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Posted by Mike Smith 
· April 14, 2015 

The Gospel’s Edge in Hilliard!

Could I be more excited? I don’t think so.

Sunday the Vista Elders commissioned Chris Kelley as our newest Community Pastor and this Sun., April 19, we’ll soft-launch a new Vista community in Hilliard!

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Chris Kelley, with wife Lani, commissioned as Community Pastor on Sun., April 12, 2015

A commissioning is like the Acts 6 laying on hands of those taking on a particular purpose — those being specifically sent — under the authority of our elders. Commissioning is practical, responsive to current realities, calling-based, need-based, and context-specific authority. Some have asked if commissioning is like ordination. Not too much. Ordination belongs to unique denominational systems, and specific curricula and theologies.

Our mission is to be a movement of communities at the intersection of Jesus and real life. To see that happen, we try to be a multiplying church of worshipful, relational, missional people across Ohio and around the globe. As I mentioned in a previous post, the Vista movement (one church, multiple locations!) steps out in faith together to multiply again, as we soft-launch our Hilliard Community this Sun., April 19, at 6:30 p.m. at Life Community. LCC is a Christ-centered church with deeply held Kingdom values. Chris has struck up a friendship with some of the leaders there and they’ve graciously availed their space to us for our first meeting. I find this show of support and cooperation rare and astounding…while it blows my mind, it also speaks warmth into my heart. It also causes me to evaluate spaces in my heart that are not as trusting of God as theirs is. Thank you LCC for your inclusive view of the mission of God, and for challenging all of us to a higher calling!

The soft-launch is two things. First, it is a response to what God is doing. We have a “road map” that holds us short of a new local Vista gathering until there is an identifiable core group of 50 missional people that are believing and behaving like a church in their community, irrespective of any weekly meetings or meeting space. That as part of  Vista Community Church they are following Jesus locally in their city, neighborhoods, businesses, etc. The “road map” also holds us up until we have a pastor qualified to be commissioned as the community pastor. It has taken four years for both of these mile markers to be met, but here we are now!

Second, it is a step to see what sort of fruit there is as a result of the relational initiatives of the past four years. We are gathering to see what God is doing in the hearts of those we’ve prayerfully been engaged with. The question we hope to see answered next Sunday? “Is God forming a crowd that needs to be gathered (Acts 2, Heb 10) regularly?”

Will there be another meeting to follow April 19 soon? We don’t know. Maybe. We hope so. If so, it would be later this summer, if we had to guess. A regular Sunday meeting couldn’t likely begin before the fall. Will it? Who really knows (Pr 16:9)? What we do know is that God has created relational connections, He’s started salvation conversations, and there is no need to have a meeting or a building to be the Church right where we each are. In fact, every Vista Community and Lifegroup should feel the challenged by the Hilliard community to have the same heart, compassion and hopes for the people in their sphere of influence! The Vista Gospel’s Edge isn’t just in Hilliard…it exists wherever the Spirit of God and the Word of God are alive in you and landing freshly upon a friend’s or acquaintance’s heart where Jesus isn’t yet (Mt 28:18-20)!
Go!

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Categories : Church Planting, Gospel's Edge, Missional, Multisite, Org Updates
Tags : Church in Hilliard Ohio, Hilliard, Hilliard Ohio Church, missional, Vista Community Church, Vista Hilliard
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