Church celebrates first anniversary, looks ahead to first facility

A By LYNETTE SOWELL 
Cove Leader-Press 

Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of Cadence Church, a growing congregation of worshipers that meets each Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Copperas Cove YMCA on Clara Drive. 
While other local churches in the area prepare to celebrate more than 100 years, the pastors of Cadence Church were ecstatic to notch year one.
Joe and Angela Bernier lead the congregation. Joe was formerly on staff at Faith Point in Killeen, but said more than four years ago he felt that he and his wife were being led to plant a church. Joe has a bachelor’s degree in business and master’s degree in organizational leadership, and Angela works as an instructional coach for the Killeen Independent School District. 
“We have seen families put back together, hearts changed, lives transformed,” Bernier said of the year that the church has been meeting. 
On Sunday, more than 150 attended the anniversary service with guest speaker, Pastor Josh Watson, from Lead Church in Pflugerville. Both Cadence and Lead Church belong to the Fellowship Network of independent churches. A number of the Fellowship Network churches, such as Fellowship Houston, shared video messages with Cadence Church during Sunday’s service. Lead Church had its start at Typhoon Texas Waterpark, and Fellowship Houston meets at a Houston high school for its services.  
The church’s vision statement is to bring people closer to God and help them discover their purpose.
When planting a church in Copperas Cove, the Berniers found there weren’t churches with the same expression they had, but they also found a warm welcome from other congregations such as Church By the Fort, which meets at Cinergy Cinemas. Church By the Fort even rented The Bill Board last year to welcome Cadence Church to Copperas Cove. 
Now, the Berniers and the congregation are looking ahead to the next step. 
On Thursday morning, Bernier took to Facebook to elaborate on an announcement he’d made on Sunday, that the church will have its own location later this fall. 
“The YMCA has been so good to us, allowing us each week to set up and tear down, and be a home to so many people,” Bernier said. 
Just as when the church was searching for its first location to meet, there was some looking for the congregation to find a permanent structure. 
On Nov. 1, they will sign their lease for the space beside Dollar Tree. 
Bernier said that property owner and the city have been great to work with, and they have pulled their permits to start working on the space.
“We are planning to sign our lease on November 1 in our very own home,” Bernier said. “I feel like it’s going to be the best located church in the city. It’s going to take some work, some elbow grease, some money, but where God gives vision, he will bring the provision for it. It’s going to be great. We’ve got the plans drawn for what it’s going to look like inside.”
Plans are in the works to transform the inside, with an entry café suitable for holding smaller group gatherings, such as for men, women, and youth. 
They plan to continue their outreaches in the community, such as they have during the YMCA’s community events, holding canned food drives, and the National Night Out gathering.