There are a lot of people in this world who don't like church.
We live in an area that has a lot of churches. As a matter of fact, we may lead our state in number of churches per capita. With that in mind most people around here have some experience with the local church. It is a given for most in our area that they believe:
- in God the Father
- that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
- the Jesus died on the cross for their sins and rose from the dead
Even I knew these points before I became a Christian – it just meant nothing to me… at all. Since I followed Jesus what I have found (especially after serving in the church for over a decade) is that a lot of people believe in God, are guilty that they don't have a relationship with Him, and are guilty that they don't attend church. So what's the issue?
The issue seems to be the church itself. It appears that when these people look at the church they don't automatically think, "that (the church) is what's missing from my life."
Maybe it's because they've never attended church much so they are nervous about attending. Maybe it's because they have been to church and were turned off, or didn't think it was their thing.
Maybe it's because they have met "church people" who represented the church (and Jesus) badly.
That's why the Vertical Lead Team, (Joey Autry, Brandon Meadows, Donnie Paschall and myself) decided to give up the comforts of our local churches to start a church in our region that would be focused on reaching people who don't like church. We are looking to reach people who are open to God, open to Jesus but don't attend church. A church for people who are seeking and searching for more to life – people who are looking for a church that just seems to be real, a place where people can seek God without having to dress up. A place that is brimming with excitement for God and promises to not be unusually quiet; A place that promises not to bore people with what appears to be the same service week in and week out. We are excited about what God is doing in our lives and we think that it is just appropriate that we declare it LOUDLY! The last thing our area needs is another church like the ones we already have.
L-town/Rob Co/Bladen County: this is what Vertical is all about. A church whose mission is to lead people to become passionate followers of Jesus so they can lead others to be passionate about Jesus. It's God's church focused on people who don't like church so THEY TOO can become passionate about Jesus.
And that's what we mean by that statement.
