Second Chance Church had its first-ever gathering in a physical site in South Carolina on Easter Sunday and Pastor Perry Noble could not have been more thrilled since 2,100 attended the service.
In a post on Facebook, Noble expressed his gratitude for the unexpectedly high turnout. He stated that 2,100 churchgoers was "so much more than we could have asked for or imagined."
Second Chance Church normally holds services on the Internet as an online ministry. A small number of people usually gather at the pastor's home for Sundays, while the service is streamed on its website.
Easter Sunday was the first time that Second Chance Church held a service in a physical location. Noble said in the same Facebook post that the church will return to its digital service this coming Sunday but the ministry could soon establish a permanent physical site.
"Keep us in your prayers as we have a meeting this week to solidify a permanent meeting space where we can hopefully have things up and going sometime this summer!" Noble wrote.
By having 2,100 attendees, the Second Chance Church could earn the distinction of being a megachurch. Based on the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, if more than 2,000 adults and children attend a Protestant worship service every week then it can be considered a megachurch.
Noble was a pastor at NewSpring megachurch until 2016, when he admitted to struggles with alcoholism and family problems. His feud with the current pastor and leaders of NewSpring went public in the summer of 2017. That same year, he and his wife divorced.
The pastor's old ministry, which began as a small Bible group at Noble's apartment in the late 90s, grew to over 30,000 members since its formation. NewSpring expanded across 17 cities in the U.S. with 14 worship sites. Its membership, however, started dwindling when Noble left NewSpring, a report claimed.
