Update on Renovate Church – Summer 2010

Hello everyone,

It’s been a while since I’ve given a mass update on Renovate Church. This one is going to be a long one, but please bear with me. It’s worth it!

Since we moved to Winchester and started Renovate Church, we’ve had some big wins. We’ve seen families restored to ministry, we’ve raised supplies for the homeless, and been able to re-present Jesus in a new light to people who have been hurt by the church.  There are more stories, but let’s allow this to suffice.

Aside from special events, we have been meeting weekly for Launch Team Meetings, where we were doing Bible study and leadership development with our team. We have taken what is called an “organic” approach to church planting. In essence, we haven’t had a lot of money and resources to do marketing and do a “launch large” strategy. I’ve been very pleased with our stewardship of resources. Every dollar given to Renovate has been spent helping people. We saved money by meeting in homes and restaurants. We’ve worked hard to find less expensive ways to do ministry. We haven’t rented a storefront or done any of that stuff. My wife and I work jobs and do not take a salary from Renovate.

Our challenge is that many people have had difficulty connecting with this organic approach to church. In Winchester, most people have at least some concept of church, and since our very different approach didn’t connect as well, we stalled out on growth. At our most, we’ve had about 20 people connected to Renovate. While I have been pleased with the amount of people connecting, personal circumstances have caused some of our people to disconnect from Renovate. Not all of these were negative circumstances, but they have affected us nonetheless.

Now, rewind several months prior to now….

Destiny Church in Leesburg, Virginia decides to plant a satellite church in Winchester. They selected their Worship Leader, Lathan Hickey to be the Winchester Campus Pastor. With his deep roots in the Winchester area and the resources of an existing church, I knew immediately that Destiny Winchester would do well here.

I have known Lathan since our teenage years. He’s the kind of guy that you just want to hug the first time you meet him. He has a magnetic personality and is a great leader. He also sounds like John Mayer when he sings, so who can’t love that!!!

Lathan and I had been trying to connect with each other for several months now and just update each other on our lives and ministry. About two weeks ago, we were finally able to get together and share. What we found was that we were both trying to fulfill the same vision for a new church in Winchester! It totally blew my mind at how closely the two of us are on the same page. We have similar church and ministry histories, both have roots in Winchester,  we hold to the same Christian doctrines, both spent time in Florida, and both came back to Winchester to reach people for Jesus who wouldn’t walk in to a traditional church.

God does things in crazy ways some times. It’s in ways we can’t plan or can’t expect. The gifts I found in Lathan were exactly what was missing from Renovate Church. What Lathan found in me was what he needed for Destiny Church Winchester. Our gifts complement each other in a great way, and our perspectives, vision, and church culture line up perfectly. So after much prayer, thought, and advice, we have decided to completely merge our church planting efforts. Winchester is an area of less than 200,000 people, and there simply is no reason that two guys trying to do the same thing, with the same vision, and the same circle of connections should work against each other by doing it separately. I truly feel that God has opened the door for us to be more effective and put a dent in the devil here in Winchester.

For us, this is very exciting. While we’re not doing this under the name “Renovate Church”, I still believe that God has allowed this door to open for us and see a dream come true. By joining forces, we’ll be able to be more effective, build a stronger team, and set an example for other churches in the area by showing what can happen when Christians start working together and stop fighting each other.

If you want to know how God works, here goes… I had been praying about contacting Lathan about this for about 3 months. Lathan had been praying about contacting us about doing some type of ministry together for the same time. God had begun to prepare things in the spiritual realm before we were able to make it happen in the human realm. When God connects the dots for us, He does it perfectly!

My role in this will be in the areas of administration, team building, leadership development, and discipleship. My working title is “Director of Administration and Development”, although Lathan mentioned tweeking that. Basically, Lathan is really great at recruiting people, and he’ll be sending them to me to get them plugged in and ready for ministry. It’s truly a beautiful thing. We both get to do what we’re good at.

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I’m sure many of you have a lot of questions. I’ll answer a few below, but first, I want to give you a few important dates.

Sunday, August 29 – 6:00-7:15 pm – Preview Service at Daniel Morgan Middle School – The Leesburg team will be travelling to Winchester to put on a church service for us. If you are interested in seeing what a typical Destiny service is going to be like, then you want to be here.

Sunday September 26 – 10:00-11:15 am – Pre-Launch Service at Alama Drafthouse Cinema – Destiny Winchester will be holding services regularly at the Alamo. The Pre-Launch Services will be practice runs for the Winchester team to get everything right. People are welcome to come and check things out. If you think you’re interesting in being part of the Winchester team, then you need to contact me ASAP. We will have something for you to get involved in without being over-worked.

Sunday October 3 – 10:00-11:15 am – 2^nd Pre-Launch Service at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

Sunday 10-10-10 – 10:00-11:15 am – Grand Opening Day of Destiny Church Winchester at the Alamo. This is when we begin regular weekly services!

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Ok, here’s some questions I’ve been asked a few times that I’d like to answer for everyone:

1. Brandon, are you really ok with giving up Renovate and coming under the Destiny Church umbrella?  – Yes. When I was in Tampa FL, I went to monthly meetings for local church planters. In one of those meetings, a leader said to us “What if God is asking you to do something, but He wants you to do it under someone else’s ministry? What if your name isn’t attached and you don’t get the credit? Will you still do it?” It was at that moment that I decided that I will commit to church planting in Winchester, and that obeying the leading of the Lord will be my primary goal. Planting a church here was never about my ego. It’s about the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. It’s about introducing people to Jesus.  Thank you Hal Mayer for the gut check before I ever moved here.
2. Will you ever try church planting on your own again? – Who knows? As for now, I’m committed to Winchester. I’m committed to being here and reaching people. We’re putting roots down.
3. What do the Renovate people think of this? – So far, the response has been very good. People can easily see that God is in this.
4. Why did you have fund raising problems? – The big one is the economy. Our fund raising began at the height of the recession. We had a lot of churches and people who wanted to help, but simply couldn’t. People have been tapped out. We decided to obey God and move here anyways, knowing that He had a plan.
5. How can I get involved? – Contact me. If you’re not sure what to get involved with, we can help you discover your gifts. If you know your passion, we’ll get you plugged in. God will use you to change lives through the ministry of Destiny Church Winchester! A lot of people that I connected with through Renovate were waiting on us to be able to have church services before getting too involved. Now is your chance!
6. What will a service be like at Destiny – The music is current and rocking. It’s not a Metallica concert, but it’s not acoustic night at the coffee shop either. It’s a good balance, and I’m confident you’ll like it. The teaching is Biblical and applicable to real life. You can wear whatever you’re comfortable wearing, and there won’t be anything weird. You can expect to be accepted just as you are, and to make some great friends. We aren’t too flashy, but we not dull either. It’s not suits and ties, and it’s not a night club either.
7. Why are you having church in a movie theater, let alone one that serves beer?  – Because that’s what Jesus would do. Jesus frequented the cultural hubs of his time, and the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has easily become the new cultural centerpiece of Winchester. Jesus would go to where the people are, and not worry about what the religious establishment thought about it. The Alamo also accommodates our needs for hosting adults, children, and nursery in 3 theaters, and we’re getting it for a good price. Talking about a God-thing.. When we first moved to Winchester, we had identified the Alamo as the place we would have held services for Renovate. Now, God is fulfilling that.
8. I’ve given money or gifts to Renovate. What will happen to it? – I will be keeping the legal entity Renovate Church, INC open through the end of the year in order to ensure proper credit for tax deductions. Your money and/or gifts will continue to be used towards church planting, in the manner originally intended. For all intents and purposes, we’re just under a new name. If you plan to continue giving, feel free continue doing so.

If you have any other questions, then please feel free to ask. I still hold to our values of Authenticity and Transparency. If you have a concern, then I’m happy to address it.

I ask that you all continue to pray for what God is doing in our lives, and for what He’s doing here in Winchester. This whole process has been completely revolutionary, and I’m excited to see what else God has in store for Destiny Church, for the Bowers family, and for Winchester. While a new website is in development, you can get more info about Destiny Church at www.destinychurch.info

Thank you all for reading this and for investing in our lives. We count you as friends and partners in ministry.

Brandon Bowers

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