KCC Newsletter
Looking back on 2024...
It has been about 11 months since my family and I moved back to Atlanta and about 5 months since I officially transitioned to being the full-time lead planter/pastor of Kingdom City Church. Those days and weeks from the end of January to the first of July were spent simply trying to transition well as a family. We had no idea what to expect but it was a season filled with a complex combination of emotions and challenges to work through and overcome. I was out of town a decent amount preaching at camps and churches as well as driving all over the region going in and out of meetings trying to secure funding partnerships. In the midst of it all, we were blindsided by health scares with our baby (now a toddler). It was a hard season for us as a family but a necessary part of this journey.
In August, we and a small team of friends were officially commissioned by West Ridge Church where we called home for seven years, four of which I served on staff. Shortly after (late summer/early fall), those few team members made the move and transition to Atlanta as well in addition to a few friends we had who already lived in the city and were added to the team. Throughout August and September, we focused on gathering as a community to establish consistent rhythms and connections and get the mission and vision of Kingdom City Church engrained into the initial core of what would become our Launch Team.
In October, November, and December we hosted monthly vision nights to gauge the interest of the city in a new church. We met so many new friends and have seen several take their next steps towards considering or even committing to our Launch Team. This is encouraging since we’ve yet to really engage in strategic external ministry. We’ve just focused on getting our bearings and contextualizing our lives as well as our church’s mission, vision, and strategy for our neighborhood and city but people have connected to us and what we’re doing.
As we turn the page and head into a new year, we are excited to engage in new strategies and ministry but in this email I simply wanted to reflect and express my gratitude—to God, first and foremost, but also to you and all those who have given, prayed, or served us in any way. We’ve been able to take this at a healthy, intentional pace for my family, our team, and our community because of the support of so many. We’ve seen God slowly but surely working in us, our team, and our community because of your prayers and support. We could not be more grateful for all of you.
Highlights:
We’ve had over 100 different individuals and families (123 to be exact) follow up with us through connect cards, organic relationships, or through the three vision nights we hosted this fall. We currently have 13 new RSVP’s for our January social (which represents 13 new individuals and/or families we haven’t yet met)!
Our capacity for ministry as a church will be determined by the size and quality of our Launch Team. The Launch Team is a group of adult volunteers committed to helping establish the core ministries of Kingdom City Church. We have an ambitious Launch Team goal of 75-100 people by launch Sunday and are already over 1/3rd of the way there.
As you know, fundraising has been a huge piece of this journey. We are working to raise everything needed to launch our church and engage our city missionally. Every staff position, all of our portable church gear, every ministry resource, any/all marketing, etc. has be funded. Well, I’m happy to report that since just since January, we have raised over $170,000 bringing our total fundraising efforts to $200,000 and getting us to half of our overall start-up goal.
We’ve gained multiple new church partnerships within our context with people we didn’t know a year ago and over the next two weeks I will be preaching at two of those churches for their Sunday morning gatherings. They have been generous with their time, their resources, and even their people. We are so grateful for other local churches in our city.
Kingdom City Church became an official non-profit partner of the city of Chamblee giving us a permanent space on their public website as well as a monthly sit-down with city leadership and a dozen other leaders of local non-profit organizations. We hope to develop local partnerships with these organizations to serve our city well.
Look at these pictures from a couple of our gatherings and know that each person was able to be hosted, seen, and prayed over because of people like you supporting works like ours. Jesus is faithful to build His Church but He doesn’t do it outside us… He does it through us. We may be the boots down on the ground but you’re holding the rope for us and making it possible. Praise Jesus and thank you.
“I thank my God every time I think of you! I always pray with joy, whenever I pray for you all, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” —Philippians 1:3-5
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