Our vision is to see the Gospel transform everything – ourselves as individuals, our church, our city, and the world.
By 2020, we desire to see that vision expressed in our church as a body of thousands of people, gathering in locations throughout the Louisville area, and planting churches all over the world that draw many more un-churched people into a relationship with God.
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”
—Revelation 21:5
When my husband Dave and I first visited Sojourn as newlyweds fresh out of college, we had no intention of staying. We had come from being highly involved in a college ministry full of young people, and as a result, we wanted to be a part of a multi-generational church. At that time, Sojourn’s average age was something like 27.5 and the “seniors” in the church were 36. Not exactly what we had in mind.
We were invited to Sojourn by former elder, Les Groce, who was the older brother of a good friend of ours from college. He and his wife Alison invited us to check out their community group, and since we had nothing else to do as unemployed, new-in-town newlyweds, we agreed.
After that first night at their community group, I knew there was something different about this church family. The group was made up of so many different “types” of people, but they all rallied around the gospel and the common bond they shared in Christ. There were mohawks (well, one) and tatoos (too many to count), parents of small kids and single dudes, and I was blown away by how well they all loved one another and us (in our Gap clothes)! The day after that first community group we helped one of the members move, and from that point on, we were pretty much sold on Sojourn. I remember telling my husband soon after that, that if we aren’t staying at Sojourn we need to leave immediately because I already feel myself growing attached to these people.
So, community group ministry was really central to our joining Sojourn, and it was also so central to our growth and change in the four years we were at Sojourn. The Lord used community group to constantly expose my sin and selfishness. I couldn’t hide my pride and self-righteousness as I was forced to confess sin to the members of the group.
Helping my husband lead a community group was all the more humbling, as we realized weekly our inability to care for others and our desperate need for Christ to enable us to do so. As scary as it was to lead a community group at Sojourn, we knew we had freedom to fail and we certainly exercised that freedom! We knew we didn’t have to have it all together or have all the answers. This was incredibly freeing for us! We learned to seek help and to acknowledge weakness, and the Sojourn body was faithful to point us to Christ and His strength in the midst of our weakness.
My husband and I grew up at Sojourn. We came as fresh-faced newlyweds without a clue about how precious the local church is. By God’s grace, we left in August 2009 as different people. We moved Pearland, TX to help plant a new church because we want others to know the same Christ who has become more dear to us, and to know the community of His church that we experienced at Sojourn. It was heart-breaking for us to leave dear friends and community at Sojourn, but just as Sojourn holds the tension between community and mission so well, we wanted to do the same and leave our community in order to pursue mission. People in Pearland are hungry for gospel-centered community and we are so privileged to share with them what the Lord taught us through the expression of His church at Sojourn!