The X Factor Is The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is Jesus’ plan for us to be a part of what He’s up to. The Holy Spirit inspired the Bible, which we believe is the absolute authority and guide for everything we do. We believe that the Holy Spirit lives inside of every Christian and points us all to the Person of Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit lives uniquely through each Christian and that together through the Holy Spirit we are now Jesus Christ’s second body on earth. We will be a community of people who are learning to listen to and obey the Holy Spirit. We want people to walk away from our communities in the most ordinary places in life knowing that they have just been in the presence of God.

A Culture of Discipleship
Jesus prayed and then asked certain men to follow him, to learn from him, to be like him, and then gave them the Holy Spirit so that they could go and make disciples of every nation. We’ve been given the Holy Spirit to do the same thing. This means praying for and asking others to walk with us, to be like us, as we follow Jesus. As the Holy Spirit helps us become more like Jesus, those that follow us will become more like Jesus. We hope to create a culture where we all are being made into and making disciples of Jesus. Click here to learn more about Leadership Huddles.

Jesus in Every Domain
We want Jesus’ life to show up in the way we spend money, our sex lives, our friendships, our jobs, our kids lives. We believe that the grocery store and the kitchen table are just as spiritual as a church pulpit. We want to see families restored, people free from addictions, the city of Canton revitalized. We believe that if The Church isn’t actively influencing every domain in culture than we probably aren’t being obedient to Jesus. We believe Jesus wants his people to infiltrate every domain that his people are in, and that he lives in us so that Jesus can not just be a part of our lives on a Sunday, but rather so that Jesus IS our life in every way.

Planting New Churches
We will be a church that plants new churches. We believe that anything that is healthy and mature grows. We expect the Holy Spirit to constantly send people to start new churches all over the city of Canton and throughout the world. While we hope to have deep authentic relationships in our Villages, we will do our best to always look outward to the people God may be sending us to.

Diversity in Unity
Canton is very diverse. This is why we don’t want to be in only one location, but send people to start Villages in every domain. When Villages come together for Celebration we hope that it is such a diverse mix of economic status, race, and age that Jesus could be the only possible reason that we are in the same room together.

Relationships UP IN OUT
We want to be communities of people who live like Jesus did. Jesus lived his life based on relationships. He had a relationship UP to his Father through the Holy Spirit. He had relationships IN with his friends the disciples. He had relationships OUT with the people who he came to give his life for even if they did not believe in Him. Everything we do will be grounded in this life UP IN OUT.

Low Control / High Accountability Leadership
The organization exists to serve the organism – not the other way around. Leaders don’t want to control people by telling them what to do. Leaders teach people to listen to the Holy Spirit and then help them obey what he’s telling them to do. Village leaders will consistently meet in leadership huddles where they will be asked “What is Jesus saying to you right now?” and “What are you doing about it?” We will do whatever it takes to help leaders carry out their vision. And we will be relentless in holding each other accountable to what God has told us to do. Click here to see information about Leadership Huddles.

Partnership with Like-Minded People
The work that God wants to do in Canton is much bigger than any one person, organization, or church. We will join arms with other like-minded churches and organizations to make a bigger dent for God’s Kingdom in Canton than we could ever do on our own. We realize that this could get messy and that our egos will probably have a hard time with it. But it’s worth it, because we can do so much more when we don’t care who gets the credit.

Stories of Jesus Changing Lives
While measurements of all kinds are important, stories of Jesus changing lives is our primary measure of success. If this is not happening than we are wasting our time. We will make it top priority to capture and communicate stories through pictures, video, and writing on our website and at our gatherings.

Lightweight Low Maintenance
We will do our best to keep things simple and focused on the mission God has us on. So we will be in Villages and Celebrations in a monthly rhythm that is healthy. Each Village will have a different rhythm based on the culture and season of the group. Usually Huddles meet 1-2 times a month, Villages 1-2 times a month, and Celebration 1-2 times a month. This will allow the relationships we have with each other and the people in our lives to have the time to just happen rather than be a forced religious program. Click here to see upcoming events