The need. Cabarrus county grew by 75K people in the last 15 years, and the number of churches barely changed. No more than 20% of Cabarrus county regularly “attends” a church, and the most generous stats point to another 20% present from once a year once a month. And even if you planted 10 new churches this year with over 100 each to start – you still get around 147K people not part of any church. Bottom line: you have fewer churches per person available at the same time a person is least likely to go to church.
What an opportunity! As Tim Keller famously wrote: we plant churches because
- it’s Jesus’ call in the great commission and carried out in the New Testament pattern;
- it’s the best way to reach the new to church, new generations, and new residents;
- it offers a renewal impulse to whole body of Christians in a town, city, or region.
Why plant a church? Because we are a missionary faith that seeks to invite, welcome, and love people as they discover and live out their place in God’s story. You and me and all our neighbors were made to enjoy union with God in Christ Jesus. One more disciple, leader, and church at a time.
We want to see every man, woman, and child in Cabarrus county enjoying Jesus and serving him in their heart, homes, and whole life–wherever they live, learn/work, and play.
“We always thank God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.” (Colossians 1:3-5)
It’s not our our story that well. It is the stories of people God is working in through this church.
Into the Woods is our biweekly podcast from Trinity Forest Church.
Why “Into the woods”? Because faith isn’t always lived on well-marked paths. Sometimes the wood are dark and deep, unexpected or unnerving, and often just messy or confusing. That’s where honest conversations happen. That’s where we come face to face with ourselves. But that’s where we often discover God’s faithfulness most clearly.
Each episode, we’ll interview one or two ordinary people from our church and invite them to share their story with us. Every single person has a story worth telling. Most times it will be a lot about their unique life and story – but every time, we’ll talk about their spiritual story. We believe that every single person is on a spiritual journey – and our mission at Trinity Forest is to love people as they discover and live out their role in God’s story.
We hope you’ll come to know each other more deeply.
We hope you’ll be inspired to wonder a little more: at how good God is, how fragile life is, how important each person is.
…and…
We hope you’ll join us in loving people as they discover and live out their own role in God’s story.