missio

As I posted earlier, I’m doing a list again. It’s about that time. This list is about church plants from around the country that are making a difference in their community. Here’s the original post that explains the list and the definitions used (link). Without further ado, here’s the first five (in no particular order).

• Epiphany Fellowship (Philadelphia, PA)
  • Epiphany is an Acts29 Church in Philly led by the team of a former member of the Cross Movement and a D.Min. If that’s not enough for you, they are planting a church in the middle of the inner city of Philly: it’s not exactly where most people would choose to plant a church. They have a street evangelism team, they pray specifically against gun violence, and they are currently trying to purchase the building they are currently renting. They plan on renovating it to include a cafe, multi-purpose room, and a ‘technology center’, where they can train people of all ages to use computers. One of the most intriguing aspects of EF? They want to start a barbershop, filled with Christian barbers to flood the streets of Philly with the Gospel.
• Elevation Church (Charlotte, NC)
  • Most people have heard of Steven Furtick by now. He’s an incredible young leader in the western part of my home state, and the church he, his family, and 9 other families moved to Charlotte from SC during the year of 2005 in order to plant Elevation. In 2006, Elevation launched, and the rest is history. They’ve baptized 388 people over the last two weeks (spontaneously), and have reached 2000 people in attendance in their first year and a half in existence. Incredible. Yeah, God.
• Crossings Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
  • Crossings has just launched in Knoxville this February and they are already knocking it out of the park. They are meeting in a downtown movie theater, and have already created a buzz in Knoxville. Supported by Stadia and NewThing, they are reaching out to their community by connecting with community leaders from schools and the city in order to make Knoxville a better place to live, work, and play.
• Momentum Christian Church (McDonough, GA)
  • Momentum is another Stadia supported church in GA that is rocking their community’s world. They are actively focused in being a part of the community, not just reaching out to it, by working with the AIDS networks in the area, as well as various local food banks and other ministries. It’s very encouraging to see a church plant taking such a strong stance on community relations. On their website, they also have series wallpapers and resources for download; pretty cool stuff.
• Catalyst Church (Kent, OH)
  • Catalyst Church, led by Jonathan Herron, is an Acts29 and GBNAM church in Kent, OH. I hope I get to meet Jon one day; he seems like a cool cat. All that aside, Catalyst Church is trying to reach 250,000+ people in their area for Christ. How? They’re currently meeting at an awesome location: the Kent Stage, a historic music venue. This summer, they also plan on leasing real estate across from the Stage, which they plan on renovating for community art space. It’s going to blow Portage County out of the water, and I’m looking forward to hearing more about it!

There’s the first 5; 10 more to go!