As this semester cranks back up and the city and campus come back to life, we are making the transition from a monthly worship gathering to a weekly one. We are excited about this strategic move for three primary reasons:
1. It will provide us with 17 consecutive opportunities (January to early May) to invite friends and neighbors, preach exegetically through the entire book of Ephesians, and enjoy a regular rhythm of worship and communion. Our house churches are designed to be familial and intimate which can actually can make it a difficult introduction for those used to a more traditional, Southern church expression. Weekly gatherings are an easy first step for most Southerners and function as a gateway towards the house church where the majority of our discipleship takes place.
2. It will allow our house churches (we're expanding to a second one in February - our living room is already maxed out at 40) to function as a pure missional community and not carry the weight of being the only weekly point-of-contact for the body. This shift will allow our groups to become more localized as we begin to more specifically engage in local neighborhoods.
3. It will provide more opportunities for the body to serve and assume leadership roles as the scope and complexity of the church expands. Transitioning to weekly worship gatherings will force our members into new roles as kids volunteers, greeters, musicians, audio technicians, etc. These are all roles that must be regularly filled and provide an opportunity for our people to serve and invest rather than watch and consume.
From day one, our vision has been to be a church that exists primarily as a network of scattered missionary teams that reunite each Sunday to worship Jesus. We are in the middle of transitioning from a single family, to a family of families and we are excited to see this evolution take shape.
Union Church is growing and we're so thankful that the Lord has put this new family together. We covet your prayers as our leaders, systems, and structures grow along with it.