INTRO MISSION/VISION It s time for Traders Point to become one church with multiple locations. Many people in our city are facing a Christ-less eternity, and we believe multisite locations give us an opportunity to reach more people who are disconnected from Jesus. Throughout our history as a church, we ve seen God work in powerful ways. We ve seen skeptics find faith, families restored from brokenness, and disciples called into greater kingdom work. The gospel is alive and active in central Indiana, changing people s lives, and we re humbled to be a part of it. Currently, we re averaging over 5,000 people in attendance during weekend services, with members, attendees, and guests driving from Lafayette, Anderson, Greenwood, and Crawfordsville. We have over 500 new guests tuning into our livestreaming service every weekend. Our influence is rapidly growing throughout central Indiana, and we want to steward our influence well. We don t want to just build bigger buildings, we want to see communities restored and thriving because of the gospel, and we want to be about multiplying disciples all around central Indiana. However, we have some practical obstacles to overcome. When a family or individual leaves their community to attend a worship service, their involvement in ministry and ability to grow in discipleship-oriented relationships is severely limited. We want everyone who calls Traders Point home to have the opportunity to share the Good News with their friends (Mark 16:15; Matthew 9:37-38; Romans 1:16), to grow in discipleship (Ephesians 4:12-13; Colossians 1:28), and to use their gifts and abilities to serve the local church. Across the United States, an average of only 17% of Americans are connected to a Bible-based church (through attendance, service, and discipleship). By applying this same statistic to the Indianapolis area, which currently sits at 2.1 million people, that means that roughly 1.7 million people (83%) are disconnected from the church. That number doesn t sit well with us, because we know every number represents a person with a story. We want everyone to see and experience the gospel of grace. Our prayer and mission is to make a dent in that number in the next five years, and move it by 1% which would be roughly 17,000 people. 2 1 Indianapolis metropolitan area. In Wikipedia. Retrieved October 8, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/indianapolis_metropolitan_area 2 Rebecca Barnes and Lindy Lowry, 7 Startling Facts: An Up Close Look at Church Attendance in America, accessed February 2014, http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/139575-7-startling-facts-an-up-close-look-at-church-attendance-in-america.html?p=5 3
TPCC LOCATION VS PLANT We want to leverage Traders Point s influence through multisite ministry to make an even more significant kingdom impact around the Indianapolis area. Multisite churches are succeeding in urban, rural, and suburban communities, with a success rate close to 90%. For decades, Traders Point has experienced strong biblical preaching, engaging worship, exciting age level ministries, thriving discipleship environments, and missional local and global service opportunities. All of these components are undeniable pieces of our church s DNA and will exist in every Traders Point location. Every campus will be consistent with the same leadership and shared DNA. What will be different, however, will be the execution of each element based on the context of that particular community. Sermons will primarily be delivered via streamed video, with live preaching on occasion and live worship for every service. Kids ministry, student ministry, life groups, and local outreach will exist on every campus. 4 3 Jim Tomberlin and Tim Cool, Church Locality: New Rules for Church Buildings in a Multisite, Church Planting, and Giga-church World, (Lexington, KY: Rainer Publishing, 2014), 3-5. 5
WHERE? WORSHIP WHERE YOU LIVE The big question in all of this is, Where will we go? There are two driving factors for where we add a location: FIRST we want to equip people to be better missionaries in their communities, SECOND we want to be open to strategic opportunities. If there are particular neighborhoods that need a healthy church, and we feel like God is calling us to go, we want to respond. We are committed to being a kingdom-minded church, and Indianapolis is far from oversaturated with healthy churches. There are a lot more people in Indianapolis than there are seats in churches, and we fully intend on collaborating with local churches to build God s kingdom together. Right now, the north side, west side, and downtown are the communities we re looking to go. 6 7
W H O? (Ephesians 4:12-13; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14) Although not all of us will go to another location, we all can have a significant part in what God is up to. Before we launch a location, we will develop a core team to send out. The core will consist of people willing to serve, contribute, and reach out to their community. These people will be a crucial piece to the health and vitality of the location, as they will be local representatives in the community, and the first impression people have when they walk through the doors. In addition to developing a core team, we ll also identify a campus pastor and staff to lead each location. The campus pastor and staff will host weekend services, oversee volunteers, and lead pastoral care ministry for people in that community. The campus pastor and staff will be ones who want to lead and love people, are called to a particular community, understand their roles, and support the leadership at TPCC. NEXT STEPS Traders Point has an incredible history of mission-minded generosity, and in the next two years, we will be inviting those who call TPCC home to contribute to furthering the mission, both prayerfully and financially. Beginning in July 2015, we are asking our church to commit 29 million dollars, total. 20.5 million of that consists of our best estimate today for two years of operating expenses for Traders Point Christian Church in this new multisite model. These expenses include basic operational components, like funding our local and global outreach partners, property and utility expenses, staff salaries and benefits, and ministry programming budgets. 8.5 million is for campus development launching Traders Point locations throughout the Indianapolis area. Although our passion and mission should always exceed our resources, we want the generosity of our congregation to inform the scale of what we do. $20.5 million $29 million $8.5 million 8 9
N E X T S T E P S Pray for the leadership. Pray for wisdom and direction in the stewardship and staffing decisions 1that are ahead of us. HUMBLE & HUNGRY SERIES April 25 through May 17 2 pray Pray for the 1.7 million people in the Indianapolis area who are disconnected, and for those who are hurting, broken, and lost. COMMITMENT May 16 and 17 BIG GIVE June 6 and 7 3 of Pray for clarity in location selection and the building our core team(s). 4 Pray about your involvement. Some people will be called to give, some will go to attend and volunteer, and some will go to lead. No matter where you live, all of us are called to be a part of the mission God is moving us toward in some way. There s an open invitation for anyone to join the call. To get updates on our progress and to learn more about the project, visit tpcc.org/humbleandhungry. 10 11
6590 S. INDIANAPOLIS ROAD, WHITESTOWN, IN 46075 317.769.5557 TPCC.ORG