Part of our missional strategy at COMMUNITY is to reproduce new sites so we can reach deep into local communities and neighborhoods to help more and more people find their way back to God. COMMUNITY currently has eleven locations and a dream of one day having two hundred locations in the Chicagoland area. That kind of dream forces us into movement thinking. While we have several new sites that we expect to start in the next 18 months, it is movement thinking that has us planning the launch of our first network of three new sites in Chicago.
Jon Ferguson, my brother is leading the way as network leader and will be moving with his family into the city this summer. Got to love that Jon and Lisa are willing to take the lead on this great new missional endeavor. We are calling this new initiative CHICAGO IMPACT. We believe that this strategy of starting a network which ideally will include 3-4 sites will allow us to more easily achieve our dream of being a catalyst for a movement.
The good news is that momentum is already starting to build as more than twenty-five people are making plans to move from the suburbs into the city to help launch this new site. I anticipate that the number will more than double over the next several months. One of those people that relocated is our campus pastor, Tammy Melchien who in her first two weeks started two small groups reaching mostly people who are not going to church. That is a very good sign! We are already hearing some amazing stories and I'm sure there are more stories to come.
As I look to the future I know COMMUNITY will continue to start individual campuses, but we will also start more and more networks. Why? To help people find their way back to God!
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