VISION
A CHURCH OF HOUSE CHURCHES
Maybe that sounds a bit weird to you. If so, we get it...
But the first church that ever met, as the Bible tells us, met at the temple as well as in homes (Acts 2:46, 5:42).
We think that this wasn't just meant for a little while back then, until the Church got its act together, got a building, and then became a "real" church. The Church, as it appears in Acts, was initially a collection of house churches that came together on a regular basis.
WE THINK THIS STILL NEEDS TO HAPPEN TODAY, ESPECIALLY HERE.
Springfield, MA is the most Post-Christian City in America.
This means that, per capita, fewer people here have anything to do with God, Jesus, or the Church than anywhere else in the USA.
The data tells us that 9 out of 10 people here won't step foot into a religious service of any kind.
But 6 out of 10 are willing to have a spiritual conversation.
If we want to reach Springfield and its surroundings, we've got to have that conversation.
The Church wasn't supposed to be about a "weekend experience".
It was about sharing Jesus with each other as we live our lives every day.
This happens where we live. This happens where we work. This happens where we play.
And most of this is inspired through relationships, which are fostered through conversations in a house church.
TO BE CLEAR: We're not against the weekend experience at all.
It's clear from Scripture this was intended. But if it doesn't lead to a Jesus conversation where we live, work, and play, we have to rethink what we're doing.
This is why we want to be a church of house churches.
HOW WE'RE WORKING TOWARDS THE VISION
A DECENTRALIZED COMMUNITY...
In the Old Testament in the Bible, so much of what happened was centered around having a primary priest in a primary place. But this changes with Jesus.
Jesus could have absorbed authority and done everything himself. Instead, he gave his authority away, as we see in Luke 9:1. He empowered those that followed him to do what he did, forming relationships to reach the world with the news of who he was. This is our goal as well.
...WITH DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP...
In much of the modern Church (especially in America), it's all about the pastor. But what do we do with what the Apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 2:5 (...you are [Jesus'] priests...).? The pastorship isn't for a select few. According to what God said through Peter, it's for everyone who believes in Jesus. Instead of elevating and separating pastors, we want to identify people and empower and equip them to pastor and shepherd each other.
New Title
...IN DIVERSE DISCIPLESHIP COMMUNITY.
The New Testament Church was anything but homogeneous. They gathered geographically, which meant it was diverse racially, economically, in gender, and in age. As a result, this is church open to everyone, regardless of the life you're coming from. You won't find us endorsing sin, but you will find people who will love you for you, regardless of what you look like or what you believe right now.