Koinos Community Church - EnVision 2008 Re-cap

EnVision 2008 Re-cap

EnVision 2008 was really an exciting evening! The Leadership team hoped a healthy number of people would show an interest in the future of Koinos. We did not anticipate how many would join us! John and Jenny Ludwig, our gracious hosts, own a good size home. However, it was pretty full with 56 adults and 32 children! Yes, 88 of us packed their place... John and Jenny again, thank-you!

Here is an overview of the evening:

We formally welcomed 9 new Covenant Friends to Koinos. (With 2 more unfortunately having car trouble on the way to EnVision and were not able to join us. Parker and Pamela, you were missed!) I am very thankful for the community that you have created at Koinos. It was exciting to hear people share of being on a 3 year spiritual search and finding their "true selves" in Jesus Christ and the friendships they have made. It was encouraging to hear others who have followed Christ for years confess becoming the "believer they always wanted to be" through their involvement with all of you. When we are a committed, open, loving, and vibrant community, God does some pretty amazing things.

We shared how the Spirit moved through us providing consistent growth. From a self-sacrificing group of 9 adults, our Sunday attendance has grown consistently. In 2005 our average Sunday gathering had 62 people. In 2006, 92 (+ 48%); in 2007, 113 (+ 21%); and in 2008, 142 (+ 22%). This is a huge blessing, but it also requires some re-structuring and births some new challenges.

We shared our passion to keep connecting with people who typically "sleep-in" on Sunday mornings. We do not want to simply tread water. But being a church of 150-200 people requires change and sacrifice to move forward. There is only so much that one staff member can contribute and most things we currently do will require an overhaul.

To keep moving forward, we are planning to:
Hire Tim Diehl as an Associate Pastor at 20 hours a week, beginning in January. Tim and his lovely and talented wife Tracey will provide leadership for us in creating a more organized and efficient assimilation of new people, facilitating activities where we can roll up our sleeves and practically serve our local community, creating a plan for us to deal with counseling issues, and help us to launch a youth ministry within the next year.

Others of us are working on: creating more intentional communication, especially involving Covenant Friends; creating a strategic implementation team to help sure up quality and organization; and we will also re-focus our attempts to reach out to more people outside of Koinos.

To accomplish these goals will require some sacrifice from all of us. Particularly, we are asking people to purposefully give more financially, as our budget will increase approximately $800 more a week. Additionally, we are asking everyone to consistently serve in some area of Koinos. Finally, we will all need to work at being loving and patient with each other through this time of transition in creating a church where people who are new to faith, and people who have followed Jesus for years, can live as understanding friends with each other.

Admittedly, we are not presently clear on facilities issues. We do have the option of having Colonial Sports and Fitness for a longer period of time on Sundays. We can go to 2 Worship Gatherings in our present location. We also have possibilities of renting the facility at other times for additional activities. But we are also open to other scenarios as they are needed in the future.

This is an exciting and challenging time in the life of Koinos, we pray that you will consider becoming a deeper part of our community as we move into God's future together!

Have a great weekend!
Love you all!
Brian

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