Connection Community Church — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Pastor David Layser (Lead); Emily Layser (Director of Spiritual Formation + Congregational Care)

Founded Christmas Eve 2001

Denomination GMC

Service Times Sunday 9:00 AM and 10:30 AM

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry Yes

Website justshowup.church/

Pastor Credentials David: ordained Elder in GMC

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

Is Jesus the only way? (John 14:6)

Wesleyan/GMC creedal Christology

Strong

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

GMC affirms scriptural authority

Strong

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Not verified

Caution

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Wesleyan-Arminian doctrine of grace

Strong

Gender / Biblical Design

Biblical manhood and womanhood by God's design — patriarchal, complementarian, egalitarian, or affirming gender ideology?

Male lead pastor (David Layser); wife Emily as Director (not pastor of record)

GMC complementarian per Transitional BoD para. 304.1 — male-only ordination as Elder. Current male lead pastor (Layser); previous female co-founder retired June 2025.

Strong

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

David Layser succeeded co-founders Kari + Alan Jones (both retired June 2025)

Strong

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Not sampled

Caution

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

GMC connectional missions

Strong

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Disaffiliated UMC 2023 → GMC; tagline 'Just show up'

Strong

Accountability Structure

Denominational home, elder plurality, or external network — is the pastor answerable to anyone?

Site states: 'Connection made the difficult decision to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church and became a member of a brand new denomination: the Global Methodist Church.'

Strong

Assessment

Connection Community is a Middletown, DE GMC congregation founded Christmas Eve 2001 by Pastors Kari and Alan Jones (both retired June 30, 2025) and now led by Pastor David Layser. The church disaffiliated UMC → GMC in 2023.

#gmc#global-methodist#delaware#middletown#new-castle-county#northeast-conference

MOOP Engagement Tracker

How this church was personally verified by the MOOP directory team:

✓ Researched church website

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Founder co-pastors Kari + Alan Jones retired June 30, 2025; David Layser is GMC-ordained Elder.

These are the URLs consulted to arrive at this church's scoring. Score-note claims are synthesized from homepage content, denominational directories, and public statements of faith at the time of review. Church websites change frequently; we're progressively adding Internet Archive snapshots to prevent link rot.

[1] Live source justshowup.church/connect/staff/
[2] Live source justshowup.church/connect/history/
[3] Live source northeastgmc.org/find-a-church-map/

Transparency note: MOOP ratings are researcher judgments about publicly available theological and ecclesial evidence. They are not infallible. If a church's public posture has changed since our review, or if we've mis-read evidence, tell us — we publish corrections.