One Church Introduction

Throughout this year, we’ll be discussing why we believe our multi-congregational structure is the best way for us to carry out our mission to share the gospel and see lives changed throughout Columbus. Our first few pieces of content will start out broadly talking about church structures, then, closer to the summer, we’ll get more specific with how Veritas is structured (budget, decision-making, ministry initiatives, etcetera). Then, in the fall, we’ll talk more about what this all means for you members so you’re better equipped to participate deeply in the church.

Transcript:

Geoff Davis
My name is Geoff Davis, the Executive Pastor at Veritas. I’m here with the others on what we call the “leadership council,” which is made up the lead pastor from each congregation and then myself. So we’ve got Wes Thompson from West, Brad Snyder from Tri-Village, and Joe Byler from the Short North. You’ll be hearing from them in a minute, but first I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who have made Veritas your home. If you didn’t know, we are coming up on our tenth anniversary in October. We have been through a lot in these ten years, and I think we’re entering into a much needed “season of slowing down and making sure we are on point and acting consistently as we clarify our mission. As we do that, we’re launching this communications campaign to bring you into a very intentional conversation about who Veritas is and what we believe God is calling us to. On the website, you’ll find a whole schedule of content so you can know what’s coming. What you’re listening to now is just a kickoff to a year-long series of audio segments, videos, and articles that will help us, as leaders and members, better connect around our mission as we clarify what we’re trying to do.

To make sure we are walking through this season of change with wisdom, we’ve enlisted the help of a coach from an organization called “Context Coaching.” Wes, can you tell us a little bit about the work Brian Howard has done for us and what that means for us as leaders in the coming months?

Wes Thompson
Brian and his team evaluated Veritas through surveys and interviews with staff, pastors, and other leaders. Then his team issued recommendations that we’ve triaged and begun to tackle. While we’re still early on in the process, we’ve worked through some big items and have developed clearer protocols for the way our leaders and congregations work together.

One topic we addressed right out of the gate was how we are structured organizationally as a multisite church. We started by addressing how we as leaders make decisions and how they affect other congregations. Already, we’re noticing the effects of that. Joe Byler is going to tell you a little more about that.


Joe Byler

One of the first things Brian brought to our attention was the need to establish a clear decision making process for the organization. We’ll get into those details in future episodes, but I just wanted to say that since we’ve established these parameters, we’re finding that we’re doing ministry with a lot more organizational efficiency. I’m really excited about the future of Veritas. One thing you may notice in the future is that we’re going to see more consistency in how Veritas does ministry across all our congregations. Brad is going to tell you a little more about that.

Brad Snyder
This is a bit of a teaser for what we’re going to talk about next week. We’re going to tackle the question, “Why multi-site?” We’ve noticed that it hasn’t been clear to everyone why we’re a multi-congregational church. There are many models of church organization out there, and we wanted to be proactive about communicating how our multi-site model is an asset to our mission. So it’s not just our theology and our resources that we share, but it’s also our mission as a church. So be sure to come back to our website in the coming weeks to hear more of the nitty-gritty.

Geoff Davis
Thanks for listening guys. Like Brad said, our next episode will come out next week. If you’re a member at Veritas, you’ll get an email about it. If you’re just tuning in because you’re curious about Veritas and want to know more about it, that’s cool too! All our content will be public on our website. But if you’re new to Veritas, I want to encourage you to attend “Foundations,” which is a small gathering of people who are interested in joining the family of Veritas and the pastors and leaders at Veritas. Tri-Village just had one, but West and Short North are planning Foundations classes in February, so please do check that out on our website. It’s a great way to connect with our leaders and learn more about our theology, who we are, and how we live. It will be a lot more detailed and relational than what you’re going to hear on the website here.