 King of Kings (KoK), a thriving ministry in Fairfax County for almost 50 years, spun off a “new start”, KoK 2.0, or Dulles South, in 2019 with the intention of developing Missional Communities in this fast-growing region. The vision was to develop a faith community that would proclaim the good news of the gospel in a way that spoke to those who didn't yet have a church home. “Our passion and hope as a church is to focus on the vital, essential elements for being people of God living in community, learning to be disciples, and loving our neighbors.” (Senior Pastor, Lynn Miller) Why Dulles South? The Dulles South corridor is a rapidly growing, increasingly diverse, and family-centric hub of Loudoun County. Between 2017 and 2026, the population is predicted to grow by 123% and will continue to see significant development as the Metro Rail comes to the area. About 2/3 of the ppulation are families with children and by 2025, Loudoun County is predicted to be a minority majority. What is a Missional Community? Missional communities (MC) are mid-sized groups in specific areas gathering regularly for communion (centering on God), community (sharing life with one another), and co-mission (sent into the world). Each MC is called to a specific group of people to love, serve, and proclaim the gospel. These groups can be neighborhoods, marketplaces, schools, or a network of relationships. MC's are to mimic Jesus' ministry on earth in order to see the places we live, work, learn, and play to be blessed by God’s people on God’s mission. MC's will come together collectively for worship and to hear stories of the Spirit at work. How’s it Going? 2019 was a building year. KoK hired a mission developer, Pastor Garrett Wolf, to explore and implement the vision. By the end of 2019, KoK Dulles South had a core group of 20 people gathering on a regular basis and learning to shape their first missional community together. They started by hosting a monthly brunch church in a local restaurant on Sunday mornings for the first four months. In June, they pivoted to find a more permanent location for their gatherings and began a monthly dinner church in a local community center Sundays at 5:00 PM. In addition, KoK added a mission component by partnering with the JK Community Farm, a local non-profit solely dedicated to harvesting food for the food insecure. During the same time, they developed a leadership team, established a neighborhood discipleship group, and drafted an initial budget. By September, there was a desire to meet weekly adding a monthly worship gathering, contemplative practice, and community forum. They had planned for 2020 with specific goals and…then...Covid-19 happened. How did Covid-19 impact KoK 2.0? They pivoted online and continued partnering in the community in some of the following ways:
Pastor Garret shares two stories of impact: Story from John... "John describes his journey as a long and tiresome road. As a young adult, he was an agnostic and then spent several years in a more evangelical church setting but grew tired of the judgement, shame, and inconsistent gospel message. Slowly, he wandered away from church, still describing himself as spiritual, but yearning for a church home that would be open to exploring, accepting, and vulnerably talking about faith together. In April 2019, he found King of Kings Dulles South via our website and now sits as a vital contributing member on our Dulles South leadership team.” Story from Jean... "Jean describes her journey with church as a road with many twists and turns. She started her spiritual path as a child, loving to learn about foreign missions. As a young adult she co-led children/youth mission groups, leading youth mission trips to serve the economically insecure and developing a passion for local mission work. However, after a divorce and the loss of loved ones, Jean struggled with the bumps and turns on a previously joyful journey, drifting away from the faith community. Eventually, with a desire to reignite the joy she once had, Jean sought to reconnect with a church community again. She heard about King of Kings Dulles South and attended a local Brunch Church in February 2019. After learning about the mission and vision, including the importance of partnering with the community to serve the less fortunate, she felt the Lord had led her home. Jean now serves as a vital member on our Dulles South leadership team." Pastor Garrett commented, "Overall, we have 88 people on our current email list that have connected with our community and we hope to foster these relationships while continuing to build new ones!” Check out Kok 2.0 Dulles South on our Facebook site https://www.facebook.com/pg/kofkdullessouth/posts/?ref=page_internal
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
