newlife church

This morning I attended the leadership meeting of newlife church. I was invited by Jack Tensch, a retired Episcopal priest who is active at newlife.

Newlife is a young church targeting people in their twenties and thirties. They currently meet in Klohowya High School and they're opening a second campus in Port Orchard. Their growth in numbers has been phenomenal...from seven families to over a thousand in worship every Sunday.

The leadership meeting this morning was inspiring. There were fifty people, mostly under 25, packed into their gathering place, intently listening and sharing with each other. This was a gathering of the leadership of newlife, especially the "apprentices", young people who are leading a small group or a team for the church.

The purpose of these Tuesday meetings is to teach and energize these young people. The senior pastor, Wes Davis, is obviously passionate about reaching the unchurched and growing newlife. I was enchanted with the idealism and energy of all the people there.

A couple of catch-phrases I heard: We're "on the mission." If you are on board with the church and its vision, then you are "on the mission." They used that phrase several times to capture the intensity of the vision.

Another phrase I heard often was "170,000 people without a church in our county". This came up several times as the driving force behind their efforts. There are 170,000 people in Kitsap County who don't have a church home, and the mission of newlife is to bring them into a relationship with Jesus.

Growth is definitely part of the DNA of this church. They expect growth, they feed on growth, and they plan for growth. It makes it an exciting place to be.

I learned a lot from the gathering, and I hope to use some of their ideas and energy for St. Antony's. We can all learn from each other!
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