When David and Dara Docusen held their first meeting for Center City Church, they had 18 people in their living room. Some were people who had moved to Charlotte with David, and others they simply knew from the surrounding community. With his core team in place, David set out not to bring in more people, but to focus on those already surrounding him. “We needed to really focus on our core group and make sure it felt like they were all planting a church, not just me and my wife,” David says. “We’ve been meeting consistently with our team and now we have 35 people.” David admits that because they are spending time focusing on their core group, they’ve begun to form relationships and do life with their team. “I’m noticing the people around me rather than just the goal.”

Many church planters use their planning stages to create a Web site and focus on marketing their new church. But God told David to take a different approach. “When we initially started, God really put on my heart that we should be laid back,” he says. “I love doing stuff like advertising and marketing. That’s my background. But with all the stuff I’m good at, God brought me to 1 Corinthians 2, ‘I didn’t come to you with eloquent words, but with the power of Christ’.” Within the context of Charlotte, David felt that because there are so many churches in that area, Center City Church shouldn’t make a big splash.

Patience is a virtue, but David admits it’s not one of his strong points. “Being patient has been one of the biggest challenges I’ve had,” he says. “Simply waiting and listening for the direction God has for us rather than what I’ve learned. The only reason we’re doing it this way is because the Lord told us to.” David studied the leadership of Joshua and began to notice that when he took the people from the other side of the Jordan River, they sat and rested for three days. “Early on in our plant, I felt God say to me, ‘Just because we can see the Promised Land on the other side doesn’t mean we should go for it,’” says David. “I realized that we needed to let the Lord walk us through it slowly. Joshua didn’t move until the Lord told him to. So we just waited. I started praying and said, ‘Lord, we’re going to wait for you to part the river, because when you part it, you get all the glory.’”

After arriving in Charlotte, David began working part-time at Caribou Coffee. “I felt like God opened my heart to see something outside of the bubble of full time ministry,” David says. “I began to build lasting relationships there. I saw people come to Christ and we’re still seeing that.” One person they saw transformed was Masha. “Masha came from a Russian/Jewish background and her family is atheist,” David says. When he met Masha she was desperately hurting. For eight months he befriended her at the coffee shop, during which time she expressed that she didn’t have an interest in faith. “I felt the Lord say to me, ‘Don’t talk about me. Just represent me.’” David only talked about faith when Masha brought it up. About eight months into their friendship, Masha experienced a devastating time in her life. “She walked into work with tears in her eyes and said, ‘David, I need help. I may not believe in your God, but I believe in you. Whatever you guys have, I’m willing to listen.’” Two months after that day, Masha gave her heart to Christ. Immediately afterward, David’s team connected her with girls to disciple her and now she has been a Christian for six months and has completely changed. “She may even have a call to missions on her life,” David says.

Today, Masha is on the launch team for Center City Church and is helping with preparations for their launch on April 4.