Missio's 4th Birthday Part 1

I can’t believe Missio is turning 4 years old! The last four years have, like any relationship, had its ups and downs. We have been through a lot in these short years. Some of it we never could have anticipated while others we certainly did. In all of it though we have seen the movement of Jesus in us and in our neighborhoods. We have had a front row seat watching Jesus do what he does best, love people and draw them to himself. 

There is a part of us that becomes nostalgic around birthdays. We like to tell stories and try to remember all the moments from the previous year. And a church is no different in this way. There is a part of us that wants to look back while also trying to discover what comes next. What do we dream will happen in year 5? Looking back helps us to recall the good moments and the challenging ones. While also reminding us of why we got into this in the first place. Remembering the story of a church helps keep us grounded to the vision for why we stepped into this to begin with, and helps us keep our eyes focused on where we are headed together. 

Over the next few weeks I want to reshare the story of Missio. I want us to look back at what God has done so that we can begin to look forward at what we long for him to do next. 

Are you ready for that journey?! Let’s do it. 

We launched Missio on April 29th, 2018. But the story of Missio began long before that with a small group of people meeting at Alex & Kendal Keyes’ house talking about a dream to start a new church together. We didn’t exactly know the “how” of starting a church. But we knew the “why.” We wanted to grow in our Love for God, in our Love for People, and we wanted to see a real movement of Jesus awakened in our city. It was that simple. We wanted to Love God, Love People, and Awaken a Movement of Jesus. So we started asking questions of “how” that would take place. 

Our first Sunday gathering was at the Lake City Community Center. There were 18 people there that morning. And looking back, it was very simple and yet so powerful. We had been meeting in homes for a while, doing small things in our community together. But this was the first “worship” morning together. It was a blast. After holding monthly, then bi-weekly worship gatherings on Sundays, we launched on April 29th. 78 people worshiped with us that morning. 

If you were a part of that morning do you remember what it felt like? Joy, excitement, intentionality? For me it was more a celebration of the months and even years of work connecting in the Northgate community. With Northgate Elementary. With different churches and nonprofits, businesses and neighborhoods around Northgate. It was a moment where God was calling attention to HIS work through our new church that was started long before that morning on April 29th, 2018. He was showing us that a Journey of faith with him would have highlight moments that would draw us deeper into his mission with him. 

The journey of starting a new church is unlike anything I have experienced before. I have started small businesses, started a lot of new things. But nothing has taught me more about the importance of a Journey like starting a new church. We have often said at Missio that we are all at different places on our spiritual journey of faith, but we are all headed in the same direction together. To look, sound, and act more like Jesus. We genuinely believe this to be true. Our individual journey of faith brought into contact and connection with other people’s journey of faith is what makes a church’s journey of faith. We aren’t all at the same places on that journey. Some have been walking with Jesus for a very long time while others are new to faith. Some of us are asking hard questions of Jesus and church while some of us are starting new spiritual rhythms. To embrace the Journey of Faith is to embrace the truth that we all have unique stories and real lives. And those stories matter and are important. But we don’t just embrace our individual stories as valuable and important. We also embrace them as a part of our collective story of Jesus being told through Missio Church. Together we have a story of faith that is shaping all of us and our city. And I am so honored to be on this journey with each of you.

Next week we will look more at this Journey of Faith and how we have lived this out in Northgate and beyond! Love you all.