Where We Are Today
There’s no doubt that God has done amazing things in our midst. As simple as it might be to “play it safe” and continue with what has worked in the past, we believe that God is calling Long Hollow into a new season of radical obedience to Him. There is no doubt that He has given us a new, God-sized vision that only He can accomplish.
Much as our church founders invested in our future 40 years ago, we see the unique opportunity to invest in our next 40 years by substantially increasing our ministry capacity here, radically impacting our growing community, and planting churches and resources in the parts of the world that need the Gospel the most.
The Vision
When we reach and disciple thousands here, we have the potential to take the Gospel to millions throughout our nation and around the world.
As we reflect on 40 years of incredible growth, a subtle temptation is for a church like ours is to simply strive for more; after all, it seems like more programs, more activities, and more services would lead to more people in attendance and more lives changed.
That strategy could help us grow over time, but we think that God has a different vision for us in the days ahead. Instead of focusing exclusively on more activity, we want to dramatically simplify our focus to more of the things that God is calling us to do. More attendees in a worship service is great, but more church members reaching their neighborhood would change our community. More events can be helpful, but more believers engaged in discipleship would be transformative.
Our vision is to move from a ministry of addition (that expands slowly through staff-only evangelism and events) to a ministry of multiplication (that explodes through personal evangelism and discipleship). By investing in thousands of believers engaged in local disciplemaking at Long Hollow, we believe that our church will be the spark for a discipleship revolution that will turn our community upside down and have a Kingdom impact to even the furthest reaches of the globe.
The Opportunity
Sumner County is on the cusp of a wave of seismic growth like our region has never seen.
There are over 8,800 new homes planned for Sumner County by 2023. That’s over 30,000 new people moving into our neighborhoods in the next five years alone. A new mission field is growing at the corner of every street!
40 years ago, a small but faithful group of believers followed God’s leading to purchase a plot of land with the potential to reach thousands who weren’t here yet. We find ourselves in a similar situation today, as our church continues to grow and our county is busting at the seams with thousands of new families.
As we look toward our next 40 years, we’re researching growth trends and prayerfully considering strategic locations to plant new campuses and Long Hollow members all throughout our community.
The Challenge
This vision needs the gifts of every family, and every believer.
This vision isn’t just for our staff or our church leaders. This isn’t just a building campaign or a fundraising goal. Our vision is for every member of Long Hollow to link arms together to be God’s Church and become an unstoppable force for good.
It’s time for every Long Hollow member and every Long Hollow family to prayerfully consider their role in the next chapter of our church’s amazing story. We believe that greater things are yet to come, and we want to be obedient to go boldly to where God is leading us.
