WHY PLANT A VERITAS CAMPUS IN TRI-VILLAGE?//
We exist to see the gospel transform Columbus, not as an ambiguous culture-less city, but by missionally reaching into each unique neighborhood, community and demographic. Therefore our vision for planting campuses is that they would not merely be new locations to make room for more people, but missional steps toward reaching demographics that we are not able to reach effectively from our current location. At the same time we do not want to unwisely plant a campus where we have no leaders or members to take the charge and contextualize the gospel and Veritas’ identity to reach a new community.
View Larger Map
The Tri-Village area of Columbus is a location that is geographically close, demographically different, and yet is home to many Veritas leaders and members. Outside of the Short North, the locales that make up the Tri-Village area (Upper Arlington, Marble Cliff and Grandview) are home to the highest concentration of Veritas community groups and attenders in the Columbus metro area.
THE DETAILS//
We also see that of all the neighborhoods we could consider as our first campus plant, the 4 things that are necessary to plant a campus are most abundantly present in the Tri-Village area.
1. Leadership – Community Life Pastor Brad Snyder will be sent out to be the Campus Pastor for the Tri-Village Veritas Campus, joining many Veritas members who live and work in the area.
2. People – Roughly 40 – 60 Veritas members and attenders live in the Upper Arlington, Marble Cliff and Grandview areas.
3. Funding - The Pioneer team will be giving above and beyond a basic tithe to fund the campus and we will be raising additional funding and support over the course of the year to cover start-up costs.
4. Space - With many visible schools with auditoriums and classrooms, we anticipate gathering in an Upper Arlington school during at least the initial phase of the plant.
The Upper Arlington/Grandview area is home to approximately 50,000 people, many of whom are government, academic and business leaders. It is a strategic region to reach to transform the city and is in need of more gospel-centered churches. Upper Arlington is an area that is uniquely different from the Short North and we are committed to learning the neighborhood, the people, their culture, idols, hopes and fears.
//Our identity in Jesus through the gospel and our rhythms of living out our faith through worship, community, service, learning and missions will not change, but will be contextualized to specifically confront the idols and transform the people of Upper Arlington, Marble Cliff and Grandview.
