What do you want your church to be known for?

We want to be a church that is full of people who are Holy Spirit-led, wise stewards of all God has entrusted to them and authentically who God created them to be.

Big challenge? 

We moved to a new city where we didn’t know anyone (and in the middle of a global pandemic) so the biggest challenge for us initially was meeting people. Once we launched, the biggest leadership challenge became discerning who will be good and faithful with what they’ve been given. Many people say they want to help, but that doesn’t mean they are ready to carry leadership responsibility.

Big opportunity?

God has supernaturally blessed our church in ways we didn’t expect. A few months ago, we prayed and fasted for God to draw more people who could help us carry the weight that comes with pioneering a new church plant, and we saw 30 people join the team over that next month. We do our best to have a good website, followup processes, etc., but this was nothing short of God’s supernatural blessing. Church planting has not been easy, but God has provided and blessed throughout every step of the way.

The unexpected?

We have learned to be very flexible in this season. One week we received an email on a Thursday letting us know our Sunday church venue was no longer available, which meant we had to scramble to make alternative arrangements. It’s important to have a good plan, but we’ve also had to remain flexible and not get too bent out of shape when unexpected challenges come our way.

Other comments?

Church planting has been the greatest blessing of our life. We’ve seen many people come to Jesus, build life-giving friendships, get married, have kids, dedicate their babies, etc. It’s also been the most challenging thing we’ve ever done. It hasn’t always been easy, but it’s worth it. We can’t wait to see all that God continues to do in the days ahead across the Chicagoland area.

What do you want your church to be known for?

We want to inspire creatives, lifting up leaders and leading families into their purpose—a.k.a. God’s design.

Big challenge? 

Casting a wide net that facilitates people of different faith levels, from new believers to traditional Christians with church experience.

Big opportunity?

There are many creatives looking for a home church. This area is where we creatives live.

The unexpected?

Given the area, we did not expect there to be so many people of color, as well as so many Christians looking for a church nearby.

Other comments?

We launched out in faith in a hard-to-reach area against conventional wisdom. A multiethnic, intergenerational church led by an African American man and his family was not the best strategy for Calabasas. But the wisdom of God confounds the wise. Our church is well under way and it’s the Lord’s doing.

What do you want your church to be known for?

When launching our church, we wanted to create a space where your place, your people, your purpose would collide and intersect. We truly believe that Echo Church is where you can find all three. We are committed to doing life together and meeting people where they are, helping them in their next steps in their faith journey.

Big challenge?

Being over three years old now, we are always working on having healthy goals and balance. It can be really easy to slip into being overcommitted and feeling tired. We are committed to prioritizing our family and having a pace that is sustainable. Having a large launch, and going through a pandemic, we are always seeking to have a healthy rhythm and a realistic pace. We want to do this for a long time. With big dreams and goals, we are always working on what to focus on in our current season and leading by example.

Big opportunity?

We have many unique opportunities with having the No. 1 hospital in the world, Mayo Clinic, in our city. It is our main employer, bringing in individuals and families from all over. We love supporting the hospitals and showing up in creative ways. Our heart is to provide a church community to support new people to our city, helping them make Rochester home.

The unexpected?

With being portable, we thought we would stay in the same building (a middle school) for the long run, but we are currently in our third building and have learned to be flexible and open to wherever God wants us. It’s not about the building, it’s about the people. We never anticipated how much behind the scenes time and effort it takes for finding a facility, looking ahead for future permanency and holding our head high and honoring local leadership.

Other comments?

We are better together. We are forever grateful for ARC and our ministry friends. We are where we are because of God and our pastoral friends who have helped us along the way.

What do you want your church to be known for?

We believe that the Gospel will be known as a place of spiritual renewal. While some in our community have been in church before, many are just experiencing what a living, breathing relationship with Jesus is actually like. So, rather than bringing a new message, we believe in renewing our hearts toward the message that has always been true: the gospel of Jesus.

Big challenge?

Adjusting to a small town. We’ve only been a part of one other church, where our last role was campus pastors in a big city. Being in a small town has taken time to build trust and credibility with locals before expecting them to be on board with our vision for the area. 

Big opportunity?

While Fredonia is a town of only 10,000 people, each semester there are 3,000-plus college students who live at the state university. We are already doing Bible studies on campus and believe that reaching that campus for Jesus is a huge opportunity. We’ve also recently purchased our first property and now have even more opportunities to grow.

The unexpected?

The winter storm that recently hit our area in November was beyond unexpected. While we’re about 40 minutes south of Buffalo, many of our community drive back and forth for work. As they got hit with five feet of snow, we started receiving calls from people who went up there to try to help. Our church came together once power started going out in our area. We helped find the most vulnerable, opened the church facility and sent out teams in our community to help. After hearing of the loss of life, we went through a few weeks of severe emotional collapse with several people in our church. Today, we are in touch with ministries in Buffalo and currently collecting jackets, hats, gloves and other items to help keep people warm. 

Other comments? 

We honestly never thought we would leave our home church to plant. It was the craziest thing we’ve done to move cross country like this, but after this year of ministry and seeing Jesus be lifted up, we wouldn’t trade this call for the world!

What do you want your church to be known for?

Our mission is the people of our city: “That every person in Milan might have an encounter with Jesus which transforms their lives as well as the lives of those surrounding them.”

Biggest challenge?

Culture. Our church is incredibly multiethnic, and being a new church plant, we desire to build a unique culture among us so we can reach the unity Christ called us to.

Biggest opportunity? 

So many people have faith but don’t know how to relate to Jesus. We live in a very Catholic country and city where people confess themselves as Christian however don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus. That’s where we want to position ourselves: as those who bring truth and serve God to break the chains of religion to establish a relationship with God.

The unexpected?

Discovering that we have become a bilingual church. At the beginning we weren’t envisioning our church would be bilingual—Italian and English. But over time we realized that aspect has naturally attracted many expats who have made their homes in Milan. Although it was unexpected, we have embraced it with excitement and curiosity about what God is about to do through us in our city.

What do you want your church to be known for? 

Our vision at Union City Church is to build “a church united in a world divided.” In the midst of unprecedented worldwide division, hostility, tension, fear, tribalism and mistrust, we believe that the church of Jesus Christ should lead the way in what it looks like to live in unity. Regardless of background, economic status, political affiliation or race, we believe that what unites us in Christ is greater than what divides us. It is our conviction that a unified church can be a beacon of hope to our world and a source of glory to God. It is an audacious vision, but we believe that through the power of the Holy Spirit it is not only possible—it is essential! 

Big challenge? 

We live in a very post-Christian context with many nominal Christians, and in the hotbed of tremendous political division and sometimes even hostility. Through our church, we prayerfully endeavor to disciple people to place their primary source of identity in being a child of God rather than in their ideological affiliations, and to practice humility, empathy and compassion for those they disagree with. We are cognizant that election cycles will be fraught with heated tensions but are confident in the surpassing power and wisdom of God to guide us through those moments. 

Big opportunity?

Washington, D.C., is known as one of the most influential and powerful cities in the world! The opportunities available within our city attract our nation’s best and brightest—people with a dream to serve their communities, to help others and to make the world a better place. The individuals who live and work within the 68 square miles of our city are people of tremendous

influence, power and authority in our world. With that in mind, we have always said that if you can turn the head of D.C., you can turn the head of the nation, and we are committed to doing everything we can to turn the head of our city back to Christ. 

The unexpected? 

We have seen tremendous success in our small group models. In previous church ministry, that has not always been the case. So far, in each of the three semesters we have hosted small groups, we have seen the semester conclude with higher attendance than it started with. The demand is high, and we believe it is because in a city that was recently named the loneliest city in America, small groups are a critical need and desire for people.

What do you want your church to be known for?

The mission of COOL (Created Out Of Love) Church is to “build strong families to build strong futures.” We are brothers and sisters serving brothers and sisters using love to add new families to the kingdom.

Biggest challenge?

Finding places to gather has always been a challenge in our city because of our church size. We’ve had to develop strong relationships with the city officials, specifically the mayor and city manager, to help us navigate this issue. Because of our constant service to the city, we have always been able to partner together to work out solutions for gathering.

Biggest opportunity? 

The greatest opportunity we see is the potential to blur the lines between different congregations in our city. Because of our constant community work, other churches are catching the vision to serve the community in new ways to bring the capital “C” church together. We are stronger collectively than we are individually.

The unexpected?

The pandemic was something we would have never expected to face in our lifetime. The heart and willingness of the dream team to pivot to fulfill the mission has always impressed us the most. We just celebrated our fourth birthday on January 29, 2023, and after two years of services online, and one year in a new facility, we saw 1,006 physically in church again. Those are numbers we were consistently hitting before the pandemic. The testimony from the days of momentum we are currently experiencing now is watching dream team members stand up in droves to give up their seats so that guests of the house can have a comfortable place to enjoy the service and hear God’s word. The family is serving with the right heart, and we are stronger than we have ever been, believing the best is yet to come.