Andrew Hopper

Summit Church, here is a glimpse into some of the great things God has done through our U.S. church plants in 2011:

Summit Church | Denver, CO

From Bryan Barley:

On January 16, 2011, we had our first gathering in my living room. 10 of us met together, and I shared how I believed the Summit Denver was a movement of God, and how we desired to continue His work in the city of Denver. In that moment, I carried in my heart both fear and hope – fear that we were inadequate for such a task, yet hope that God’s grace is sufficient and He delights to make His power known through our weakness. God has been faithful, and we’ve seen some amazing things happen:

• 80+ people now attend our weekly gatherings
• On January 1, we moved in our new building (above; yes, it’s a warehouse)
• 47 people have joined as covenant members to become missionaries to the city
• 5 city groups have been launched throughout the city
• We’ve gained a reputation as a church that exists for the good of the city and the neighborhood
• This January, we will baptize 5 people, add 15 new members, and start a new city group

City Church | Murfreesboro, TN

From Trevor Atwood:

In all of my preparation to plant a church, few phrases stuck out more than this one: “Planting a church is not a sprint; it’s a marathon.” The idea is that planters shouldn’t expend all their energy quickly looking for immediate results, but get into a steady pace moving toward a mission, and expect results to come over time. In many ways, I have learned that to be true. But I’ve also learned to expect great things from the God of the impossible:

• In July, 25 people moved from the Summit as well as TX, VA, and TN to plant City Church
• God provided 13 jobs for those who moved; nobody went more than 2.5 months without a job
• 28 others have since joined as covenant members, bringing the total to 53
• 6 people have been baptized
• 4 people have moved from death to life (all coworkers and neighbors of team members)
• 70+ now attend our weekly gatherings
• Our people recently gave $8600 toward our Christmas Missions Offering to bless our city and plant new churches

Imago Dei Church | Raleigh, NC

http://vimeo.com/32491008

We also partnered to help plant a church in Raleigh. Check out this update from Tony Merida, the lead planter. Since this video, Imago Dei has grown to:

• 82 covenant members
• 175 in weekly attendance
• 100+ people meeting weekly in 8 growth groups

Looking Forward

2012 promises to be an even better year, and we already have some exciting things on the horizon, including our latest church plant, Mercy Hill, which will be going to Greensboro in May.

Join us in praying that God would raise up more men and women from the Summit with a vision to plant their lives in another city in order to take the gospel to those who don’t know it.

To stay tuned on upcoming plants, or find out how you can be a part, go to www.sendrdu.com.

At the end of each year, many at the Summit respond to what God has done for us by giving extravagantly to our Christmas Missions offering. 100% of the money collected for this special offering goes outside the walls of the church to bless our community and world.

In addition, this is also a time of year where many give beyond their normal tithes and offerings through the Summit Church. Check out a blog post from our Senior Associate Pastor and directional elder, Rick Langston, for more details on how you can be a part of this.

Be Generous at Christmas: Give through the Summit! It’s been almost 10 years since we began our ministry to RDU as the Summit Church. We’ve seen God grow a core group of 300 to over 6000 worshippers. God has been absolutely faithful to us. In response, you have been faithfully generous, making possible many of the things we’ve seen happen.

As we come to the end of 2011, your generosity will make continued Gospel Growth possible. Here are some of the exciting things we believe God is leading us to do in 2012 through your continued generosity.

• Master site plan developed for the Brier Creek Campus – $300,000
• Parking lot at the Brier Creek Campus – $600,000
• Expanded Brier Creek Kids and Student Ministry space – $500,000
• Spanish Campus worship center – $800,000
• Chapel Hill Campus – $500,000
• Enhanced video technology at all our campuses – $250,000
• 2 New Church plants: Mercy Hill in Greensboro is next! – $300,000
• Over 1 million of our general budget is set aside for missions!

Those are God sized goals, and they should be. We believe God is always going to do bigger things than we can imagine or plan for. But it’s exciting to try to keep up with Him as He leads. When we look back over that last ten years, we continually see Him leading us to step out boldly and trust Him. And as we have, He has always done more than we could have expected.

Here are some of the highlights of the just the last year:

• Over the past year we’ve baptized over 700 people and seen our weekly attendance climb to over 6,000 people hearing the Gospel every week.
• Our small groups ministry has seen weekly participation in a small group reach 50% of weekend attendance.
• Through our local outreach ministry, we’ve seen 50 families get involved in adoption and foster-care, logged over 7,000 service hours during our week of ServeRDU, and partnered with 4 different prisons
• Our church planting ministry has planted 3 new churches in the United States, sent out 80 people to plant their lives in cities around the world and 364 short-term volunteers on short-term mission trips.
• We’ve launched the Cary Campus which has been reaching over 500 people a week.
• The South Venue of the Brier Creek campus opened up, making space for 900 more worshippers each week. –
• Finally, Our Church at the Ballpark this September saw over 7,000 people in attendance and 300 baptisms.

All of this is God working through the local church!

As you give this year and beyond to the Summit Church, you can know that every dollar is an investment in Kingdom advancement here in RDU and throughout the world. We get excited about your Gospel Generosity because we know it means more people hearing and responding to the message of God’s generosity. He gave everything so that we could receive everything that He has for us in the Gospel.

Because of His Generosity we seek to Live Sufficiently & Give Extravagantly!