About Us

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Our Mission

Leading people in the adventure of becoming like Christ.

We have a clear mission that comes from the Great Commission of Jesus in Matthew 28:19 which says, “Go therefore and make disciples….” Like the first group of followers, we live our lives with one focus: to be Jesus' disciples, those who are learning to become like their Master. Simply stated, our mission is to produce spiritually mature followers of Jesus Christ.
We believe it's the greatest adventure anyone could ever undertake. Won't you join us?!

Becoming Like Christ

What does it look like to be like Christ?

Because our mission is to “Lead People in the Adventure of Becoming Like Christ,” the next question we want to ask is “what does it look like to be like Christ?”  We have studied the Scriptures for the core characteristics of Christ’s earthly life and we have summarized these core characteristics under six distinctives. Together, they form the acronym C.H.R.I.S.T. and help us clarify what it means to live “like Christ.”

Our goal is nothing less than a community of fully devoted and fully developed Christ-followers, people whose lives reflect accurately the life of Jesus Christ while he was on earth. This is what it means to be the church: the body of Christ here and now.

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The 5B's

Fulfilling the Mission

Because of the love we have for our family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc., we BUILD relationships with them, serve them, model CHRIST to them and explore what they believe about Jesus. This leads to spiritual conversations that directly relate to their spiritual questions and concerns and offers opportunities for us to lovingly share the gospel.

These spiritual conversations make it more natural for us to BRING them to a LifeGroup, Worship Service, Bring Event, or just relational activities with other believers. The more they interact with other believers, the more they experience the love of God and start to feel they BELONG. This allows them to see and hear the gospel lived out and spoken through relationships.

Throughout this process we are praying and listening to the Holy Spirit and looking for opportunities to share and explain the gospel so they might BELIEVE the truth of the gospel, surrender their lives to Christ and put their faith in Him. Once they believe, Christians who know them continue the relationship by discipling them, helping them in the lifelong adventure of BECOMING more like CHRIST. 

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The 6D's

Making Disciples

The New Testament records that once a person believes in Christ, they start the journey of discipleship: following Jesus, to learn from Jesus, to become like Jesus. This journey of discipleship is a process, an adventurous process of becoming like Christ and helping others become like Christ. It is a work of the Holy Spirit and we can’t do it without Him. But He won’t do it without us; we must cooperate.

This adventure of becoming like Christ is mysterious, but not haphazard. By watching Jesus in the Gospels, a clear pattern emerges that He used for discipling. It’s an adventure that involved many steps through a variety of experiences and settings over a period of three years. We have developed our 6D Discipleship Process based on Jesus’ pattern.

We can follow Jesus’ pattern today as we become disciples who make disciples. Jesus promises to be with us (Matthew 28:20) by the presence of the Holy Spirit as we do this. The Holy Spirit is actively working to make us more like Christ and He will lead us through all of these components along the way. Sometimes the following six components are sequential, sometimes not, but they are all necessary in the process of discipleship.

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Beliefs

What we believe serves as the foundation of why we do what we do.

Our Staff

Meet Our Pastors & Staff

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Jim Mindling

Lead Pastor
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Mark Geissbauer

Executive Pastor
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John Jacobs

Campus Pastor - Vermilion
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Jason Russ

Campus Pastor - Lorain & Global Outreach Care
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Pedro "Tito" Rosario

Campus Pastor - Dominican Republic
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Clay Wright

CAMPUS PASTOR - ELYRIA
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Charlie miller

Campus pastor - avon lake
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Bob Wickens

Adult Ministries Pastor
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Kara Brewer

Women's Ministry Director & Operations Coordinator
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Pierce Brown

Worship & Online Ministry Pastor - Elyria
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Tony Reyes

Worship DIRECTOR - Lorain
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Gabe Sigmon

Worship & Student Ministry Director - Avon Lake
EMAIL
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Neil Goetze

Worship DIRECTOR - Vermilion
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Brian Work

Family Ministry Pastor - Vermilion
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Amanda Humphrey

Kids Ministry Director - Elyria
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Joe Gonzales

Family Ministry DIRECTOR - Lorain
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Lois Pozega

 Generation House Executive Director
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Jonathan Abdul

Finances & Global Outreach Operations Director
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Tim Gamble

IT & Multimedia director
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John Klaves

Communications Coordinator
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Joy Wright

Communications coordinator
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Teresa Hamilton

Church Database Coordinator
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Jo Ann Keesor

Assistant to Lead Pastor & Elyria Campus
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Myra Jones

Assistant to Executive Pastor
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Jen Bowman

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT - LORAIN
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Hanan Otero

Family & Sports Ministry Intern - Lorain
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Jeff Eschweiler

FACILITIES director
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Brad Withrow

Facilities Team
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Ben Breidinger

Facilities Team

Church Life Board

Alan Schafer (Chairman)
Andrew Holland
Deanna Melendez
Jim Mindling
Jo Ann Keesor
Mark Geissbauer
Paul Doseck
Richard Hardesty

Church Stewardship Board

Markos Athineos (Chairman)
Annie Deckerd
Jayson Bendik
Jonathan Abdul
Kyle Burris
Mark Geissbauer
Rita Klein
Tom Eschweiler

Missions Council

Jason & Ginger Russ
Jonathan Abdul
Jack Bebbington
Joe & Barb Hanigosky
Rob Wolf

Locations

We are one church, multiple locations.

Elyria Campus


Sundays at 9AM & 11AM

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Avon Lake Campus


Sundays at 9AM

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Vermilion Campus


Sundays at 9AM & 11AM

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Lorain Campus


Sundays at 9AM & 11AM

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Dominican Republic


Sundays at 9AM & 11AM

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Online Campus


Sundays at 9AM & 11AM

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