Double Vision Ministry Plan

“Double our Efforts. Double our Impact.”
Spring 2009

Look at what God has done with Connections in less than 2 years. Following His lead we organized and launched our church…

• From a vision to reality.
• From preview services, to our first year in weekly worship.
• From hope that God would change lives, to stories of lives changed by God.

Now imagine what God can do in the next two years…

• Double in worship- growing our Sunday service to multiple theatres and launching a new service at a new time to reach new people.
• Double our presence- creating a office space to be grounded in the community that doubles as a viable business.
• Double the staff- one more full time staff member and multiple part-time staff.

So what will this mean for our people and our community?

• Double our volunteers serving on ministry teams.
• Double our efforts to serve children, youth and families and double the number of Connection Groups.
• Double the missional engagement in our community and abroad.

So what will it take to get there? RPMs

• Resources
• Prayer
• Ministry Teams

_________________

Look at what God has done with Connections in less than 2 years. Following His lead we organized and launched. It is amazing to look back over our brief history and see what God did…

From a vision to reality.
In January of 2007 George and Robin Saylor and a group of 5 people began actively gathering people around the vision of launching Connections Community Church. Our vision was to see people:

• Connecting with God.
• Connecting with people.
• Connecting with the world.

These are not three levels of mission- they are the three essential legs on which we stand. We hope that everyone involved with Connections will be involved with each part of our mission. And while individuals may step into Connections through any part, we see them as a missional process that follows the story of the early church.

In the book of Acts the church was born when the story of Jesus was publicly proclaimed and more than 3000 people connected with God and accepted Jesus as savior. They were immediately baptized and the church was born! The believers connected with each other and gathered daily in their homes. Then, as the church grew, they organized for more efficient and effective mission in the world.

Our approach to being the church is the same- to publicly proclaim the story of God and life in Christ, to come together fellowship with one another, and to mobilize in mission to the world.

This was, is, and will be our vision.

From preview services, to our first year in weekly worship.
Through the winter and spring our vision continued to gain momentum. More people got on board. We met in small groups. By the summer of 2007 God had brought us just the right talent to launch our church. We gathered our resources and preparing for public ministry. It was amazing to see our team work together to make things happen.

In September we were ready to give it a try- we held our first public service in the Silver City Movie Theatre. Somehow it all came together- we had tons of equipment, a trailer, a family ministry- we even had great coffee! From our very first preview service it was clear- we were not starting small! We were drawing a crowd, and drawing more people to our vision.

In January 2008 we went weekly and never looked back. By the Fall of 2008 we were reaching nearly 200 people in worship. We also launched our Connection Group ministry with more than 100 people involved- that’s over 50% of active involvement! Our people, Connectors, don’t just want an hour of worship- they want a place to belong.

From hope in the God who changes lives, to stories of lives changed by God
When we were planning and preparing to launch Connections our team had one simple idea- bring your family, your friends, your neighbors. While we have grown through word of mouth and a positive buzz in the community, it’s been people inviting and bringing their family, friends and neighbors that has built our church. We don’t just hope you’ll help spread the good news- we absolutely depend on it!

We boldly declared one goal to stand as our marker of success- if after one year we do not have any stories of lives transformed by Jesus Christ through the mission of Connections, we must be honest and ask ourselves, is God in this?

It was frightening to draw that line. If God desires changed lives, then we have the obligation to ask that He change lives through Connections. In fact, we must be jealous about seeing lives changed- we must want it, desire it, pray for it, work for it.

It’s happening. If you’ve been with us this past year you’ve seen the growth, you’ve heard the testimonies, you’ve witnessed the baptisms, and maybe your life has been changed for eternity! Here’s what people are saying…

“Connections has been the most significant factor in us feeling at home in London.”

“... I have never been able to really worship God to the magnitude that I have been able to experience through the band at Connections. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but I get goosebumps and teary eyed pretty much every week!”

“At Connections I feel like I’m finally finding my volunteer fit.”

“I love Connections because of the feel. It seems to be one of those places, that, when you walk in feels right. It teems with energy and spirit... It encompasses what a community should feel like.”

“I think that by meeting different people and hearing the excitement everyone has for God and this church, it brought me to a different place with God than I had been before...”

“I love the fact that people are coming to know Jesus! God is drawing people to Him and that excites me to the core.”

“...my life, our lives, have been greatly impacted by Connections. Since we've been coming out I feel we've been living different, rather, opposite lives than what we were before and I have to tell you that it feels amazing.”

Now imagine what God can do in the next two years…
Double our efforts. Double our impact.

The majority of church plants do not grow past 100 people even after 4 years1. God is doing amazing things through small groups of people.

But it seems clear to us that God is NOT using Connections in this way. What do we believe God is calling Connections to be? What have we heard from you, the volunteers and leaders of Connections? What have we discerned from our prayers and conversations?

Three strategic goals:

Double in worship- growing our Sunday service to multiple theatres and launching a new service at a new time to reach new people.
We hear it over and over again- we love the music! We love the messages! We love the welcoming and accepting atmosphere! The Sunday experience is a strength of our church, so we will build on this area.

The next step is simple- move to two services and/or a video simulcast service. We can have services at 9 am and 10:15 am. We can also create a simulcast of our service in another auditorium.

What is even more exciting for many of us is the hope of launching a new service at a new location to reach new people. Let’s be honest, a lot of folks are not going to get out of bed for church. But we think they might come out on a Sunday night. Picture a club or venue in London transformed into a place of worship. We do it in the theatre, we can do it elsewhere too!

We hope to start “previewing” an evening worship service immediately. We pray our morning service will naturally grow to the point of expansion n the fall of 2009. At that time we’d like to also go weekly with the Sunday evening experience.

Double our presence- creating a place to be grounded in the community that doubles as a viable business.
So far we have enjoyed, and even thrived, as a “homeless” church in London. Meeting in the public square for worship is a part of who we are and how we touch the community. Meeting in our homes is how we live out the message of Jesus, apply it to our lives, and reach out to our neighbors.

But now we imagine having a presence in the North London community 24/7. A place for our church to call home. A place for volunteers to work. A place for our people to meet. A place for our band to practice. A place to host events and gatherings. We want an office space that will be regionally accessible and busy with volunteers. We want to assemble a team to begin actively looking for such a space immediately.

But more, we can picture our church office being more than an office- why not a viable business that helps sustain the ministry and serve our mission? A coffee house? A book store? A counseling center? A day care? We’re not sure what it is, but we are praying that God will surprise us with the answer to this dream.

Double the staff- one more full time staff member or multiple part-time staff.
Hiring staff is integral to opening a church office/business. Staff need a place to meet, and without a meeting place staff can’t work!

Moving towards a staff led church doesn’t mean we back off from volunteers. Hiring staff is about creating more opportunity. It’s how we will take our ministry to the next level in worship, discipleship and mission. A staffed office provides a hub of activity to better coordinate and grow our ministry.

So what will this mean for our people and our community?
Double our volunteers serving on ministry teams.
We have no desire to over load our current volunteers with more work. We want to double our volunteers so twice as much ministry is getting done.

This includes ministry teams helping with Worship, Connection Groups, Ministry Teams and Administration.

Double our efforts to serve children, youth and families and double the number of Connection Groups.
Connections now includes people of all ages. We hope to expand our offerings for children as well as find leaders for ministry to junior and senior high youth.

Let’s face it- good ideas don’t get ministries started. Committed people do. We are looking for the right people to partner with parents and their kids to create meaningful opportunities for Christian fellowship, discipleship and mission.

In addition, we will continue to develop our Connection Group ministry. We want to create enough space for every “Connector” to find a group to join. Groups will run on our semester format each Fall, Winter/Spring and Summer. Most groups will continue to follow the message based, intergenerational, neighborhood structure. We will continue to add other groups for unique stages, needs and areas of interest. Further training and support for facilitators and hosts will be essential.

Double the missional engagement in our community and abroad.
Connections has already served in the community and around the world. We volunteer with community events. We sponsor soccer teams. We collected food and host food drives. We send people out in mission. We given to the causes of compassion and international justice. We partner to reach out to our university and college students.

So far we have simply followed the leads God has placed before us. We’ve responded to what has been asked or offered.

But now we want to discern where God is calling us into mission. Where will this take us? We don’t know. But we do know that every time God has a great cause, he raises a great leader. We believe God will raise up those leaders through Connections. People with a passion for a particular cause or people group.

The Next Two Years...

The real story behind Connections is that a few people had a dream to launch a life changing church in London. They served tirelessly and gave to the point of personal sacrifice. They made this happen by following God’s lead.

Now it’s time for you to take hold of this dream and fully become a part of this mission. We invite you to fully invest in Connections.

How can you do that? RPMs
What are RPMs? Your cars power is directly connected to the engines RPMs (Revolutions Per Minute). More RPMs = more power.

Our church “engine” runs on RPMs as well:
Resources
Prayer
Ministry Teams

Double our amount of RESOURCES.
God doesn’t need our resources, He just wants us to be fully devoted to Him. That will never happen until we gain control of our finances, and give first to God.

The bible teaches is that where our treasure is, so is our heart. When we invest our resources, we’re more likely to invest our time. When we invest our time, we’re going to invest our prayers. That’s just basic human nature, and basic biblical stewardship.

If you have not been of the discipline and practice of giving we are now challenging you to rise to this occasion. Give generously to God through Connections.

We are not asking for pledges. We are not even asking you to give to this as a special cause. We are simply asking you to give to Connections.
Regularly. Generously. Cheerfully.

$250,000. That’s double what is currently being given to Connections. That’s what we need financially to make this vision a reality. Give to Connections through one of three ways- the weekly offering, online donation, or our preferred mode, automatic band withdrawal.

Double our energies given to PRAYER.
The church rises and falls on the power of God, and that power is accessed primarily though prayer. Jesus called his Father’s house a house of prayer. Connections will be a house of intentional, focused, faithful prayers for praise, intercession and discernment.

Double our MINISTRY TEAMS.
People that give are more like to pray. People that pray are more likely to serve. The more people serving through Connections, the more our church can serve and bless our world. Simple put- we want to double our teams doing ministry.

Now what? We ask that you consider investing your RPMs- Your resources, your prayer, and your ministry. Invest your resources. Give first to God through the Connections. Invest in a Ministry Team. Volunteer. Be involved. Help start new teams and new ministries for our church and our community. Invest in prayer. Pray daily for our church and for your own ministry. Join a Connection Group and pray with others.
Look at what God has done in less than 2 years.
Imagine what He can do in 2 more.

Double our Efforts. Double our Impact.
Double Vision