The Haven is a United Methodist emerging community in Stanly County. We know God is Love. We believe every person is created in the image of God and has sacred worth — and we mean every person.
Church done differently
Plenty of people love God and are done with church as they've experienced it. The Haven exists for them — and for anyone who's never walked into a sanctuary in their life.
Join us
Fridays at 6:30 PM, or Sundays at 5:00 PM. Which day it lands on moves week to week, so it's worth checking before you come. Once in a while there's a morning service instead — a combined parish worship, an Easter sunrise — and those get announced ahead.
Most weeks we're at Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church in Misenheimer. Some weeks we're in someone's living room. That's on purpose — worship doesn't only belong inside a church building, and getting out into the community where people actually live is part of following Jesus, not a break from it.
Wesley Chapel UMC
46963 Wesley Chapel Rd
Misenheimer, NC 28109
Get directions →
About 10 minutes from Richfield, 15 from Albemarle, and just up the road from Pfeiffer University.
Beyond Sunday
The Haven worships in many ways. Some of it looks like a church service. A lot of it doesn't.
Worship where the work is the worship. Mostly that means assembling Addison Blessing Bags — bags of essentials for neighbors who need them — along with whatever else needs doing. Bring your hands.
A weekly book study — closer to a book club than a Bible study, though we've worked through books of the Bible too. Recent reads: Do I Stay Christian? (Brian D. McLaren), God and the Gay Christian (Matthew Vines), The Screwtape Letters (C. S. Lewis), and the Book of Exodus.
We cook and serve at The Community Table, 506 S 1st St in Albemarle. We gather around 10:00 AM and serve from 11:00 to 12:30, putting hot meals in front of our neighbors.
Drinks, heavy snacks, and honest questions about God — usually in someone's home. No prerequisites, no wrong questions, no one grading your answers. It doesn't run every week, so check the calendar for the next one.
Exactly what it sounds like. We meet up somewhere — a house, a restaurant — and eat dinner together. No study, no agenda, no program. Just catching up and enjoying each other's company.
Live music — like Stumptown Brass — paired with a BBQ dinner, an ice cream social, or whatever else gets people in the same room.
Straight from our Facebook
Photos, events, and updates — posted once on Facebook, shown here automatically.
Support the work
The Haven runs on people showing up — with time, with supplies, and with financial support. All three matter, and none of them is a prerequisite for belonging here.
Online giving runs through the WNCC UM Collective. On the giving page:
Prefer a check? Mail it to The Haven, PO Box 1307, Albemarle, NC 28002.
The quickest way to help is our Amazon list for Addison Blessing Bags — buy an item and it ships straight to us for the next Hands & Feet Worship.
Say hello
Questions, prayer requests, or just want to know what you're walking into? Reach out. A real person answers.