Yesterday, 07Jun07, we finalized our candidacy with the Acts 29 Network. We are now officially a part of this network of Gospel-centered, Christocentric, church-planting churches.

www.acts29network.org

After I return from the Tanzania medical mission trip I will be meeting with other regional Acts 29 pastors to look at other possible church plants in the region. On the radar: Birmingham, Macon, Nashville, Memphis.

http://www.whnt.com/Global/story.asp?S=6409985

Sojourn in the news… here is the report online…

April 22, 2007

NewsChannel 19’s Barry Hiett Reports:

The Old Towne Brewery in downtown Huntsville has been around for a long time. Workers there make beer.

They also worship at the brewery.

“Our dream has always been to be in a very non-traditional space and wanted to be right in the middle of downtown with all the revitalization that’s happening here in the city,” says David Thew, pastor of the Sojourn church.

Forty days until Resurrection Day. The time between 21Feb and 06Apr is Lent. The first day of lent, 21Feb, is Ash Wednesday. On this day, many Christ-followers will put a dab of ash upon their forehead to remind them of the death of Christ upon the cross. It also gives opportunity to mourn (under grace) the depravity of their own sinfulness.

So, forty days from now is a huge day for Sojourn Church. First we celebrate the resurrection of Christ from the dead. This action confirmed Jesus’s deity as the true Messiah/savior. See Bob’s blog at sojournhuntsville.org/blogs/bob_pratico/2007/02/19/maybe_we_need_the_early_church_message for more information.

Followers of Christ recognize that everything in life is about relationships. God’s design/desire for us is to:

ENJOY GOD - Have a deep relationship with Christ.
ENJOY HIS BRIDE - Have authentic (real/truthful), grace-filled relationships with followers of Christ.
ENJOY HIS MISSION - Invest your life into non-Christians/pre-disciples, the helpless and the wounded.

Sojourn is not tied to a denomination. Therefore, it is important for current Christians to know what we believe and what we do not. If you are not a follower of Christ then some of this will be like being in a board meeting at someone else’s business. Regardless, I invite you all to read and consider what we do and do not believe.

While we are not a part of a specific denomination once we incorporate as a church we plan to be a part of the Acts 29 Network (a29.org). It is a group of like-minded, missional, church-planting churches. Check out the website and the links to fellow churches. The following doctrinal statement originated from Mark Driscoll and I embrace it. Driscoll is the pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle and co-founder of Acts 29. I consider his book, “The Radical Reformission: Reaching Out without Selling Out” a primer for those who want to understand Sojourn, missional discipleship and what it means to be a missional church.

Church in a brewery? Isn’t that an oxymoron? No, it is God giving us greater opportunity to make disciples in Metro Huntsville.

The vision has always been to take the worship and teachings of Christ to the downtown area. We love our city. We love the heart and center of our city. We want to be a part of the vitalization, revitalization and other activity of our downtown.

Don Alan Hankins is the brew master and co-owner of Olde Towne Brewing Company. Don Alan became a disciple of Christ/born again Christian in October 2005. He now brews great beer to the glory of God (see 1 Cor. 10:31). We discussed and prayed about the possibility of Sojourn Church meeting there. Renown, a new ministry headed by Bruce Martin, also uses the space during the week. Renown lets Sojourn use many of their resources.