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Jose, Lindsay and Erin tune up

October will go down as the month of church-plant-improv and changed timelines. Earlier in the church planting game, our plan was to gradually build our team until we reached a “critical mass” of at least 30-40 people, then begin downtown services with the numbers to be somewhat self-sustaining.

That plan changed when Crossroads Church Kansas City was offered the opportunity to begin meeting in a landmark downtown studio and gallery building, the Arts Incubator. After praying about it, we concluded that we should go looking for used sound equipment, describe our upcoming services as “informal,” and go for it.

In a nutshell, that’s the story of last month. Our team of 15 people stepped up to the plate and took ownership of the upcoming services. It’s been cool to see our people pool time, energy, and a lot of creativity as we get things moving. Starting November 8, we’ll be holding weekly services at the Arts Incubator, 6pm Sunday nights.

In many ways, the Crossroads District downtown is a community of start-ups—artists starting careers from scratch, small businesses beginning in empty warehouses. As our church plant takes on an even more off-the-cuff personality, we’ve been challenged to rely on faith in a sovereign God rather than in a “large launch” or a windfall of resources.  But the correlation between the roots of this church and the roots of the Crossroads area is a something we appreciate.

Last month we also launched Core groups, 2-4 men or women meeting weekly, which we see as critical in forming the Crossroads culture. By design, these groups will help us hold each other accountable for our mission—Love Jesus, connect people, transform cities—and focus heavily on prayer and Bible. The architecture for City groups (10-15 people) is being designed as well.

Midway through the month Lindsay and I decided there wasn’t enough going on (nod, wink) so we decided to move forward into the second phase of remodeling in the Brick House. This meant inviting a team of highly motivated students in to start demo on our kitchen/dining room. There is nothing like a swirling cloud of dust to make all of life seem more dramatic.

This has been a challenging and somewhat chaotic month, but it’s good to know that we’re in the right place, surrounded by a great team, strengthening our ties downtown and following God’s lead into uncharted territory.

As we continue to gear up for services and invest in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, please pray:

- That God would send a worship leader our way—we’re still looking for the right person to lead music for us long term. See our Craigslist ad.

- For more opportunities to serve. We’re looking forward to volunteering at the Leedy-Voulkous Gallery and Arts Incubator in the days ahead, and will continue to look for ways to meet genuine needs in relational ways.

- That worship services will come together. We’re moving fast, light on our feet and light on resources (ha). So when I tell friends I’m not exactly sure what to expect, I’m more than half serious.

Thanks for your prayers. We look forward to pausing a month from now, letting the dust settle, and reflecting on how God is working as we plow ahead.

This update is a little terse, seeing as it’s about 3 weeks overdue, so shoot us a note if you’d like to catch up. As always, we’d love to grab coffee or talk at more depth about what’s going on. And most definitely shoot us a note if you have a penniless but talented indie rocker living in your basement–we’ll put that guy to work.