THE SUMMIT CHURCH 1
2 3 Kyle Hollaway, Steve Titus, George Platt, Kyle Reno, Merlin Hagan, B.J. Stricklin, Danny Jones, Jerry Byrum, Bill Elliff, Melvin Edwards
The Summit Church began on November 1, 1998 with a small band of 130 people who were ALL IN. Since that time, God has marked us by many people who live for the sake of the kingdom; people who want to go to the ends of the earth and do whatever is necessary to reach those who are far from God. A particular burden on the hearts of our founding leaders was a burden to reach the next generation through building a ministry initiated by God and ignited by His presence. Often we hear them say The Summit is not just about The Summit, indicating that we believed God wanted to build a multiplying ministry that would reach far beyond Crystal Hill Road. And gratefully, growth and change, surrender and sacrifice for His cause have become part of The Summit Church culture. God has been gracious to answer that prayer for growth. Now, on any given Sunday, there are more people worshiping in churches that The Summit has planted (or that those churches have planted!) than in our original location! That s multiplication! 4 5
Nov 1, 1998 Launch of The Summit Church August, 1999: temporarily met in a Pole Barn @ The Ranch 2000: Assisted planting of Lighthouse church in Stuttgart and Summit Church in Springfield, Mo. 2000: First mission trip to Suriname 2002: First full-time missionaries sent, Rusty and Lori Hart to Russia 2004: First church planters sent out to Boston 19 19 20 20 98 99 00 01 First year, 8 mission trips! September, 1999; Placed on Purpose! Renovation and move to 6600 Crystal Hill Road 20 20 20 20 02 03 04 05 2003: We Will Tell! renovating Children and Youth spaces, Theater and Coffee- House to reach the next generation 2005: Assisted ministry and church plant in Slovakia 2005: First annual Engage missions offering: $51,500 OUR JOURNEY 2001: Partnership began in Dominican Republic 2007-2008: Changing the Future! Building of the children s wing, The Commons and CoffeeShop to reach more young families and children 2009: Two staff members, Troy Nicholson and B.J. Stricklin, sent to Tuscaloosa, AL to plant Safe Haven church 2011: Revival movement that lasted 5 weeks; every night. 2014: The Summit Church Conway launched! 2016: 59 adult missionaries sent out and hundreds of short term missionaries. Partnership ministries in Thailand, Pakistan, Suriname, Kenya, and Seattle. 20 20 20 20 06 09 10 11 2010: The Summit Church: Jacksonville launched! 2011: Parker house opened for needy families; Work began in Levy 20 20 20 20 11 14 15 16 CLUB CLUB 2014: E3 Club opened in Baring Cross 2015: Cornerstone Bible Church facilities gifted to The Summit Church: Conway 6 7 2016: 20 College Students sent on extended missions. 2016: Sunday Night at The Summit began
As our Elders prayed this year, we strongly sensed the Lord telling us that our existing VISION was right on track, but something more was needed to lead to exponential increase for His kingdom. To go where He desires would take a whole new level of lifestyle generosity and leadership development. How can we help ALL our people join together in the incredible, liberating joy of a generous life? And train them to train others? We believe God is calling us to a whole new journey into generosity! We have developed plans to help all our people join together on this exciting adventure, but it will take all of us joining together. We believe this journey can lead to Everyone is at different stages on their stewardship journey as they manage what God has entrusted to them. Jesus said this area is a direct indication of where our affections lie, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21) (of 1 or more) commit to the GENEROSITY JOURNEY so that in time they will experience all God has for them! 8 9
ALL IN through OneFund As we give, we are asking everyone to give to one ALL IN Fund. For several reasons, we no longer feel led to take multiple, church-wide offerings. If we go ALL IN, we believe this will help us see that ALL that we do is part of the great mission. give more to missions and church planting than ever before, putting the Summit in a position to give over 15% of all our giving to missions and church planting. IN TWO YEARS THIS COULD MORE THAN DOUBLE WHAT WE ARE CURRENTLY GIVING IN OUR MISSIONS OFFERING! help each family develop regular, systematic, generous giving to the kingdom! build a growing, enduring legacy for missions and church planting expansion developing multiplying communities of fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ! Our 2-Year Vision Needs Percentages based on our top goal of $8 Million 10% 13% 19% 23% 16% Facilities, Admin, & Support 18% OUR ALL IN 2-YEAR GOALS Adult Disipleship Next Generation Mortgage & Debt Retirement Worship Gatherings Missions and Church Planting 10 11 We have three potential goals in giving and, of course, will only use what God provides. These represent the next 2 years of faithful, generous giving! $7 Million $7.5 Million $8 Million $5,850,000 Ministry resources $1,150,000 Missions and church planting resources $0 Debt Retirement resources $5,850,000 Ministry resources $1,350,000 Missions and church planting resources $300,000 Debt Retirement resources $5,850,000 Ministry resources $1,440,000 Missions and church planting resources $710,000 Debt Retirement resources
As we go ALL IN on the Generosity Journey, we will be able to go ALL OUT for the kingdom! We believe these are the major initiatives All IN will allow us to fund in the next TWO YEARS. 1. MULTIPLYING RESOURCES To see 1,000 families join us on The Generosity Journey! More rapidly reducing our debt, which will release great resources in the next years 3. MULTIPLYING CHURCHES Planting two new churches in the next 2 years. First, planting our next multi-site location in Saline County. This area has 115,000 people and 61% are unchurched. We currently have over 80 families attending from this area. Also, we will be training a church planter and assisting in the plant of a new church in the Barring Cross area, where God has already led us to make significant ministry investments. MULTIPLYING LEADERS Developing a clear Leadership Path to develop leaders in discipleship, worship, missions & church planting. We will also be starting a SummitSEND Church Planting Residency this fall, which will have 2 church planting residents. This will continue annually with 2+ residents so we can move to more rapid church multiplication. 2. 4. MULTIPLYING LOCAL & GLOBAL MISSIONS If we go All In we will potentially DOUBLE what we are giving to missions and church planting, allowing us to give over 15% of everything that is received to this vital area! This will fund an Opportunity Center in Barring Cross, a new TSC in Espanol ministry at our Little Rock location, strategic local partnerships on college campuses in Conway, as well as much, much more. 12 13
Our mission is to cooperate with God in developing multiplying communities of fully devoted followers of Christ. The Summit has never been about The Summit. Our mission is to cooperate with God in developing multiplying communities of fully devoted followers of Christ. In order to move toward more rapid multiplication, we are starting The Summit SEND Church Planting Residency where we will train 2+ church planters each year and send them out to plant churches in Arkansas and beyond. ALL IN will allow us to fund two church planters each year for a 9 month residency program. We will walk alongside them and train them as they prepare to plant a new church that will reach new people for the kingdom! Why plant churches? Through the ALL IN offering, we will be able to plant The Summit Church: Saline County, our next multisite location in Central Arkansas. This will allow us to reach more people in Central Arkansas and broaden the base from which we can send. With over 80 families from Saline County already engaged at The Summit Church, we believe it is time to step out and plant a new Summit Church location in this area. Zac Reno, Lead Pastor for The Summit Church: Saline County THE SUMMIT CHURCH SALINE COUNTY New churches best reach new generations, new residents, and new people groups Denominational studies have shown that the average NEW church gains most of its new members (60-80%) from people who are not attending any worshipping body. While churches over 10-15 years old gain 80-90% of new members by transfer from other congregations. This means that the average new congregation will bring in 6-8 times more new people into the Body of Christ than an older congregation of the same size. Each year 4,000 churches in the US close their doors. 80% of churches in America are plateaued or declining and less than 4% of churches in the U.S. are reproducing. But thankfully, there is a resurgence in church planting! Through Summit SEND, we hope to be a part of a tidal wave of new church planting churches that will carry the gospel to our nation and push back the darkness to the ends of the earth! For the last 15 years, God has used Zac in amazing ways through a variety of ministry settings. Having served as a Student Pastor, College Pastor, and a Senior Pastor, Zac brings a wealth of experience into his first church planting venture. With a huge heart for evangelism, prayer, and a love for preaching God s Word, Zac is the perfect fit to lead The Summit Church in Saline County. Zac and his wife Kimberly have two beautiful young children. ARE NOT affiliated with any Evangelical church 14 15
The Summit en Espanol Baring Cross Church Plant With a growing Hispanic population in Central Arkansas, we are Through the ALL IN offering, we will be able to assist in planting a new excited to begin offering translation of our Sunday Morning Ser- church in Baring Cross. At first, we will primarily focus on training a vices at our Little Rock location in order to reach Spanish speaking church planter who will lead this plant in Baring Cross, but we hope families in the Greater Little Rock area. Through a gifted team of in- to continue to partner in this work beyond the initial plant. With roots terpreters and audio/video technology, we will be able to offer real already in the ground through Summit members and the strength of THE SUMMIT CHURCH EN ESPANOL time translation over headsets that will be available in the Worship Center. This will allow Spanish speaking parents with children who are growing up with English as their primary language to worship together in the same service and hear the same message each week. our E3 Club in Baring Cross, our hope is to plant a church that will bring new life to this neighborhood. This new church in Baring Cross will be the first church in our Summit Send Network. Baring Cross is an area full of the potential of the Next Generation! We believe that the greatest hope for Baring Cross is the influence of the gospel through vibrant, life-giving churches! We hope to be a part of changing the story of Baring Cross. Robert Upshaw, Lead Pastor for Summit SEND plant in Baring Cross Baring Cross POPULATION: MEXICO COLUMBIA The 72118 zip code has one of the largest concentrations of the Hispanic population in all of Central Arkansas. THERE ARE ALREADY HONDURAS DOMINICAN REPUBLIC PUERTO RICO GUATEMALA Robert has spent the last 25 years of his life pouring into the Next Generation, with 18 years of that time spent working with Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Robert is passionate about evangelism, especially among the younger generation, and has a heart to see God bring about the transformation of a community through the power of the Gospel! Robert and his wife Leslie have 7 kids. God has uniquely designed this family to be the perfect fit for Baring Cross! are under the age of 18 North Little Rock School District reported in recent years that out of the economically disadvantaged students who were expected to graduate, only 255 of them actually graduated. Spanish speaking countries represented at The Summit Church: Little Rock. EL SALVADOR 16 17
www.thesummitchurch.org/engage Engage Globally ALL IN will allow us to strategically partner with Campus Ministries working on each of the 3 college campuses to reach and disciple college students in Conway. Conway: The City of Colleges Summit Missionaries Those from The Summit who have BEEN SET APART Total number of College Students in Conway is 14,000 A recent study estimates that less than 15% of the student body population is meaningfully involved in a local church. Students come from 39 states for ministry to the nations. 70 Nations are represented in the student body population of the 3 colleges in Conway 18 19
A GENEROSITY JOURNEY THAT TAKES US AROUND THE WORLD 20 21
SUMMIT Missionary Partnerships: Those from The Summit, set apart for ministry to the nations, who serve primarily in evangelism and discipleship with a specific goal toward church planting, and who seek strategic direction from The Summit Engage Team. Thailand, SE Asia: Through a Business as Mission strategy, our purpose is to minister to prostitutes in a metropolitan area through evangelism, discipleship, and employment in a jewelry business called Living Mosaics. The ultimate vision is for these girls to return to their home villages as missionaries with the gospel and a sustainable business. Ultimately we are praying for the establishment of gospel communities and churches in these villages. The girls and their families are predominately Buddhist. Suriname, South America: Our purpose is to establish gospel communities and churches in the 65 Saramaccan villages along the Suriname River. Because most Saramaccans are not literate, we use Creation to Christ storytelling, T4T evangelism, discipleship training, and solar powered MP3 players with a recording of the Gospel of Mark for follow-up. The Saramacca people are animistic (spirit/demon worshipers). Our ministry began in 2000 with a medical mission trip, which we have continued every year since. Bheel People, Pakistan: The purpose of this ministry is to train national pastors and evangelist to establish churches among this tribal group that live on the Pakistani/Indian border. The Bheel are untouchables and predominately Hindu or animistic. The ministry also involves humanitarian efforts such as building cisterns, installing hand pumps to provide clean drinking water, giving clothes, shoes and blankets to the needy, providing disaster relief and medical camps. The Daniel Christian Elementary School was established in the city closest to the Bheel tribe to serve the Islamic community and help give credibility to our missionaries working in Pakistan. 22 23
Nairobi, Kenya: The purpose of this partnership is to disciple and equip orphans who are aging out of the Limuru Children s Center with the skills necessary to establish businesses and plant churches in unreached areas of Kenya. We are helping to develop the Life House, a ministry of LCC, which will be a home and training center for these 17-19 year-old students. Life House will involve discipleship and Bible training, leadership and church planting strategies, small business and management skills, and the necessary capital to establish a sustainable business. Our COMMITMENT to ALL IN We believe that if we will all join together on the Generosity Journey, it will lead to all the resources needed to fulfill the vision God has placed in our hearts. Because of that, we are asking our people to fill out an ALL IN commitment card. The first half of the card we will turn in TOGETHER on November 6. Our great goal in this moment is to enlist people on the journey. You may check all that apply. We re praying for 1,000 families to join the Generosity Journey. On the second half of the commitment card, we ask you to sit down and carefully, prayerfully decide, before God, what you pray your giving will be for the next two years. Ask God and follow His direction. He s good at this, and will lead you in the right step of faith if you ll let Him! 1 Chronicles 16:23-24 23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. 24 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. This half of the card you will tear off AND KEEP FOR YOURSELF. Place it in a spot that will remind you of His leadership and then begin to faithfully obey Him. This giving is between you and the Lord. On November 6th, we will turn in our commitment cards and bring the greatest First Fruits offering we are able to bring that day. Here is a sample to help you see how God could multiply your faithful All IN giving in the next two years. 24 25
Frequently Asked Questions Q: How will we learn more about ALL IN? A: Throughout the month of October we will be teaching through 2 Corinthians, Chapter 8 and 9 to discover what it means to go ALL IN biblically. We will also share lots of information about the ALL IN initiative, the OneFund approach, and the multiplied ministries this will support. Our egroups will also begin a special study that will complement our October series. Q: With the ALL IN OneFund, does this mean that we will never take any spontaneous offerings as God directs? How can I get the most out of this ALL IN series? Three ways: 1. Experience the Lord every week! - Attend all Sunday gatherings from October 2 through November 6th. During this 6-week series we will be looking at what it looks like to go ALL IN. Throughout the series, we will share lots of information about the ALL IN initiative, the OneFund approach, stories of people who went ALL IN and information about the multiplied ministries this initiative will support. You will not want to miss a week! A: We are always committed to obey the Lord at The Summit, and His prompting! This means, though, that we are thinking more deeply beforehand, particularly about our Missions and Church Planting needs, and funding all of those needs through OneFund. Q: If we don t take a specific Engage Missions Offering, will this potentially decrease what we re giving to Missions as a church? 2. Be Equipped in Community - During this 6-week series, our egroups will be following along with a corresponding ALL IN study. With videos lessons from our Teaching Pastors, Bible study, and discussion questions written by our Equipping Pastors, our hope is that our egroups will join together and begin this journey together that we will be ALL IN. If you are not already in an egroup, this is the perfect time to join one! Sign up for a group on The Summit Church App or email Sarah Farley at sfarley@thesummitchurch. org to get more info on available groups. A: No, in fact, we believe it will increase! We have committed over 15% of our ALL IN OneFund to go to missions and church planting. If we reach our top goal, we could give over $1.4 Million to missions and church planting in the next two years alone! Q: Who do I talk to if I have further questions about ALL IN? A: Feel free to contact any of our Teaching Pastors, staff leaders or our Elders with questions and we d be glad to help! Q: What will happen on November 6, and when do I begin my giving to ALL IN? A: On November 6, we are asking all our people to bring the first half of your ALL IN commitment card to be turned in during the worship service. The second half (the actual financial numbers that you have prayed through) will NOT be turned in, but you will keep for a prayer reminder. 3. Engage with your Family - The Generosity Journey is meant to be a family experience! This is why we have included a Family Generosity Devotional for each week of this series. Please don t deprive your children of the beautiful growth they can receive by teaching them the joy of generosity. We ask you to take ONE NIGHT EACH WEEK IN OCTOBER for a family devotional time using the devotional guide The Summit Church is providing for you. WEEK ONE FAMILY DEVOTIONAL READ THE PASSAGE: 2 CORINTHIANS 9:6-7 MEMORY VERSE (IF YOU CHOOSE) Remember this-a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. (2 Cor. 9:6 NLT) DISCUSS THESE QUESTIONS 1. What are some seeds that our family is currently sowing in the Kingdom? WEEK TWO OCTOBER 9 MESSAGE NOTES 2 Corinthians 8:6-11 2. What are some practical ways that our family can be more generous? Also, on this day, we are asking everyone to bring a FIRSTFRUITS offering, to the best of your ability, as God directs! November 6 will begin our giving to the ALL IN OneFund! through what God has shown you! 26 27 PRAY TOGETHER Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. (Malachi 3:10 NASB) 4 5
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