The Next Hill - Project 485

OK, I know it would be best - even more strategic - to leave my last post about High Stakes stories up at the top of the blog. After all, we are pointing to this Sunday, High Stakes Commitment Sunday, as a huge day for Next Level.

But the fact is that I am just flat wired to take the next hill.

We've done about everything we can do for High Stakes - all that is left is to watch our people respond. And so my heart and mind are already turning to the next big hill.

One of the biggest hills any church in the United States - let alone Charlotte - has ever taken.

It is Project 485. Our staff spent all afternoon today going through the millions of details related to the launch of our Ballantyne Campus in the spring and talking about the implications for the future, and my head is spinning at the same time my heart is pounding.

Here is Project 485 in a nutshell:

A Next Level presence within a mile or two off of every exit of 485. Either a video campus (like Ballantyne) or a church plant.

Scenario One - Twenty campuses in ten years.
Scenario Two - Twenty campuses in five years.

The hill taker in me votes for Scenario Two.

Here is the deal. It is quite frankly not hard to grow a big church here in Charlotte.

There is enough cultural memory of church that people still are open to going. And there are tons of transplants at transitional moments in their lives, who are also open to church.

I've been on staff at megachurches; as have most of the guys on our staff. They are great and parts of megachurch life are fun.

But it is not enough. I want to leave a legacy that is different than just another big church. WAY bigger than big.

(And hear me clearly - we are not "capping growth"; we want to see the Matthews Campus pushing 3,000, which would close to max out our land).

What I want is to see the spiritual landscape of Charlotte transformed. And that will happen not by one "destination church" but by a community on mission with a vision and strategy to take a city.

We've heard God say this: Take 485 - the "spine" of Charlotte's growth and development...and I will give you the rest.

Now, not just NLC. It takes a lot of teammates and other churches to transform a city.

But I believe he has called NLC to pioneer the movement that will indeed lead to the taking of Charlotte - through multiplying multi-campuses. And not done one at a time, or every few years.

Done at an insanely aggressive pace...fueled by passion and vision.

See why High Stakes giving is all the more important?

Ready for the next hill?