12Stone Church | |
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12Stone Church | |
33°59′59″N83°59′24″W / 33.99967°N 83.9900°W | |
Location | Lawrenceville, GA based with various physical campuses and online. |
Country | United States |
Denomination | Wesleyan |
Website | 12stone |
History | |
Former name(s) | Crossroads Community Church |
Status | Active |
Founded | November 1, 1987 |
Founder(s) | Kevin Myers |
Clergy | |
Senior pastor(s) | Jason Berry (Senior Pastor) |
Pastor(s) | Kevin Myers (Founding Pastor) Dr. Dan Reiland (Chief of Staff) Paul Nieman (Lawrenceville) Mark Eiken (Hamilton Mill) Frank Haynes (Flowery Branch) Michael Lumpkin (Sugarloaf) Matt Lewis (Braselton) Steve Walton (Buford) Trey Hildebrant (Snellville) Travis Billman (Online) Coye Bishop (Jackson County) |
12Stone Church (also known simply as "12Stone") is an American Wesleyan [1] multi-site megachurch with multiple locations in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Kevin Myers is the Founding Pastor, having transitioned out of the Senior Pastor role in 2023. Jason Berry currently serves as the Senior Pastor of 12Stone.
As of July 2024, there are nine physical 12Stone campuses located in Gwinnett County, Georgia, and Hall County along with several home churches called "12Stone Home". 12Stone was listed in late 2010 as the #1 fastest growing church in America and as the fortieth largest church in the United States with an attendance of 9,636. [2] 12Stone is the daughter church of Kentwood Community Church. [3] In 2011 the average weekly attendance surpassed 10,000, making 12Stone the first Wesleyan Church to surpass this milestone. [3] Each campus location has a Phoenix Roasters Coffee shop inside the church. [4]
There are currently nine physical 12Stone campuses in Gwinnett and Hall counties and one temporary location in Jackson county. [5]
Wednesdays, youth group, occurs on every Wednesday of the year, excluding some holidays and weeks after big church events. It starts at about 7:00 PM each Wednesday night, arrival usually range-ing from 6:20-6:59 PM. Middle schoolers and high schoolers get to play games and talk to friends until drop off ends. Then everybody moves into worship, and following worship, either a sermon or small groups.
In 2014, 12Stone church was involved in the arrest and false conviction of David Justin Freeman, who had been a volunteer minister at the church. Freeman's conviction was ultimately overturned in 2017 on free speech grounds. [6]
In 2016, 12Stone church was struck by vandals (whom the church reports did $10,000 worth of damage). The vandals left behind pamphlets describing their displeasure with the church's operations, and spray-painted scripture references suggesting that 12Stone church had turned God's house into a market. [7]
The church and its head pastor have also made headlines for criticizing Colin Kaepernick's decision to protest by kneeling during the national anthem during a sermon, [8] as well as a sermon in 2010 comparing acceptance of homosexuals to acceptance of pedophiles. [9]
Jackson County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 75,907. The county seat is Jefferson. Jackson County comprises the Jefferson, GA Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, GA Combined Statistical Area.
Gwinnett County is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It forms part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, being located about 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Atlanta city limits. In 2020, the population was 957,062, making it the second-most populous county in Georgia. Its county seat is Lawrenceville. The county is named for Button Gwinnett, one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence.
Braselton is a town in Barrow, Gwinnett, Hall, and Jackson counties in the U.S. state of Georgia, approximately 43 miles (69 km) northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 13,403, and in 2023 the estimated population was 15,538.
Buford is a city in Gwinnett and Hall counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,144. Most of the city is in Gwinnett County, which is part of the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan Statistical Area. The northern sliver of the city is in Hall County, which comprises the Gainesville, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area and is part of the larger Atlanta-Athens-Clarke-Sandy Springs Combined Statistical Area.
Duluth is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. Located north of Interstate 85, it is approximately 22 miles (35 km) northeast of Atlanta.
Grayson is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. The 2020 estimated population of Grayson, GA is 4740 people. The population was 2,666 at the 2010 census, up from 765 in 2000.
Lawrenceville is a city in and the county seat of Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is a suburb of Atlanta, located approximately 30 miles (50 km) northeast of downtown. It was incorporated on December 15, 1821. As of the 2020 census, the population of Lawrenceville was 30,629.
Snellville is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States, east of Atlanta. Its population was 20,573 at the 2020 census. It is a developed suburb of Atlanta and a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, and is located roughly 33 miles east of downtown Atlanta via US 78 and Interstate 285.
State Route 316 (SR 316), also known as University Parkway, or Georgia 316, is a 38.9-mile-long (62.6 km) state highway that exists in the northern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. It links the Atlanta metropolitan area with Athens, home of the University of Georgia.
The Gwinnett County Public Schools is a school district operating in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. GCPS is the largest school system in Georgia, with over 140 school buildings and an estimated enrollment of over 182,000 students for the 2023–2024 school year. GCPS is estimated to be the 14th largest school district in the U.S. The district has its headquarters near Suwanee.
Georgia's 9th congressional district is a congressional district in the north of the U.S. state of Georgia. The district is represented by Republican Andrew Clyde, who succeeded fellow Republican Doug Collins. The district is mostly rural and exurban in character, though it stretches into Hall and Gwinnett counties on Atlanta's northern fringe.
North Point Community Church is a non-denominational, evangelical megachurch located in Alpharetta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. North Point has an attendance of 23,000 people in eight locations in the north metro Atlanta area. The senior pastor Andy Stanley serves as the church's lead pastor and, in turn, leads the North Point Community Church staff.
Georgia's 7th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is currently represented by Democrat Lucy McBath.
The Buford City School District is a school district in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. The Georgia Department of Education announced Buford Academy as a 2014 Highest-Performing School. Buford City Schools (BCSS) serves approximately 5,000 students in a campus-like setting of five schools, two performing arts centers, and a multi-purpose arena. In October 2020, Niche again named BCS the Number One School District in Georgia—an honor that has been bestowed upon the district for six consecutive years.
The Yellow River is a 76-mile-long (122 km) tributary of the Ocmulgee River in the U.S. state of Georgia.
The Hall County School District is a public school district in Hall County, Georgia, United States, based in Gainesville.
Northside Hospital Gwinnett is a hospital with 353 acute care beds in Lawrenceville, Georgia, United States. The hospital was previously the main operation of the overall Gwinnett Medical Center system of hospitals and medical centers serving Gwinnett County, Georgia, until it merged in 2019 with the Northside Hospital system of Atlanta, Georgia. It was renamed at the time of the merger, with Northside Hospital Gwinnett and the other former Gwinnett system facilities being dubbed as Northside Hospital system's "Gwinnett health care campuses".
Melvin Everson is an American minister and politician from Georgia. Everson is a former Republican member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 106th District, serving until 2011.
The Bowman-Pirkle House is a historic two-story log house in Buford, Georgia.
The Hooper-Renwick School is located in Lawrenceville, Georgia, and was Gwinnett County, Georgia's only black public high school in the 1950s to 1960s, until the end of segregated education in the county. Hull Elementary was the county's only Black elementary school during this same time period. The Hooper-Renwick School merged with the Gwinnett County School system in the 1960s and has since served a variety of other purposes within the Gwinnett County Public School System. Plans are currently underway to transition the building into a library and Black history museum.