By John Kiesewetter
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LIBERTY TWP. - Usher Mark Hendryx has good reason to smile at the growing number of familiar faces attending Sunday service at Cherokee Elementary School.

The new Christ's Church at Liberty is only 2 months old.

Members of Christ's Church at Liberty prepare for communion as they hold service at Cherokee Elementary School in Union Twp. Sunday. (Craig Ruttle photo)

"We thought there would be a number of people who would come and visit us once, and we'd not see them again," Hendryx says.

Leaders of the 1,800-member Christ's Church at Mason established the new congregation for Butler County's fastest-growing township on March 7

More than 185 people have been attending Sunday Bible study classes for all ages at 9:15 a.m., or the 10:30 a.m. worship service in the school cafeteria at Kyles Station and LeSourdsville-West Chester roads, the Rev. Brad Wilson says.

Charter member Robert "Tony" Fisher attributes the swift growth to the family-oriented programs: Bible classes, youth ministry, contemporary and traditional music, and nursery.

"We've got a lot of young families moving in. It's just incredible," says Mark Van Sickle, a West Chester Township resident. People from Hamilton, Mason, Fairfield Township and Monroe also have attended services, Wilson says.

"There are just so few churches in the northern part of the township," says Hendryx, an 11-year Liberty Township resident.

With the township's population (28,000) almost doubling since 1995 - and projected to more than double again (to 60,835) by 2020 - members of the non-denominational Christian church are hastily trying to buy 10 to 15 acres to build a permanent worship center.

"In the long run, we'll need it," Van Sickle says. "We've only been at the school since March, and we're about to outgrow it."

On the Web

More information about Christ's Church at Liberty can be found online (www.ccliberty.org) or by calling the church office at (513) 240-2345.

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E-mail jkiesewetter@enquirer.com