About Us

Vision, Mission, Values, and more.

A Vision to Change the World

At Manna Church, our mission is to glorify God by equipping His people to change their world and by planting churches with the same world-changing vision.

We Plan To Accomplish This By

Helping God’s people discover their individual gifts and callings, creating an environment where these gifts and callings may be developed, and deploying the people to be salt and light in their world. Our Small Groups are designed to help accomplish this goal.

Helping God’s people build strong families and by creating a community where individuals may find fulfillment and expression regardless of age or marital status.

Planting churches with the same vision both domestically and abroad.

We do Three Things

1

Love God

We strive to provide inspiring worship experiences. We call them “experiences” because our goal is to passionately pursue the Presence of God and make much of His glory. Though we are one church that meets in many locations, each of our experiences is designed to meet this goal.
2

Love Each Other

We believe that the church of Jesus Christ is not a building or a location or even just a weekend experience. We believe that the church is people, and people were created to be in relationship. Our church engages in relationship and discipleship through our small group system.
3

Love The World

We believe we’re called to change the world, and we prioritize an intentional outreach strategy, by equipping believers to serve our community and the places they live and work. For Manna, serving is an incredible opportunity to show people the love of Jesus, no strings attached.

A Vision To Change The World

Where We Come From

Manna Church is a network of churches celebrating over fifty years of ministry. The first Manna Church started in the Fayetteville/Fort Liberty and has grown to over twenty-five expressions of Manna Church that meet along the military highway (near military installations around the world). 

Who We Are

In 2019, Manna Church – Fort Leonard Wood started out of someone’s home (Microsite), as an extension of Manna Church in Fayetteville, NC. Through hearing biblical preaching, focusing on building community and serving the community, Manna Church – Fort Leonard Wood outgrew a home and became a community of over 120 people who gathered weekly at Crossfit St. Robert and in Small Groups throughout the week. 
 
On September 17, 2023, what started as an expression of Manna Church in Fayetteville/ Fort Liberty, NC, launched as a fully operational church plant right here in the Fort Leonard Wood, St. Robert, and Waynesville areas; with live worship; engaging, in-person messages; an excellent children’s ministry; life-giving Small Groups; and world-changing outreach.
 
We have a passion to see people from all walks of life and diverse backgrounds experience the change Presence and message of Jesus, find belonging, and grow in their God-given purpose.

Where We Are Going

What’s the bottom line? Multiply. More than ever, Manna Church is committed to sharing the good news of Jesus with more people, equipping people more people the change their world, and planting more expressions of Manna Church near every U.S. military installation in the world.

Why the Fort Leonard Wood, St. Robert, Waynesville area?

People From Every Walk Of Life

To be a place where people from every walk of life and background can find belonging, whether they are in the military and will be here for a short time or have lived their entire lives in Fort Leonard Wood, St. Robert, Waynesville areas.
64%

…of the Fort Leonard Wood, St. Robert, and Waynesville area claim no religious preference and need to be reached with the good news of Jesus.

Military Highway

What started fifty years ago in Manna Church in Fayetteville, NC has become a network of Manna Churches located near military installations.

Elliot Diaz

Lead Pastor - Manna Church Fort Leonard Wood

Hi, I’m Elliot and Welcome to Manna! I get to serve as Lead Pastor of Manna Church in the Waynesville, St. Robert, and Fort Leonard Wood areas. 

In 2013, I joined the Manna Church (Fayetteville) staff after eleven years of active duty service in the United States Army. While on active duty, I served in the 18th Airborne Corps, 82nd Airborne Division, Security Assistance, and the Joint Special Operations Command. Between 2013 and 2023, I served in several pastoral roles (Small Groups Pastor, Executive Place Site Pastor, Cliffdale Site Pastor, and member of the Executive Team), while simultaneously serving as a chaplain in the North Carolina Army National Guard, where I retired on August 30, 2022. In 2023, my family and I felt called by God to move to Missouri to lead Manna Church in the Fort Leonard Wood area, and lead a local church where people can find Jesus, find belonging, and grow in their God given purpose.
 
I hold a Master of Divinity from Liberty University. I have a passion to help people discover, develop, and move toward their God-given purpose. I’ve been married to the love of my life (Jessica) since 2006, and we have three world-changers (Josiah-15yrs, Isabel-13yrs, and Felicity-7yrs). We are looking forward to seeing what God is going to do in the Waynesville, St. Robert, and Fort Leonard Wood areas and throughout the military highway. 

What We Believe

There is one living and true God, infinite in glory, wisdom, holiness, justice, power and love, one in His essence but eternally substantial in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The books which form the canon of the Old and New testaments as originally given are plenarily inspired and free from all error in the whole and in the part. These books constitute the written word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice.

God sovereignly created the world out of nothing, so that His creation, while wholly dependent upon Him, neither comprises part of God, nor conditions His essential perfection.

God created man in His own image, in a state of original righteousness, from which he subsequently fell by a voluntary revolt, and as a consequence is guilty, inherently corrupt, and subject to divine wrath. The unregenerate are totally depraved and do not possess a will free from the dominion of the sin nature.

Jesus Christ, the eternal Son, possesses all the divine excellencies, being co-substantial and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. In His incarnation, He united to His divine nature a true human nature and so continues to be both God and man, in two distinct natures and one person, forever. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, fulfilled the requirements of the law by His sinless life, suffered under Pontius Pilate, poured out His blood as a vicarious and propitiatory atonement for sin in satisfaction of the divine justice, and on the third day was raised from the dead in the same body, now glorified. He ascended into heaven and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father interceding in Glory for His redeemed.

The Holy Spirit, eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son, through the ministry of regeneration and progressive sanctification applies salvation, guides and comforts the children of God, directs and empowers the church in fulfillment of the Great Commission, and convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.

Salvation consists of the remission of sins, the impartation of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the gift of eternal life and the concomitant blessings thereof, which are a free gift of God, and received by faith alone apart from human works of merit. Even the ability to believe is a gift of God. This blessing in no way relieves men of their responsibility to repent and believe. After repentance towards God and faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ, the believer is to publicly proclaim his identity with Christ by immersion in water baptism, in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

The Lord Jesus Christ baptizes regenerated believers in the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is an empowering work of the Spirit which is distinct from the regenerating work of the Spirit which is offered to every Christian.

All nine gifts of the Spirit listed in 1 Cor. 12:4-11 continue to be expressed in the church today and are subject to the order prescribed by Scripture.

Communion is to be taken frequently and offered to all believers except those who are living in unrepentant rebellion or immorality. The communion elements are symbols of Christ’s body and blood and are useful to the exercise of faith in the person of Jesus Christ as the only means of absolving guilt, shame, and punishment of sin.

The Kingdom of God is a present reality and a future hope, forcibly advancing through the agency of the church.

At death, the souls of the redeemed are made perfect in holiness and immediately enter into the presence of Christ, enjoying conscious fellowship with Him, there to wait the resurrection of the body.

The Lord Jesus Christ will return bodily, visibly, and personally to conform believers to His own image. He will judge the quick and the dead and will effect a final separation of the redeemed and the lost, assigning unbelievers to eternal punishment and believers to eternal glory.

Membership

If Manna Church is home for you then you might want to consider membership. What does being a member mean? It simply means that you align with Manna Church in matters of Christian faith and that you are committed to continuously grow in our 3 values (Love God, Love Each Other, Love the World) along with the 6 applications and 9 healthy habits associated with our 3 values.
 
While not necessary, you are encouraged to go through the Growth Track, particularly FirstStep and NextStep prior to becoming a member.
Sign Up For Growth Track

The Manna Church Growth Track is a series of Small Groups designed to facilitate your growth as a healthy, effective follower of Jesus Christ.

Complete Membership Form

Complete the online membership application. Once completed, you will have a follow-up conversation with a Manna Leader.

Sign Me Up For Updates

We will keep you updated with important information, upcoming events & outreaches, and more…