Our story emerges out of God’s desire to bring wholeness and restoration to all people. The story of Jeremiah, in the Scriptures, tells us that as the people looked around the city of Jerusalem they saw a “desolate wasteland”, a place that was “unlivable”. God however saw the creative potential in the people and in the city and said: “Take another look…I’m going to give this city a thorough renovation…I’m going to show them life whole…I’ll restore everything that was lost…I’ll build everything back as good as new…and Jerusalem will be a center of joy and praise and glory for all the countries on earth.” In the same way Renovate sees the unlimited and often untapped potential that exists within each one of us. It is with this heart that Renovate desires to bring hope and renewal to people and our community.
There have been many people and events that have participated in the development of our story. From Forest Park Covenant Church who acted with great generosity in January of 2007 to send out one of their pastors and a group of people to begin this new church expression, to those who continue to see God and the potential of his work all around us.
However, our story is not just about the Renovate community, but how God continues to bring many stories together to participate in the unfolding of his greater story. As a result, we have partnered with the Evangelical Covenant Church as a way to be a part of a larger movement of churches that seek the heart of God.
We look forward to the growth of this story and the vision that will continue to grow with it. As our story develops and takes shape we will always be about the simple call to love God and love others. We will work to equip people to be the church in the world and do our part to participate in cultural transformation, so that the world we live in would be restored to the great “city” that God designed for it to be.
Scripture excerpt taken form the Message Remix; Jeremiah 33:4-11)