Blog
Awaken the Sleeping Giant
My name is Cody Walker and I serve as the Lead Pastor of Hope City Church in Joplin, Mo. After being in ministry for 15 years, my wife Rachael and I, and our three kids moved back to the Midwest five years ago to plant Hope City. Our call to head back to the Midwest...
Getting Heaven Into Des Moines
My parents and in-laws were all in town for the birth of our youngest (Wrigley) and staying at our home for the week, which at the time was in southern Indiana. Up to this point, my wife (Rachel) and I had been praying for roughly six months on one of the biggest...
A Tapestry of Relationships
My name is Carl Johnson, and I am an inner-city church planter. We first got the dream of Faith City Church on May 29 of 2016. I was sitting in my room watching the footage of 700 men, women, and children drowning. I immediately began to weep. I was running a juvenile...
Wisdom Teeth
Tomorrow, I will be sitting in an operating suite preparing to have all four of my wisdom teeth removed. I know, I know. How did I get to be 33 without getting my wisdom teeth out? A carefully curated mix of taking care of my teeth and not going to the dentist for 20...
Think Outside the Box
In June 2019, Stadia took a group of women from a company called MONAT to Ecuador on a vision trip. The women connected with Stadia through David Jane, pastor of Connect Church. A member of MONAT, Jessica, attends services at Connect Church, so Dave thought outside of...
Not Done With God
Hello! My name is Ricky Brown, and on September 9, 2018, we launched New Creation Church in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. There are 200,000 residents within a 3-mile radius of Hyde Park, but very few Bible-centered churches in the neighborhood. On any given...
Going to Make Disciples
When we launched Axis Church in 2009, we started it with the crazy idea of being a church that would actually follow the most basic command of Jesus to “go make disciples, baptize and teach them” (Matthew 28:19-20 paraphrase). We were motivated to change the...
Connection, Camaraderie, & Challenge
Exponential is always a highlight of our year! Besides getting away and being inspired by all things church planting, this conference has been instrumental in refreshing our souls throughout our church planting journey. My husband and I have been very intentional...
A True Commitment to Every Child
We all want to see a world where every child has a local church where they are loved, accepted, and can learn about God’s unfailing love. Vibrant Christian Church in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, has beautifully defined what “every” looks like. Lori says, “Every...