KC Church Plant News, October Update

[Crossroads Church Plant]

October will go down as the month of church-plant-improv and changed
timelines. Earlier in the church planting game, our plan was to
gradually build our team until we reached a "critical mass" of at
least 30-40 people, then begin downtown services with the numbers to
be somewhat self-sustaining.

That plan changed when Crossroads Church was offered the opportunity
to begin meeting in a landmark downtown studio and gallery building,
the Arts Incubator. After praying about it, we concluded that we
should go looking for used sound equipment, describe our upcoming
services as "informal," and go for it.

In a nutshell, that's the story of last month. Our team of 15 people
stepped up to the plate and took ownership of the upcoming services.
It's been cool to see our people pool time, energy, and a lot of
creativity as we get things moving. Starting November 8, we'll be
holding weekly services at the Arts Incubator, 6pm Sunday nights.

In many ways, the Crossroads District downtown is a community of start-
ups—artists starting careers from scratch, small businesses beginning
in empty warehouses. As our church plant takes on an even more off-the-
cuff personality, we've been challenged to rely on faith in a
sovereign God rather than in a "large launch" or a windfall of
resources. But the correlation between the roots of this church and
the roots of the Crossroads area is a something we appreciate.

Last month we also launched Core groups, 2-4 men or women meeting
weekly, which we see as critical in forming the Crossroads culture. By
design, these groups will help us hold each other accountable for our
mission—Love Jesus, connect people, transform cities—and focus heavily
on prayer and Bible. The architecture for City groups (10-15 people)
is being designed as well.

Midway through the month Lindsay and I decided there wasn't enough
going on (nod, wink) so we decided to move forward into the second
phase of remodeling in the Brick House. This meant inviting a team of
highly motivated students in to start demo on our kitchen/dining room.
There is nothing like a swirling cloud of dust to make all of life
seem more dramatic.

This has been a challenging and somewhat chaotic month, but it's good
to know that we're in the right place, surrounded by a great team,
strengthening our ties downtown and following God's lead into
uncharted territory.
As we continue to gear up for services and invest in downtown Kansas
City, Missouri, please pray:

- That God would send a worship leader our way—we're still looking for
the right person to lead music for us long term. See our Craigslist
ad: http://kansascity.craigslist.org/muc/1418871124.html

- For more opportunities to serve. We're looking forward to
volunteering at the Leedy-Voulkous Gallery and Arts Incubator in the
days ahead, and will continue to look for ways to meet genuine needs
in relational ways.

- That worship services will come together. We're moving fast, light
on our feet and light on resources (ha). So when I tell friends I'm
not exactly sure what to expect, I'm more than half serious.

Thanks for your prayers. We look forward to pausing a month from now,
letting the dust settle, and reflecting on how God is working as we
plow ahead.

This update is a little terse, seeing as it's about 3 weeks overdue,
so shoot us a note if you'd like to catch up. As always, we'd love to
grab coffee or talk at more depth about what's going on. And most
definitely shoot us a note if you have a penniless but talented indie
rocker living in your basement--we'll put that guy to work.

Peace,

AJ (Ariel) & Lindsay

http://CrossroadsChurchKC.com
ariell...@gmail.com