For the past 2000 years, the local church, when at its best, has stood out as a place where people – whether they worship God or not – could find help and hope. Early in the 4th Century in Caesarea, Syria, the Plague devastated the region, causing much of the city’s population to flee to the country. Yet many Christians stayed to nurse, and, if necessary, bury their fellow citizens – sometimes losing their lives in the process. Christians petitioned Caesar for more fair treatment of prisoners, eventually winning more humane practices, including separating male & female prisoners. The barbarity of the gladiator games came to an end as Christians spoke on behalf of the voiceless. Historically, Christians have offered help and hope.
Yet help and hope are waning in 21 Century North America. We, at Mission Alive, want to change that. Mission Alive brings 20+/- years of experience starting new, innovative churches that exist for the sake of their community. Our society needs more communities of help and hope – especially among those who are overlooked and underserved.
Late in 2022, the Mission Alive board of directors and team finalized an aggressive 5-year strategic plan. We believe God wants us to grow Mission Alive to start 10 new IFCs yearly. IFC is an acronym for Innovative Faith Community. The term ‘church’ simply does not work anymore. It is too closely associated with either a building or the specific activities that happen during a worship gathering - and ‘church’ is so much more! For those reasons, Mission Alive has started using Innovative Faith Community to describe what we train leaders toward and what our leaders start. Already in 2023, we are well on our way with 5 potential projects in our development pipeline
In addition, we have developed partnerships with 3eRestoration, a Christian Community Development Agency, and Flourishing Leaders, a ministry to provide spiritual care for our IFC leaders.
To understand more about our unique mission, check out the videos on the Mission Alive homepage. If you want to stay aware of what God is doing through Mission Alive, register to receive updates by filling out this interest form. Or, if you want to speak with someone on the Mission Alive team, you can reach us by email: contact@missionalive.org.
God is up to some amazing things through Mission Alive Innovative Faith Communities! Come join us.
Tod Vogt, serves as the Executive Director of Mission Alive in Dallas, TX. Prior to working as Mission Alive’s Executive Director, he served as our Director of Equipping. Tod joined the Mission Alive team in 2007 after several years in local church ministry. Tod began his full-time ministry as a church planting missionary among the Fon people of Benin, West Africa.