The idea of planting Gospel-centered, missional churches in Columbus and throughout Ohio was placed as a seed in Scott Burns’ heart in 2001.  Scott’s wife, Melissa, is from the Columbus area and frequent family visits raised Scott’s awareness for the need in Columbus.  This was heightened when two of Scott’s family members in Columbus became followers of Jesus and had a very hard time finding a Gospel-loving and thriving church in the city.  As time went by, God continued to bring this need back into Scott and Melissa’s hearts and minds through various people and from different angles.  Over the years, they have committed this to much prayer and sought much council…only to have their desire to plant churches in Columbus continually affirmed.

Ken and Beth Flower first began serving with Scott and Melissa in 2003 at Northpoint Church in Corona, CA.  As they ministered together, they began to think and pray about what it would look like one day to plant a network of churches starting in Columbus and moving throughout Ohio.  God also increased Ken and Beth’s desire over the years and began to affirm these desires through people and events.

Through much prayer, the Burns and the Flowers decided independently that God was calling them to be a part of planting churches in Columbus.  They did not know exactly what this would look like or how this would happened, but they were committed to being obedient to God’s mission.  Although there were several times when this church-planting effort almost began, God’s timing never seemed to be in place and Scott and Ken continued to wait.  God was at work in ways they did not know and could not see to prepare their hearts, their families, and many other people to make this happen.

Rewind two years…Independent of both Scott and Ken, the Evangelical Free Church of America began praying and strategizing about planting EFCA churches in Columbus, Ohio.  Like Scott and Ken, they saw the huge need for more churches to join the effort of bringing Gospel-centered, missional communities into the city.  Although there were already similar and like-minded efforts already happening, they greatly desired to be a part of this mission.  In order to do this, the EFCA started ReachColumbus and strategically planned to make Columbus the site of both the National EFCA Youth Conference (Challenge) and the National EFCA Leadership Conference in the Summer of 2010.  They began to pray that God would raise up church planters for the city and were committed to using both the Challenge Conference and the Leadership Conference to help support these church planters in various and significant ways.  God first raised up a church-planting team, Jay O’Brien and Gabe deGarmeaux (Scarlet City Project), to plant the first church…starting in the Summer of 2010.  This was a huge answer to prayer, but the EFCA continued to pray that God would raise up two more church planters.

Through a series of connections in early Spring of 2010, Scott and Ken first learned about the EFCA’s ReachColumbus plan to help plant churches in Columbus.  As they connected with the EFCA church-planting leadership, it became evident that God had been working in many ways to prepare this day for the mission to Columbus.  After being affirmed by the EFCA, Scott and Ken became the second team that would join ReachColumbus and plant a church.  At the end of May, 2010, Scott and Ken were sent out by the EFCA and by their home church, Northpoint Church, as a church-planting team to Columbus, Ohio.  In January of 2011, the Burns and Flowers will settle into Columbus and begin the exciting work that God has been preparing for years.

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