Our Strategic Initiatives

What Are We Seeking to Accomplish @ Newsong?

AKA our dreams and hopes for our church (some call them strategic initiatives). Church is not a spectator sport. It’s a community of real people who have been changed by the grace of God. It is people who realize they can make a difference in the lives of many searching for hope, faith and love. At Newsong, we desire to be the church not only in word but in actions. We believe this generation of Church is uniquely postured to humbly change the global village one life at a time. These are the areas we are pursuing in the hope of transforming diverse communities all over the world:

Justice, Advocacy and Compassion For Those Who Are Unseen and Underresourced

Whether it’s poverty, abuse, natural disaster, racism, discrimination or classism, Jesus came to transform men, women and children by His love. Jesus calls us to humbly embrace those who are the least, the last and the lost of our society. Hence, Newsong is committed to addressing issues of education, emergency relief, employment, the arts, housing, medical care, legal advocacy and planting community and regional churches in areas that are underresourced both locally and globally. Currently, we are focused upon Central Santa Ana with the hopes of initiating similar projects and churches in Los Angeles and around the world.

New Churches Designed for Diverse Cultures

Newsong continues to grow at a rapid pace. Sooner or later, land in one location will limit reaching more people with the good news about Jesus. Sensing God leading us to think outside the box, our hope is to not let land be our limitation. We have planted churches and desire to plant new churches in world-class cities who comprise a mosaic of cultures.

Our strategy is to plant churches like Newsong customized to their community and then also launch a multisite Newsong, where we will be one church, one staff, one leadership team and one congregation but meeting in different locations. It’s a both/and to us. We need unique customized churches and also need multisites to meet the needs of our growing congregation in Southern California.

The strengths of the multisite movement are that it: 1) provides sites in closer proximity to our members who are driving longer distances every week; 2) allows for the small church to immediately have large church resources like staffing, music and teaching; 3) encourages greater participation in the life of the church; and 4) provides a better venue for regulars to bring their friends who may not be willing to consistently make the drive to church if it is too far away.

Resource Centers for Young, Emerging Leaders

Newsong has a unique culture of developing leaders that have been and will be sent out around the world. Our hope is that we can identify, mentor, develop and provide resources for young emerging leaders. Our first priority is our home community of leaders God has given us in Southern California. And, in the future, our hope is to extend this to individuals, groups and churches around the world. We will guide young leaders through conferences, mentoring, a Newsong internship program and resources (e.g., books, tapes). Currently, we have leadership conferences and leadership groups, both current leaders and future leaders, led by our pastoral staff.

Regional and Local Art Centers

Our hope is to be a creative center for the arts. During the Renaissance, the church was at the forefront of producing or catalyzing art that inspired and communicated the heart of the community. Theologically, we know that God is the First Artist. He is the author of creativity. If any place should be bursting with creative energy, it should be the church. Our dream is that Newsong will be known as a place for artists to get connected, grow and release their creative gifts to the world. This would be done through exhibitions, seminars, mentoring, festivals, cafés, media, recordings and concerts. Our hope is that we would be a center for children and adults to be developed, nurtured, provoked and encouraged in the arts.

Bottom Line: 3Cs and 3Gs

Our dream is that Newsong would provide a community where EVERY individual who becomes a part of our family is Growing spiritually in their relationship with Christ, Authentically Connected in a Small Group and Joyfully Giving Back to God and His world what He has first given them! In this way, our C3 values of Christ, Community and Cause will be practically lived out via these 3Gs known as Growth, Group and Giving.

Outside the Box-Our Ministries Locally and Globally

Newsong is committed to ministries that often are considered outside the box. While we may be a church that is in a middle-class neighborhood, our focus is on both people like us and people who are wonderfully different from us. Our strategic initiatives are both local and global. We are a “glocal” church!