Recently I told a friend of mine that we were re-launching our church. He responded to my e-mail with a few questions:

relaunch? what all does that entail for the church?
changes in programming? ministry? vision etc?

I started to respond to his e-mail and then I thought, “This is good stuff. I think I’ll just blog it and send him a link!”

So here we go…

Hey friend!

It entails a LOT! It is virtually a complete makeover! Thus far we have:

• Hired staff in preparation for our re-launch

• Adopted a new set of bylaws that lets the pastor provide leadership to the church

• Identified and partnered with two community partners (Ebinport Elementary and Pilgrims Inn, a shelter for homeless women and children) This is our organizational way of loving our neighbor like we love ourselves.

• Rallied around a vision of helping people discover the life Jesus promised and planting churches that will do the same thing

• Defined what a follower of Jesus looks like:
  • Loving God and others and being loved by God and others (everyone is connected to someone so that no one is lonely)
  • Investing themselves in something bigger than themselves (everyone is giving and serving to expand the influence of Jesus)
  • Focusing on biblical priorities (we’re focused on what matters and moving beyond what doesn’t)
  • Expanding the influence of Jesus (we’re engaged in our community and in the world)

• Re-writing the budget to reflect the vision

• Embracing and executing a six step process for re-launch

And there are some other goodies coming soon (can’t say what they are just yet).

Really it’s not that complex. It’s just a matter of loving God and loving people, and as my friend Shaun King says, “Proving it.”

We’re simply lining up to expand the influence of Jesus in our community and then plant other churches who will do the same thing!

So that’s what re-launching means.

Are you ready to move here and join us? 😉