Our Story
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16.11
Simply stated, our story is about ordinary people watching extraordinary things happen through their obedience to God's will in their lives.
In 2006 God planted a vision in the heart of Unite Church elder, Brandon Twyford. He found himself being called to plant a church and felt that childhood friend, Rob Wood, teaching pastor at Unite Church, would be involved. Rob, his wife, Hollie, and Brandon's wife, Lacey, didn't take what he was saying seriously, and the subject was pretty much dropped. During that same time period in 2006, God was stirring the heart of Derek Morgan, Unite Church elder. He and his wife, Brittany, had not yet met the Twyfords and Woods, but God was moving Derek in a way he didn't really understand. He knew he was being called to do something, but he had no idea what that was supposed to be. Unbeknownst to all of them, God had planted the seed and started laying the groundwork for Unite Church.
Several years later, The Woods and Twyfords were attending the same small Baptist church in Lone Grove, Oklahoma, where they were working to get a contemporary praise and worship service started. The Morgans were active in Brittany's mom's church in Ardmore, Oklahoma, a town 8 miles East of Lone Grove, where they were involved with the youth and children's programs. All 3 couples were restless and felt they weren't where God wanted them. The Twyfords and Woods were soon led to separate churches in Ardmore: Brandon & Lacey to a contemporary service at a large Baptist Church, and Rob and Hollie to H20, a non-denominational church. The Morgans continued to go to their church but also started attending a late service at H20, where they met Rob and Hollie. Careers, children, and life in general kept them all busy, but Brandon never let go of what he felt God was telling him to do. He didn't know how, where, or when, but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was supposed to seed a church and so was Rob.
By January of 2011, Rob had stopped fighting against what he was being called to do. He had known for a long time, even before Brandon shared his outrageous vision, that God was leading him to the ministry. He completely surrendered his will to God's, and a few months later he was offered an associate pastorship at H20. Brandon's vision no longer seemed so outrageous as God took over. God revealed to Rob and Hollie that they absolutely were going to be planting a church. Brandon knew that what God had called them to do back in 2006 was finally coming to fruition, but convincing Lacey would not be easy. She was overwhelmed by the idea of being uprooted, and was not ready to believe that God really wanted them to take this huge leap of faith. The Twyfords had hit a stumbling block.
For the Woods and Morgans, God stepped up the pace. It was shortly before Rob became, "Pastor Rob", that the Morgans began attending H2O. Rob and Hollie led a life group that Derek and Brittany joined, and it was here that the Woods' shared with them their plans. Derek knew immediately that this was what God had been calling him to do since 2006. In February 2011, the Morgans' and the Woods' began meeting weekly to work on the vision that would soon be known as Unite Church.
The group began praying and fasting in earnest about where God wanted them to be, but no one place stood out for them. Because Brandon felt God had revealed to him that it would be NW Arkansas, the couples decided to make a trip to the Springdale/Fayetteville area. They spent that weekend praying and asking God for answers, and by the time they returned to Oklahoma, He had made it clear that Fayetteville, Arkansas was indeed where He wanted them to plant His church.
On that same trip, God also made it clear to Rob that the Twyfords would definitely be coming with them. Brandon and Lacey had already started attending H20 with the other couples, and Lacey sang with Rob on the worship team, but she was fighting harder and harder against what she knew in her heart God wanted. She could not envision her life anywhere but where she was. She was happy with her job, loved being surrounded by family, and she and Brandon had recently built their "dream" home. She struggled with her feelings and anxieties most of the summer of 2011, and then things changed. Through a series of events that could only be described as a "God Thing", Lacey received a peace and a certainty that this really was what He wanted, and on August 25th, 2011, all three families joined together in bold obedience to God. They met in the Twyford's dining room and from that point on came together weekly to pray, plan, and learn.
The Woods' moved to Fayetteville in June, 2012, followed a few weeks later by the Morgans'. Towards the end of the summer of 2012 the Twyfords' joined them. They started out meeting for church in a living room, and when God opened the door for them to use the Fayetteville Prayer Room, they moved their services there. In June, 2013, they moved across the street from the Prayer Room to The Warehouse. They would love to have you join them at 10:30 AM on Sundays to worship God and study the Bible through expositional teaching.
Unite Church is without a doubt God's work in progress, and it's exciting to watch and be part of what He is doing through this ministry. He also continues to move mightily in the lives of these three young families. If you would like to know more about their stories, please come to a service and speak with them directly. They would love to share with you the miraculous ways God has cleared the path for their journeys and continues to open doors for their ministry.
