Last month, several members of the For Columbus team (and some key volunteers!) received scholarships to attend the “E-team” conference put on by the Luis Palau organization. The purpose of the conference is to provide vision and equipping to city movements around the country in how churches, non-profits, and the marketplace can collaborate effectively to see a city reached for Christ.
Team members heard from heavy-hitters in the city-reaching space such as Francis Chan and Nancy Ortberg and networked with 200 city leaders from all over the country. In addition to spiritual refreshment, the conference provided a renewed focus on evangelism for our lead team, some clearer next steps (more to come soon!), and heard truly inspirational stories of city gospel movements bearing real fruit around the US.
One particularly memorable story comes from San Francisco/ the Bay Area. After years of preparation, prayer, and planning, they successfully launched a coordinated campaign with hundreds of churches all preaching a coordinated sermon series, launching outreach focused neighborhood groups, and utilizing targeted marketing ads to encourage seekers in the area to plug into participating churches nearby. They are still in the middle of the series but early reports are very encouraging and seems to be bearing much fruit! The reality of hundreds of churches moving in the same direction to reach neighborhoods with the gospel was life-giving and inspiring to our entire team. Through prayer, we can’t wait to see what God will call us to in Columbus.
Truly, we are so fortunate to be on the cutting edge of what God is doing around our country through these small, dedicated teams of city leaders. Please join us in prayer for our city, for For Columbus as we navigate bolstering our REACH evangelism network, and those in our city who do not yet know Christ.