Epicenter Info Meeting

Tonight we held our first volunteer info meeting in the Student Life Center. About 35 people came out to hear Aaron cast the vision for what Epicenter will be and how it will all work. During this initial phase, Epicenter will be entirely run by volunteers. At the end, we split into several groups based on where people were interested in serving. The response was very encouraging!

Here are the areas where we need volunteers:
1. Set-up/Clean-up - we will have to move chairs back and forth from the main sanctuary each weeek.
2. Greeters - people to make newcomers feel welcome and guide people with children to the nursery.
3. Tech crew - running sound, video, and lighting during the service.
4. Shockwave - volunteers for the children's ministry program that will happen during Epicenter.
5. Band members
6. Breakout group facilitators - people who will facilitate discussions and encourage community during the small group time.
7. Publicity - print and web promotion

If you missed the meeting and are interested in helping in any of the above areas, email aaron@sugarloaf.org for more information.

Introduction Video from Preview Service

In this video, Aaron gives a brief explanation of what epicenter is all about followed by several ways to get involved.


Epicenter Introduction Video from Jake Sumner on Vimeo.

Preview Service Recap

Well, today was the preview service for epicenter - the new service our church will be starting in January targeted at 18-30 somethings. This is a demographic that is currently a very small minority in our church. We have a tremendous kids ministry, a vibrant youth ministry, and a solid core of middle-age adults. Unfortunately, we are missing those college, post-college and young families in our community. We hope to change all that with the addition of epicenter to our weekly schedule of events. There are three main components of this new service:

• experiential worship

Jake and Hannah Sumner will be in charge of designing engaging worship experiences each week. We'll have the help of a worship band comprised of musicians from the existing adult worship teams (many thanks to Larry, Harrison and Kendra for working all the details out on this!) and hopefully some new musicians that will be attracted to this service.

• biblical teaching

Aaron Young will be the teacher each week and will focus on biblical messages that concentrate on biblical books or themes as opposed to topical teaching. Nothing against topical teaching but we are specifically focusing on a target audience that wants to grow deeper in their understanding and experience of God. We believe in-depth biblical teaching is the best way to achieve this goal.

• intentional community

Each meeting will end with the entire group being broken down into smaller life-stage groups - college/career, post-college singles, young married (w/o kids), young married (w/kids) and adults. There will be a facilitator for each life-stage group and several assistant facilitators in case the groups are still large, they can still be broken down into groups of 8-10. In these small groups, the focus will be on getting to know others at epicenter and form meaningful relationships. Initially this will be accomplished by times of discussion but our goal is for community to develop. Our hope is that members of the life-stage groups will continue building relationships outside the service by going to dinner together and experiencing community outside the context of the epicenter service. Right now we are currently praying and searching for the right people to facilitate these life-stage groups.

Although we are targeting the 18-30 demographic, we're putting some wide boundaries on this age bracket. We recognize that this alternative service will appeal to a variety of people who don't necessarily fit neatly into a predefined age group. If this approach to worship, teaching and community resonates with someone outside the target group, we want them to feel like they have a place to connect with our church.

We're excited about this new service. January 4th is the official launch date. It will be from 5:30-7:00 pm in the Student Life building. Check back for more updates and click below to join our facebook group. We hope to see you there!

Epicenter is coming soon!

Check back often for the latest updates.