Former Lightning Bug off of Route 228 in Mars to Reopen This Spring
Discovery Christian Church Offers the Facility as an Extension of the Neighborhood
MARS, PA, March 8, 2021 (Mars, PA) – Discovery Christian Church will hold a Ribbon Cutting
and Open House of its new building located at 170 Scharberry Lane in Mars, PA, on Thursday,
March 25, from 4:30 to 6 pm, in partnership with the Pittsburgh North Regional Chamber of
Commerce. Local business, school, and community leaders are invited to explore the new
facility and play a round of minigolf. The church will provide refreshments and prize drawings.
Dented Keg will sell local craft beers.
Early last year, the church purchased the former Lightning Bug Family Entertainment Center after operating as a mobile church, renting facilities over its 18 years of existence.
Discovery plans to keep the facility available for public use beyond worship services and other
church offerings. “Having a permanent church home gives us a place to partner with families,
businesses, and local schools and government to support, encourage, and serve our community
together,” explains Matt Mehaffey, Lead Pastor.
In addition to retaining the 36-hole mini golf course and indoor playground, renovations include
a 450-seat venue with state-of-the-art sound and tech capabilities, a coffee/snack café with
free wi-fi, and updated meeting/party rooms. Free offerings include mini golf tee times, wi-fi
use and some meeting spaces. Some activities and building use will be available for rent. In
order to meet COVID-related protocols, for now the indoor play place will only be available for
private party rentals, but eventually the church hopes to open it up for free public use.
“We consider this new building to be an extension of the neighborhood,” says Mehaffey. “In
addition to big life moments like weddings and kids’ birthday parties, this space is for the dayto-
day fun and connection people crave in between those milestones. I can’t wait to see
families playing golf, friends meeting over coffee, and co-workers using the wi-fi as a workfrom-
home alternative.”
Mehaffey says the building’s casual atmosphere reflects Discovery well. “We’re not a formal,
perfect-looking ‘Sunday-best’ kind of church,” says Mehaffey. “We’re a group of messy people
who are pursuing God’s best for our lives … moms and dads, workers and bosses, coaches and
athletes, kids and grandparents. We’re figuring out what it means to bring Heaven to Earth in
our homes, our neighborhoods, and around the world, as together we learn about Jesus and
the life to the full he wants us to experience.”
Discovery invites the public to their other Grand Opening week activities:
Open House Party – Saturday, March 27, 4 to 8 pm
Food trucks, free mini golf, live music, scavenger hunt, fire pit and fun for the whole
family! Learn more here
Grand Opening Worship Services – Sunday, March 28, at 9 & 10:30 am
In addition to in-person worship services, Discovery will continue to host an Online
Campus, offering live-streaming services on Sundays at 10 am and on-demand messages
via their website. Learn more here
The church is taking extra measures for health and safety with thorough cleanings, encouraging
social distancing, and requiring masks at all events.
For more information, go to discoverypgh.com or contact Todd Ransom, Community Pastor,
transom@discoverypgh.com
Thursday Mar 25, 2021
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM EDT
Ribbon Cutting at 5pm