through Access,” he said. “I don’t even know where to begin. I could go on forever.”

In June 2009, Ed and Megan were married and began serving on Access’s set-up and tear-down team. Megan recently started serving in Waumba Land as well. “We attended Access together for a year, but never got involved in serving,” Megan said. “Serving allowed us to connect and get to know people.”

Ed said, “It’s important that we don’t just go and sit in our seats and listen and go home. We’re part of the church, and we want to do our part. We want Access to succeed. We want to help bring people to this special place.”

Ed and Megan are committed to Access Church and are excited about what Access has to offer Jacksonville. “Jacksonville has a lot of churches, but not all churches meet all needs,” Ed said. “Access is a place to learn about God where you’re not expected to be a Christian when you walk in the door. We want to make an impact on people who would never have gone to church otherwise.”