Revolution Speaks

On Monday, May 28, 2012 at Summer Surge, we cast a SIGNIFICANT new vision for the future of WoodstockHSM. Here is the message from that night [the specifics begin around 32:00 of the video]. Focused on the glory of God and our unshakeable belief that it should always be advancing and never receding in our lives personally and in our community corporately, we have come to a crossroads concerning our influence for the glory of God.

EPICENTER, our Wednesday night gathering, has seen a surge over the last 6 years, making a leap from 175 participants to well over 400 on most nights. We meet in a facility that, although only 4 years old, is at or above 80% capacity each Wednesday. Church growth experts tell us, and we know this to be true from our own experiences, that once we reach 80% capacity or higher new guests will walk into the auditorium and decide there isn’t room for them. We have seen a SIGNIFICANT number of first time guests at EPICENTER over the last year and a half. In fact, there have been enough to more than double our ministry if they all stuck. But they haven’t…and we’re convinced that one of the reasons is that we are out of space and seats for them.

Because the glory of God matters NOW, we are faced with five choices…

#1 – Do Nothing
We tell these students to go to hell or at least try to find Jesus somewhere else. Our conviction – not even a consideration.
#2 – Start a Second Service on Wednesday nights
We could do a 6pm and a 7:30pm gathering. Our conviction – because of already existing programming times on campus, we prefer to give ourselves more freedom.
#3 – Start a Second Service Another Night
In addition to Wednesday night, we could add a Monday or Thursday gathering. Our conviction - although we are not afraid of hard work, we believe this will stretch our staff very thin.
#4 – Move to the Chapel
Currently, this is not even an option as it is occupied with Sunday morning worship practice. However, if it were an option we would have plenty of seats in the 2500 seat chapel. Our conviction – moving 400-500 students into a 2500 seat auditorium would dwarf our momentum and environment.
#5 – Start a Second Epicenter in Another Location at the Same Time on Wednesdays
A second epicenter would look and feel just like the one in our current facility, although it probably wouldn’t have all the bells and whistles of media technology. It would run at the exact same time and day as EPICENTER currently. Our conviction - Multi-site EPICENTER gives us the greatest opportunity for giving our students ownership while at the same time reaching more students in Metro Atlanta.

So we have decided…

We are going to be “planting” a second EPICENTER in the northern end of Cherokee County, focused on Creekview, Cherokee, and some Sequoyah High School students. There are a TON of obstacles, including the fact that we are unaware of ZERO non-multi site churches that have multi-site youth ministries. This is unchartered territory for our church. But here is what we do know we are facing:

1. A need for a facility to house EPICENTER North
2. Brand new team of volunteers and at least 24 volunteers to start the 1st night
3. Additional ministry dollars for possible facility rental, band, stage, media, marketing, etc.
4. A fast-track learning curve for our interns to improve their speaking ability
5. A core team that has our WoodstockHSM DNA to launch this second EPICENTER

FAQ: We know there are plenty of questions [and probably more than we can think of]. Here are some that you’re probably asking.

1. Who will be preaching? Matt will primarily preach on our Woodstock campus and our staff and volunteers will primarily preach on our North campus. Likely, Matt will rotate to the North campus and our staff will come to our Woodstock campus once a month.

2. Who will be leading worship? Our current EPICENTER band is sold on the vision and is committed to helping raise up a new band. Because there are currently 6 guys in the band along with 2-3 that rotate in and out, the current band will likely send some guys to the North campus to play at least at the beginning.

3. Will it be like the Woodstock campus? We are going to make every effort to make sure that the North campus receives the same quality of experience that our Woodstock campus has. We know that it will likely not have all the media bells and whistles but it will at least be the same series with the same graphics, same worship songs, same videos, same content in message.

4. How do I get involved? Call or email our office to let us know you are interested or fill out the form below (best option). kyle.hurlburt@fbcw.net or 678-494-2653. We will be having CORE NORTH meetings regularly on Wednesdays throughout the summer starting June 6th at 5:30pm in the Warehouse, room 1. We need you there.

5. What volunteer positions do you need and how many? Greeters, set up, guest services, altar counselors, media, safety, VIP Afterparty, and Small Group sign-up table. We project that we will need at least 24 to start the first night. We need both parent and student leaders.

6. How many people will be coming to EPICENTER North? We are praying and believing that we will start the first night with 100 students.

7. How can we get the word out? We hope you will make an effort like never before. Here are a few ways we plan to let people know…Mailers, yard signs, flyers in businesses, pass out cards, t-shirts, social media, ads in football programs at Creekview, Cherokee, & Sequoyah. If you have a suggestion, please let us know.

Will you prayerfully and seriously consider joining our team? You can make known you’re interest by filling out the short form below. We know some of our current volunteers will be launching to EPICENTER North, which will create a void on our Woodstock campus. Either way, we will need more leaders on both campuses that will help us accomplish our vision to see 39,000 middle and high school students in a 10 mile radius of Woodstock know and love Jesus. Thanks for praying for us! We will look forward to hearing from you.

Have more questions? Feel free to call or email us at kyle.hurlburt@fbcw.net or 678-494-2653.

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