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A brand new church in a brand new year is scheduled to open Sunday, Jan. 10. The Venue Church will celebrate its grand opening this weekend at the former Salvation Army store at 1400 Jake Alexander Blvd. West.

“This vision, for a nontraditional church, started with a group of 25 people who want to share God’s grace and love with our community,” said campus pastor, Ron Magnuson. “We are so excited about our first public worship service this Sunday. Everyone is invited to be a part of this incredible celebration. It’s time for a New Year and a New You at Venue.

“The grand opening will include new friends that can’t wait to meet you, great music, a relevant message and free barbeque for lunch. Children of all ages will have a blast!”

Ron Magnuson, a former news anchor and reporter at WSOC-TV in Charlotte, says he is excited to be the campus pastor at The Venue. “I can’t wait to see what God is going to do in this community and all across our area. We want to be a church that works together as a family to help bring others closer to God. It’s our job to help hurting people find answers to life’s challenging questions through God’s word.”

Andrea Magnuson, Ron’s wife, is originally from Colombia, South America. She speaks Spanish and English fluently and is the worship leader at Venue Church. Her passion is leading real people from diverse cultures into an amazing encounter with a real and diverse God. Andrea says “we live in a culturally and racially diverse community and the church should reflect that multicultural dynamic. Church leaders should always ask themselves who they are welcoming, not just accepting in their worship services.” Ron and Andrea have a three year old son, Malachi.

Ray Johnson is lead pastor at Venue Church and brings years of experience to the organization. “We want to communicate a caring and loving God to a contemporary culture in creative ways.” Johnson said, “The atmosphere is different from traditional churches, but the timeless gospel message of Jesus Christ remains. We have a casual and optimistic atmosphere with practical teaching. We encourage people to come as they are and leave different. Many people just wear jeans and a T-shirt. We just want church to be fun! Worshiping God should always be a celebration and celebrations are fun!”

Venue Church meets Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. and is located at 1400 Jake Alexander Blvd West in Salisbury. “Look for the large colorful building across from the Good Year tire plant, near Woodleaf Lanes bowling alley.”