T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Co-pastors Linda, left, and Tim Seidler welcome the public to the Experience Church’s new site in St. Clairsville.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Experience Church moved from Bridgeport to its new location in St. Clairsville.

Workers are putting the finishing touches on the house of worship, but its doors are open and the first service was held there Sept. 24.

Co-Pastor Tim Seidler looks forward to the non-denominational church becoming a central part of the community. He said the church slogan is: “The perfect place for imperfect people.”

“It’s been great so far. Last week was our first Sunday, and it exceeded expectations. We had over 1,000 people and several new people coming to check it out and visit,” he said. “The thing that I love about this building, it’s not about bricks and mortar — it’s about flesh and blood, it’s about people. But this facility allows us to minister to the people that God has called us to, so we are excited about the facility because it just allows us to do what we’ve always wanted to do, only more effectively. Right now it’s an exciting time for us and our church, and we’re always passionate about reaching people that are unchurched, and seeing people come to check it out is really great now.”

He said the location and adequate parking have been welcome additions.

His wife and Co-Pastor Linda Seidler said the community response has been enthusiastic.

“We’re just really excited about being in this community. It’s an exciting time for us at The Experience Church. We are really glad that there are so many people who are coming. We believe more people will be coming, and one of the things that we really want to do is make a positive impact in our community.”

Another addition is a children’s wing. “One of our codes is: ‘We reach youth and we honor age.’ We’re passionate about reaching the next generation and seeing young families in church and seeing kids in church,” Tim Seidler said.

“What the kids are learning back there is something that they’re going to find in our church — God made me, God loves me and Jesus wants to be my friend,” Linda Seidler said. “They’re getting positive lessons every week. They’re learning how to have a foundation, which will help them to be not just better at being kids, but also grow into better adults.”

Tim Seidler said some landscaping remains to be done on the exterior and front of the building, but the inside is “up and running.” Work should be complete in about two months. He said visitors will be greeted in the atrium.

“We welcome people. Hospitality really matters to us, and what we do is we welcome people and explain to new people what you can expect. Church usually lasts an hour and 10 minutes,” he said. “We do it in a way that is super-creative. Our hope is to be a creative church. We just present the Gospel in a really creative way.”

The 35,000-square-foot church building can typically hold 550 people. The church also has a coffee shop and a drive-through window.

“We want people on the property more than just Sunday. We want our church to be a place that people can be Monday through Saturday as well,” he said.

Tim Seidler other church-related events are in the offing, such as an upcoming women’s conference in October.

“We want to be a church not just in the community but for the community,” he said, adding that they are grateful for volunteers’ assistance. “We believe teamwork makes the dream work, and as followers and Jesus what we’re called to do is serve, so that’s a big part of our Sunday. Our serve teams — we call them ‘dream teams’ — we have hundreds of people just serving to make church happen on Sundays.”

Services are at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on Sundays.

“We pray that we continue to grow, and as we grow, we’re willing to add service times,” he said. “If we run out of space, we’ll just keep adding more services.”

The address of the new location is 47998 Watson Road. The website is theexperience.church. The church also has a Facebook page.