recap...

Hello all! What a great meeting we had last night! So glad the cold didn't deter you all from joining us!

Weekly Numberz:
1. Launch Team Attendance: 47 (Goal=100)

2. Giving: Last Night $0 (What???? I guess I'll have to drop a $5 spot in or something to keep that off the board!)

Week: General: $200 Building: $105 (Goal: General $1,500 Building $500)

3. Spirit: Off the hook! What a great night we had together!


For those who were not there, here's a recap:

1. We talked about ushering people into the Kingdom of God and not just attendance or raised hands for feeling of accomplishment. When we truly are ushered into His Kingdom, we will never be the same!

2. We set up our MATRIX...that thing we must fill out so that we might have weekend services!
Will be able to click on our MATRIX soon to see where we stand. Areas of service include:
Set-Up and Tear-Down/Bookstore/Cafe/Ushers/Greeters/Building Cleaning/Grounds/Hopeland Children's/Xtreme Kidz/Kidz Registration/Band/Vocal/Camera Operators/Computer and lighting/Drama Team/Set-Design/Sound/Small Group Leaders and probably a few more! Who knew it took so much to pull off a service?

3. We divided up geographically for Connection Groups, the life blood of our community as we grow together in relationship with each other and our God.

At our next meeting...CALENDAR FUNCTION TO BE UP SOON. (Next meeting: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7th @ 6:30 pm...HERE at Ashland Theological Seminary Sandburg Leadership Center rooms 303-304.)

4. We also talked about giving via whatever campus we are at. It will take all of us to make this happen!

5. We talked about how we are TRULY working with at least one other church together to launch New Hope in Ashland and bring people into BOTH of our ministries...2 MINISTRIES ACTUALLY WORKING TOGETHER ON GETTING PEOPLE INTO BOTH CHURCHES? Now that's a grand idea that someone talked about before...LOOK HERE.

What an amazing thing that God is already doing! We seek to impact Ashland and beyond in a HUGE way!

Stumble across this blog? We would love to have you join us at our next launch team meeting. Don't worry, we have guests every week! No pressure, at least come for the FREE FOOD...

blessings and peace this weekend...

keep trying...and see ya soon.

Nice try to those of you trying to win the $1,000...like we have that in the bank anyway. I did like this one submitted by Brian Stair...though that is not even the first car heading east...but keep up the efforts! (That is the 2nd car heading east bro...but I do think you nailed that car's license plate!) Don't know what we are talking about? DETAILS.

See ya Thursday...we will really start to build from here on out, so please clear your schedules and do your best as we meet only twice a month for the first 4-5 months.

Still need details about the meeting? Get them HERE.

blessings and peace. can't wait to see you all Thursday.

it's a monday...

Hello...cold outside but sunny inside Ashland Teamers! (that was really lame, gag me backwards).

Our next meeting is this Thursday as you know...complete DETAILS. Vicki will call and arrange who will be bringing what for dinner.

Don't forget to bring someone with you or be hard at work recruiting! We must double the size of this team in the next 3 months.

I will be at Berean Baptist Church in Mansfield recruiting in 2 weeks at their weekend services. I will also be pushing hard at the Loudonville Campus over the next 2 months to solidify our team.

As I say everytime...THIS WILL TAKE THE POWER OF ALL OF US STEPPING UP AND MAKING THIS HAPPEN! It really will. We must all have the passion and spirit to make this happen as God has called us to this amazing mission that will change eternal destinies.

Last thing, for those who cannot always make our services, we will provide a tall red box at our meetings for weekly giving. We need to get to around the $2,000/week level as a team in the next 3 months. With all of us being obedient and sacrificing, this will happen!

Thanks for continuing to dream, pray and dig in as we make this thing happen. You are an amazing group of people...

And oh yeah...no one has solved the license plate challenge yet...I'll give you a hint. It's an Ohio plate.

blessings and peace.

update on site location

We are officially in negotiations for the former JC Penny building at the former Wal-Mart plaza. We are excited to possibly be a part of helping to revitalize some commerce on that end of town. That is one of the reasons why we feel we need to be out there.

If we as a church can help stimulate some economic development out that way again...that would be a victory for the city of Ashland! We are here to help in all areas...not just the traditional church areas that focus on themselves and their programs, but to be out there making a positive change in our community.

Pray that the Lord sends the needed weekly "numbers" for us to be able to occupy, renovate and start out in this "tool shed." It' not about a building...

Pray that they accept our first offer.

And I offer $1,000 to anyone who can make out the license plate of the first car heading east on Rt. 42 in the pic...ready, set, go!

And last but not least...it's a tad chilly today.

blessings and peace.

weekly numb3rs

Here ya go...the latest and greatest from our last meeting:

Adults: 30 // Goal: 100 (30%)
Kids: 15 // Goal: 50 (30%)

Weekly Giving: $340 // Needed Budget: $3,000 (10% there!)

We are now giving toward the Ashland Campus. See this POST.

Our next meeting is coming up...read THIS for details...

And we're off!

blessings and peace.

numbers

The folks on the team would like attendance and giving updates for the campus...so I will post those each week as I get them. I am sure they will blow us away...at least I hope, and pray and fast, and...well, you get the point.

In class tonight (oops...guess my ADD is kicking in and I need to get back to full attention)...so, see ya tomorrow!

blessings and peace.

hot off the press...

Here is a brief update for those of you following the journey and who are on the team...oh, and those who will be on the team, but haven't figured that out yet.

• Awesome gathering this week...last week @ the Loudonville Campus. Next meeting (Thursday, January 24th will be in Ashland @ Ashland Theological Seminary, Rooms 303-304 @ 6:30). All meetings will be held here from now on until further notice. The eagle has landed.

• We have around 40-50 expressing interest in being a part of the launch team. Our goal is 100...GREAT START!

• We will begin to give to the Ashland Campus regardless of what campus you attend. On your giving envelope under General Fund there are 2 spots marked other. Simply mark one Ashland General (for giving to the general fund) and one Ashland Building (for building renovation). That easy! I wish it didn't take resources to do this stuff, but I learned a long time ago that most things are not free anymore. Thanks for being a part through giving.

• We will continue to talk about the serving team matrix at our next few meetings until we fill the spots. After that we will begin working at our respective campuses to learn the turf of where we will be serving in the new campus.

• We will start small groups after our next meeting. This is an important part of what we are doing and will lay a foundation for the future. As a big church, we must continually grow smaller. Connection Groups will meet in your area twice a month just like they do now at all campuses.

• Your continued job: 1) Pray 2) Invest (time, talents, treasure) 3) Invite (at least 1 person next time...and guess what, we might hit our goal already if we do that!)

• Sorry we missed you last time...see you at the next meeting. For those who can rarely come...we haven't forgotten about you. We will be producing DVD's of the meetings for you to participate in.

• Find this thing for the first time? You are so welcome to come and take a peek at what is coming to Ashland...no strings attached! Contact me if you have any questions.

Blessings to all of you who are making this journey into all the world possible. You are special. The Kingdom of God is advancing because of YOU. This is already an amazing journey. You guys rock!

blessings and peace.

tonight's the night...

to get your feet dirty...see below post!

but if you can't make it...we will see ya next time.

working on the details of where we will be locating the campus, and apparently we have already caused quite a stir. but it wouldn't be New Hope unless we caused a stir!

blessings and peace.

want to get your feet dirty?

Come join us and get your feet dirty at our next launch team meeting. Jesus walked the dirty, dusty roads, and so are we. We are bringing New Hope to Ashland and beyond.

Not a new church...but new hope. The last thing we need is another church. We need an encounter with the man named Jesus, and our community is all about that.

Ready for some change? We are. Jesus brought radical change, and that is what we are all about. How about you?

Details here. No pressure. All questions, backgrounds and futures welcome.

Blessings and peace. See ya Thursday.

here we go...

Welcome to those who are crazy enough to help bring NEW HOPE to ASHLAND! Isn't God amazing?

This blog will serve as the official site for updates and information about the Ashland Campus...coming in OCTOBER, 2008! (and trust me, the leaves will be falling before you know it!)

I pray all is well with you this week and that you had a great time of seeking the King this Christmas. I have been busy with lots going on...see my BLOG, for full details on my life and other thoughts and news for New Hope at large:

1. Our next meeting is Thursday, January 10th @ 6:30 pm @ the Loudonville Campus. This will probably be our last gathering in Loudonville as we will be moving to Ashland for the rest of our meetings. If you live closer to Loudonville, let's consider carpooling to save resources both natural and financial!

2. So, at our Thursday, January 24th gathering, it will be held at the Sandberg Leadership Center at Ashland Theological Seminary (Rooms 303-304). The Seminary has graciously allowed us to use their amazing facilities for fee...kitchen included! We serve a great God. Now if we can only get the JC Penny people to do the same...we can pray that they will!

3. We will being community outreach events in February or March and will have a preview service in April. (See attached calendar). Always replace your old calendar as these are all very tentative with my schedule that can change, but I am trying to schedule out enough to keep us on track. If you cannot open the attachment and print, please contact my Assistant Vicki: vicki@newhopewired.tv or call: 419.994.1112 and she will fax or mail you one.

A preview service if you are wondering is a full blown service that we will run 1 time and advertise to get more people excited about the vision and possibly attend and join the launch team. We hope to do 3 before our October launch.

Remember...those who were there last time...your assignments:

1. PRAY
2. Bring someone with you next time!

Childcare and dinner will be provided for each meeting from here on out. Vicki will e-mail with details.

If you are interested in coming to our next meeting...come on out, NO OBLIGATIONS! We are all just trying to get to know each other, but if our style of reaching the community for Christ appeals to you and you live near Ashland...come on out...we want to see you there!

Can't wait for all the amazing things that will happen because of YOU and your participation!

PRAYER UPDATES:

Sunday: For Pastor Charles and family as they undertake this task of starting a campus. Pray for our marriage, family and spiritual protection.

Monday: Pray for the New Hope staff as they dedicate themselves to this task.

Tuesday: Pray for us to reach our goal of 100 adults on the launch team. (We are maybe 40% there or more already!)

Wednesday: Pray for the ongoing negotiations on potential space, and then for the money to come in for us to renovate a space to meet at!

Thursday: Pray for hearts to be opened in the Ashland area that need the Lord!

Friday: Pray for our next meeting as we gather for fellowship, encouragement, insight and prayer! Pray for the person(s) you hope to bring with you.

Saturday: Pray for each other and our commitment to this mission! Satan is not happy you are considering this, but I promise you will be a part of changing eternity!

Also: Pray as I preach the funeral for Sandy Humphrey tomorrow. She was dear to my heart, and this has not been a good week for myself or our staff. Please pray for the family and those who loved Sandy. She was so special.

PRAISE UPDATES:

1. We had almost 1,400 people this Christmas Eve in our campuses! The best part was that many trusted Christ and we must pray that they will continue to follow Him with their hearts!

2. Praise God Sandy is dancing with the Angels! That is the hope we will give to Ashland and beyond! All for His glory.

Blessings and peace.