"Values"

I must say that I have never seen an area like the south end of Forsyth County, where we are planting The Fountain UMC. I grew up in Gwinnett County and saw tremendous growth there, but I do not think I have seen anything like what is happening in the Johns Creek, Suwanee, and Cumming areas. The Fountain is located in the fastest area of growth in the entire state of Georgia. The area has already grown so fast and is projected to at least grow another 32% in the next five years! You have to see it to believe it! Numbers like that do not mean anything until you realize that each person is a soul that Jesus loves and desires a relationship with. That’s what drives me and The Fountain UMC. There are kids everywhere too. There are more daycares than I have even seen in my life. Those are children and families that Jesus loves. I have found more than anything that we have great people in the south Forsyth County area who simply want to have wonderful families, live with purpose, have deep relationships, a sense of community, and to find a place where this Jesus stuff can have a real impact for them today. 

That is why The Fountain UMC is seeking to be a church that is Christ-centered, relevant, real, transparent, exciting, and inviting in all that we do. Those are some of our values and how we want to be known around the community. When people hear contemporary, new church, or a church that pre-Christians love to attend, they often think that the message must become less than the entire message of Christianity. I have to say that I do not believe in soft Christianity. Instead, I have a passion to lead people into a deep pursuit to know Christ so much that they experience a real impact on their lives. We want to lead people to having a growing relationship with Jesus Christ where they are led to fill the world with the love of Christ that they have experienced.

Our second big value is to be a church that makes church and God relevant to a person’s everyday life. What good is talking about faith if it doesn’t mean anything when you go to work, the grocery store, when raising your family, or when tragedy hits? The reality is that Jesus IS relevant and we are a church that wants to help people experience a loving, holy God, who IS relevant and presented that way in a relevant church. Relevant does not mean that you water down the message, but that you make it come alive so that it means something and helps you to become a better person even Monday through Saturday. In order to be relevant without compromising the message, we also believe that church should be fun, creative, and exciting. 

We want to be a church for people of all ages and stages in the faith. This is not a church for only young people, but one where anyone can learn, grow, and follow God. We want to be a church that pre-Christian people love to attend, but also a church where people who have loved Jesus for years can grow and serve. Our leadership team keeps referring to this as “a church for the whole family”. It’s a reminder that God wants to disciple the whole family no matter our age or even our stage in the faith. We are a church that wants to reach the unchurched, de-churched, lightly churched, those hurt by church, those who love church, but mostly people who simply want to be real about following God, loving people, and becoming the person that God has created them to be. We want to be a church that is real about relationships, real about following Jesus, real about serving, and real about our faith. We want to be real in order to show people that Jesus is real and can have a real impact on your life today. 

Stay tuned for the upcoming blog series about our four main areas of focus for The Fountain.