FAITH IN COMMUNITY
Anchor Church, a non-denominational church recently formed in Gray, helps those who are struggling through life with difficult issues find Christ. The church founder hopes to build a permanent home for Anchor in Jones County soon.
Caleb Newberry, the founder and pastor of Anchor Church, said he was raised in Macon, then moved to Montana. He said he’s been all over the U.S. He said his wife, Jessica, was born in Warner Robins. He said they have lived in Jones County since about 2006, so it’s been his home half of his life.
“I love that Jones County is family oriented, and I love that it’s safe. We live in a time where sending your kids to school is dangerous,” he said. “I used to work at the sheriff’s department. Jones County is a great community, and we have great churches. The schools here are wonderful. It’s a place where our kids can be molded into great men and women.”
He said the idea behind naming the church Anchor was making it a place where you can always find your way even if you stray, because you are anchored. He says it brings people back home. He said they were able to raise enough money to purchase land on the Bill Conn Parkway near Gadd’s Animal Doctors of Gray, and they hope to raise enough funds to move from the W.E. Knox Civic Center, where Anchor Church is located now, to the location on Bill Conn Parkway in the near future.
“Anchor Church is a non-denominational church, and we launched last fall, so we haven’t been around long. Our hopes and desires are to reach the unchurched. We want to reach people who don’t feel comfortable in church. I feel we have a heart for people who are hurting and struggling,” Newberry said.
The pastor said he’s been ordained since 2014, and Anchor Church is his first church in Gray. He said he’s been involved in ministry since he was very little. He said before he was a pastor, he was a worship leader, an associate pastor and a youth pastor.
“I come from a lineage of pastors where my father is ordained, my mother is ordained, my grandfather was ordained, and my uncle is ordained,” Newberry said. ‘It just runs in our family. This is not my first time being a pastor, either. My wife and I wanted to give back to the community, the place we call home, because it’s given us a lot.”
The pastor said if people want to donate to Anchor, they can do so by going to https:// anchorchurch1.com/. He said he’d love for people to come join him on Sunday mornings at the W.E. Knox Civic Center at 10:30 a.m., because he wants to get to know people in the community and hear their stories.
“My goal is to break ground on a facility in about a year. In order to do that, we have to grow,” he said. “Our goal is certainly not money, but to reach the hearts of people and the community. Come as you are. We just want to help people.”
