Crossroads Church KC, Fall 2011 update

[Crossroads Church Plant]

As you might recall, back in June we were meeting outside and
reminding our people that being the church didn’t require a building.
Then the Arts Incubator reopened its doors after a two week closure,
and we thought our weekly services were back on track.

But without warning, a week later the Arts Incubator closed for good.

There was no press release, just a final board meeting, and the
Incubator, one of downtown’s anchor art destinations, was dissolved
due to financial issues.

You can read some of my thoughts on that here:
http://kccrossroadschurch.com/2011/07/05/thanks-goodbye-arts-incubator/

Our community was shocked, as were the Incubator’s other artists and
tenants. Within a few days, we were moving our equipment to a corner
of my basement. I told our folks, “God may want to keep us light on
our feet for awhile. We don’t need a weekly service to love and serve
our community.”

Our plan was to continue meeting in homes as City groups indefinitely.
(See more on City groups here:
http://kccrossroadschurch.com/2011/08/09/city-groups-reloaded-being-church-in-kansas-city/)

In the meantime, I shot an email to Dave Sullivan, the director of
another downtown nonprofit, ArtsTech, and asked him if their space got
much traffic on Sundays. ArtsTech uses the arts to mentor at-risk high
school students, and we knew Dave because a few of us had volunteered
at a fundraiser late in 2010.

A couple days later, Dave and I sat down for coffee and I explained
our predicament. Within 30 minutes, he had offered me a set of keys to
the ArtsTech building.

As shocked as I was when the Arts Incubator closed its doors, seeing
the doors to ArtsTech swing open may have been a bigger surprise.

Mere days after telling our crowd that Crossroads was going
underground for the foreseeable future, I was updating them again:
Hey...apparently God wants us to keep having these informal services
after all.

You can’t make this stuff up. We’re deeply grateful to be at ArtsTech,
and we see it as an ideal staging area for Crossroads, because we’re
embedded in the arts community, serving our city, and surrounded by
people we can love and befriend.

However, we don’t believe a visible church service is the barometer of
our success. More important are the roots we sink downtown for the
long haul, the neighbors we know by name, and the number of people who
are encountering Jesus through our lives and words.

Steven and Abbey bought a 100-year-old house by downtown, moved in,
and started renovating. They’re expecting their first baby, but
they’ll stay in the city, keep having people over, and continue to
make their front porch a living room for neighbors.

Ruth, Anne and Bethany share an apartment by the Crossroads District
because they want real community. They invite friends into their
circle, host parties, and see their career tracks in marketing and
medicine as missionary callings.

John and Hailey moved into a downtown loft because they wanted to be
at ground zero. John found a job in the Crossroads District and bikes
to work. In the evenings, they can watch the downtown sunset from a
deck they share with neighbors.

This incarnational,“moving into the neighborhood” is a slower work,
but thanks to the Spirit, it’s happening. We’re thankful for the
growing number of friends we have downtown, the handful who have met
Jesus, and the growing number of people who are having their
imaginations stirred by a Jesus they don’t yet know.

We’d appreciate your prayers for more of the same.

Finally, a couple needs, if you feel so inclined: 1) Financial gifts,
to fill some funding holes, including the need for a 12-track
soundboard. 2) Volunteer remodeling help. Get in touch if that’s you.
Thank you.

Peace,

AJ, Lindsay, Aidan (5), Asher (3), Ezra (2) & Miles (7 months)


Crossroads Church KC
816-810-2244
Twitter: @ajvan
CrossroadsChurchKC.com