What might happen if we, together as a body of Christ called to join Him in mission, experienced together the contagious joy that comes from following Jesus and partnering with Him to impact our neighborhoods, communities, and cities?

What might happen if we abandon our perceptions and preconceived ideas about what it means to live a missional lifestyle?

What might happen if we, together as a community, spend time reflecting on what it means to be called as missionaries and experiment with fresh and life-giving ways to be a reflection of Jesus in a world desperate for Him?

These “What If’s” and possibilities, these conversations, and experiments with fresh perspectives, are the focus of what we as the Church are engaging in during 2017, and we are calling it Catalyst 100.  It is a focus that helps us, as a church, move closer to seeing our vision of Regional Impact realized. When we have a common goal, and common purpose, we are stronger together and can more intentionally live out the purpose that we as a community believed God has called us to.

Catalyst 100 says, “By the end of 2017 in true reformation style, we will be experiencing a significant increase in contagious joy because we will be able to identify 100 people who are re-examining missional living as they practice and experiment with what it means to live missionally.”

To get a jumpstart on Catalyst 100, we started 2017 with some 90-day objectives that would help build a solid foundation for all of us to build on over the course of the year. These objectives included goals on new methods of communication, gaining clarity about who our church is and how it operates, a better understanding of leadership roles at the Church, and launching a new curriculum for lifeGroups. It has been a busy few months, and much effort has been put toward achieving these objectives. Some of those efforts include:

• “Coffee with…” gatherings with staff, board, and elders.
• Additional communication through weekly Family minutes in services and lifeNotes, as well as an “overview of the month” email.
• 12 households have signed on to lead lifeGroups through our new Catalyst curriculum.
• Faithbuilders time has been re-designed to focus on missional living and discipleship skills for the remainder of 2017
• More opportunities for relationship building – the Family Movie Night and Ash Wednesday Soup Supper kicking off these gatherings.

And now, it is time for us to celebrate what has been accomplished in our first 90 days and to look forward to what next steps we will take together to see Catalyst 100 realized in 2017.  I would like to invite you to join the staff and myself on Sunday, March 26 at 9:15am for our Horizon Check-In. We will review the initiatives begun this year. We also will brainstorm what is next as we work together to see contagious joy for missional living become a reality for the Church and for God’s Kingdom, as 100 people or more experimenting with how God uniquely calls them to join Him in mission.

Friends, I am excited for what is yet to come at the Church. These past few months, we have been having bold and courageous conversations with each other. We have been reflecting on who we are as the Church and reminding ourselves of how God has led us to this place. I have been so encouraged by the support that the staff and I have received during Pastor Jeff’s sabbatical as well as by all those who have used this time to engage in our ministry in new or fresh ways. I am hopeful and eagerly anticipate what God is doing in our midst, and look forward to continuing on this journey with you.