A New Expression of Summit Comes to Life
I love seeing the church come to life in new places—to see followers of Jesus move from thought, to hope, to trusting action is an incredible thing. And to see this new expression of Summit—the Windermere/Dr. Phillips area campus—beginning to come to life, is a truly humbling thing. On September 2nd, we announced our plan to form a new campus of Summit Church in the Windermere/Dr. Phillips area because there are people there who matter to God and don’t know it yet. For their sake, we committed to go and open doors so that all who will may come to hear the gospel that Jesus loves them and invites them into what He is doing in this world for eternity.
And to prepare to open those doors and invite people into our family, we have begun becoming a family by living out the vision together. We have begun to gather together (by having our first of what will very likely be many cookouts), many took the Reconstructing Evangelism class (to know more about who God is so that we can better share that truth with those we care about), and now we have had the chance to serve others in need together at niceSERVE (forming relationships around a common purpose of caring for the vulnerable in our community). We are starting to become a family as we are beginning to be the church together—because church won’t happen when we open doors; we will open doors because we are the church.
So, what is next? I’m glad you asked (and even if you didn’t, if you don’t mind, I’d like to tell you). Connecting in Christ-centered relationships in an ongoing manner is next. On January 25th, we will participate in Group Day. After the 10:45 service at Herndon, we will gather together and form new Summit Connect groups specifically made up of those who have committed to be part of this new campus team. These groups will be an opportunity for us to learn, serve, and worship together and give us a place to invite others into.
If you would like to be part of this team, here is what I’m asking of you:
- Be part of Group Day on January 25th and join a Summit Connect group! I know this is a big ask, but it is one worth taking and will be foundational in this campus continuing to come to life. Because the beauty is, we don’t have to wait until later to form a biblically functioning community that reaches people, connects in Christ-centered relationships, teaches truth, serves others, and worships God. We have already started and can continue by getting into Summit Connect groups!
- Invite people in. That, more than anything else, is why we are doing this.
You might be wondering... When will we know the location of the new campus and begin to worship on Sundays there? Great question. We are launching this campus in stages based on milestones. Step one is getting 50 people to commit to the team, doing niceSERVE together, and forming Summit Connect groups. As of January 25th, we will have reached this milestone, and more than 80 people have already joined the team! Next will come regular team meetings and eventually meeting together weekly. Crucial to this is inviting people in—into Connect groups and into where you currently worship on Sunday. We have not determined the final location of the new campus yet. Please continue to pray for that process!
If you have any questions or would like more info on this new campus, please let me know: gabbott@summitconnect.org.