PEACE…that’s it. We want to be a community of testimony to the reconciliation that has been poured out on all the earth (2 Corinthians 5:14-19).
NorthShore Chattanooga Beautifully situated on the Tennessee River just across from the landmark aquarium, the NorthShore is perhaps Chattanooga's most eclectic neighborhood, offering the best in local dining, shopping and living. Here you'll find boutiques, restaurants, coffeehouses, galleries, salons and day spas. With the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga just across the river, this area offers a cultural diversity and post-modern flavor attractive to young urban families. This is quickly becoming the hip new place to live in Chattanooga.
A Granola Presence in a Cornbread County According to a 2009 survey of Chattanooga residents, nearly 87% of respondents indicated that they had made a commitment to Jesus at some point in their life. However, nearly 50% of those had not been to church anywhere in over a year (or about 50,000 dechurched people). According to the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, the area is expected to have a pattern of growth unlike anything it has ever experienced in part due to the arrival of a new Volkswagen auto assembly plant. German engineers and people from other parts of the United States are in the process of moving to the area. Postmoderns (the NorthShore crowd), former church-attenders, and non-southern transfers have a hard time fitting into traditional "southern churches".
The Missing PEACE of the Puzzle Amy Jo and I believe the people in NorthShore, like people everywhere, are desperate for peace. The conflict can be seen everywhere…between people and their God, between husbands and wives, between parents and their children, between neighbors, between races, between faith traditions, between rich and poor. Chattanooga, like so many other places, is in desperate need of community reconciliation, family reconciliation, and spiritual reconciliation. We believe God has heard the cry from out of the disharmony and we are answering the call.
The Next Six Years (2011-2016) Amy Jo and I plan to spend the next two years preparing for our public launch in January 2013 (1/6/13). People in Chattanooga have largely given up on church…”it’s boring, it’s irrelevant, it’s selfish;” those are the top three reasons given by people who are no longer attending church according to a recent Chattanooga survey. RiverSong will be a church that is any thing but boring, will offer powerful immediate impact Scripture resources from week to week, and will be “others centered” in service, prayer and lifestyle. Our plan is to offer a “small groups focused” community that will live out the Great Commission/Great Commandment through Following, Honoring, Being, Gathering and Going. We will gather a seed team (4-6 spiritually mature families). Then each seed team family will gather a small group of unchurched and dechurched people to lead (Total community of 6X10plus or 60plus). This community of 60plus will become our launch team and will allow us the opportunity to begin public worship gatherings as they will be able to serve in all the necessary servant leadership roles that Sunday gatherings require. We expect to be financially self sufficient four years later (end of 2016), having grown to 500 community members with over 70% participating in weekly small groups.
Core Values
Simplicity The last thing Chattanooga needs is another hyper-busy, over-programmed church.
We will meet on Sunday nights and “huddle” in homes on Wednesdays. We want to free people from inward-focused programming to serve in their neighborhoods as salt and light.
Transformation We will not be satisfied with our work unless people are experiencing real change; in their hearts, their relationships, and in their neighborhoods. Our prayer is that the Spirit will demonstrate through our community God’s ability to transform brokenness, fear, and negativity into wholeness, trust, and joyful hope.
Service Jesus came to serve. As Jesus followers we will joyfully live out His presence by doing the same. While we will identify a local, regional, and global ministry/mission with which to partner, our idea of service will best be seen in simple daily interactions with family, friends, and neighbors in need of a helping hand.
Learning to Live, Peacefully Gathering & Going (Joining the Journey) There will be two opportunities for folks to get connected to RiverSong each week…Sunday Gatherings (Gathering) and Weekly Small Groups (Going). Attractional Sunday nights should provide folks with a reason to bring friends and neighbors and should provide those invited a real good reason to come back. Our small groups focus will give people looking for a next step the chance to get more connected. Six months after launch, we will begin offering “Open House” events that will provide interested people with additional information about Following, Honoring and Being. We will use these three words to frame our discipleship/spiritual formation program. Following will have to do with embracing the call to follow Jesus (Spiritual Awakening, Submission, Multiplication). Honoring will be another area of discipleship stressed to new converts as well as returning Christians (Dating, Marriage & Family, Kingdom Values/Priorities). Being is the third area and will emphasize a commitment to spiritual development that many are looking for and not finding in existing churches (Spiritual Disciplines).
Looking for a Partner Church “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Amy Jo and I are looking for a partner church that will come alongside us and the RiverSong Church over the next several years. We are looking for a partner church that will not only financially support our work but will serve as a big sister; encouraging us, shepherding us, loving us all along the way.