A New Church Development of Mission Presbytery (PCUSA)

Cedar Park | Leander, TX (metro-Austin)

office: 512-775-5714
web: www.liveoak-church.org
email: info@liveoak-church.org
mail: PO box 701 Leander, TX 78646
contact: Caz Minter (pastor), 512-767-3506 cell, cazminter@gmail.com
the Name "LiveOak Church"

The Story - As Christians, we are a community identified by our story. This story starts with a tree -
God plants the tree of life in the center of the garden in Genesis 2. As humans, our brokenness also
involves a tree (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil). The cross (made from a tree) then stands
at the center of our hope. Finally, at the end of the book, in Rev. 22, we see that the tree of life, the
one from the beginning, is still there. Now it is in the middle of the New City (the world redeemed by
God, or the kingdom of God). If we follow the trees in scripture, we tell the whole story.

a History - Even though this is a brand new church, it is rooted in a long story. In the 1850's some of
the earliest settlers in this community, the Mason family, helped plant a Presbyterian church. For years
the family gathered under some large Live Oak trees on their homestead for family celebrations and to
share meals together. These very trees are on the land that has been donated for our new church. The
Live Oak name reminds us of the deep roots we have in the faith.

Regional Scope - Live Oak trees are everywhere in this part of Texas. Local neighborhoods,
community organizations and regional companies incorporate them into their logos; while developers
build around them. Yet, the name Live Oak does not limit the church to one town (like Leander, or
Cedar Park). Instead, it is a name that communicates value to anyone in this part of metro-Austin.

a Positive Impression - A large part of our mission is to people who are not familiar with "church"
as well as people who left the church because of a negative or irrelevant experience. Because of this,
we needed to choose a name that everyone would be able to identify with. While I like the name 3rd
Ebeneezer Presbyterian Church, it might not have such a positive impression for everyone.
Mission

The church's mission was spelled out in Matthew 28 when Jesus said...

As you go, MAKE DISCIPLES

-baptizing them (inviting them in) in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit
-and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you

In Matthew 22, Jesus summarizes the commands - everything we should obey...

-Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.
-Love your neighbor as yourself.

This is not a classic, one-line mission statement like most organizations and businesses have, but it
clearly sets the course for what we are about as a church.

Vision

Imagine with us a church...

that exists for the community around it - focused on those outside its own doors. Call it externally
focused, call it missional; all we know is that the Good News is "good news" for everybody.

where grace is the foundation of the culture. Relationships can be authentic and healing can happen
when we realize that Jesus came for broken people like us.

where lives are transformed by the God who is at work in our world. Where worship and community are
approached knowing that God will use them to turn the world upside-down.

that knows God redeems families - no matter what form or shape they are in. (Here, parents are
equipped for ministry and children are valued as God's own daughters and sons.)

grounded in the mysteries of an ancient faith while seeking new and creative ways to live out the
journey in our lives today.

where everyone is called - to the arts, to relationships, to their work. (Ministry is something that we
live out in every area and corner of this city and the world.)
Values

a few statements that remind us what is important to us as a congregation...

• authentic living in the burbs

nobody has it all together, we are broken people in a broken world and that is who Jesus
came to save

• everyday justice
making an impact on the injustices of our world and community through simple, strategic
choices

• all truth is God's truth

worshipping God with our hearts and our MINDS - we look for God's truth in all areas of life,
the arts, media, and relationships. Addressing complex problems with simple solutions does
not honor our God-given ability to think carefully about our world.

• church happens in your neighborhood

being a Christian means being a good neighbor - living out our faith in our community.
LiveOak is a church that is focused on going outside it's own walls (esp. since we don't have
any walls).

• it's about who, not what

what really matters is relationship - our relationship with God is more important than
perfect beliefs, and our relationship with each other is more important than our programs

• join the story

we are always looking for ways to invite others into our community and into God's story -
especially people who would consider themselves, "un-churched" or "de-churched"

• Jesus changes everything

everything we do, our corporate worship, our service, our relationships is centered on what
Jesus has done on the cross - it transforms lives as well as communities
Ministry Design

Our intention is to develop a church aimed at young, professional, suburban families, which emphasizes
passionate and thoughtful faith, relevant music and teaching, as well as missional living. To effectively
meet this goal, some key values and structures must be established. We must have:
• an outstanding children's ministry
• a high-quality "contemporary" worship band
• thought-provoking / transformational worship services
• meaningful community service opportunities
• an excellent though portable church environment (with a welcoming atmosphere)
• a solid plan for communication and marketing

Pre-Launch
A launch team is being developed through relational networking to promote and
organize our structure. This launch team is beginning to meet regularly to work on
inviting friends to join, traditional marketing (fliers, ads, social networking web,
etc.), creating some community service events, gathering portable church equipment,
planning the children's ministry, as well as developing our core ministries plan.

This team will plan, promote and run 3 to 5 monthly, pre-view services to build
momentum and practice for our future weekly gatherings. In addition, this team will
work to promote the NCD through inviting neighbors, a few key community outreach
events, and some traditional marketing. Finally this team will work to connect
relationally which will form the foundation of our church community.

Launch
By our launch (fall of 2010) we will have developed seven core ministries and be
working to develop an 8th during the first year. Our goal is to launch with a full
Sunday morning service (including children's ministry, worship, & hospitality) as well
as an outreach program, an assimilation program and a community impact program.
Our essential ministry components are:
• hospitality / ushers / greeters
• facility setup
• children
• worship / sound
• assimilation
• marketing / evangelism / outreach
• community impact (serving community)
• discipleship / small groups (to be developed during the first year)
Timeline

In order to launch a new church, we must bring together:

a launch team of 30 to 40 people who can run the ministries of the church
enough community promotion to have critical mass in our weekly gatherings (usually around 80 adults)
full volunteer staffing for each core ministry
the funding to rent a facility and purchase necessary equipment for a portable church

Right now we have two options for our launch:

1. Easter Launch

We begin developing our launch team now, putting teams in place, organizing our core ministries, and
inviting other people to be part of the team. In December, January, February, and March we begin to
run pre-view services (probably monthly) to build momentum and help us "practice" running our Sunday
morning service. During these four months, our focus is on publicity, as well as a few key opportunities
to serve the community. Finally, at Easter, we launch with weekly services.

2. Fall Launch

The most popular time to launch a church is fall. With the beginning of a new school year, everyone
sets their schedule and signs-up for their commitments. Unlike Easter, you don't hit summer travel just
a few months after launching. However, building momentum before you begin is more difficult since it
is during the summer months. A similar schedule would follow. Pre-view services would begin in April
or May and run monthly through the summer. Again, this is a time of practice and momentum
building. Publicity and community service opportunities would happen during these months. Finally,
weekly services would launch at the end of August or beginning of September.
Next Steps

1. Decide - do you want to be part of launching this new church? It will be a commitment to serve
rather than just being served.

2. Fill out the online interest form on our website - www.liveoak-church.org (on the "get connected"
menu). This is just an online database that makes sure we have everyone's contact info.

3. Think about who you will invite. Who would be interested in being part of the launch team? Who
would be interested in coming to the church once we've launched.

4. What roles do I want to play? Am I a connector? An organizer? A get it done person?

5. Plan to be part of our next meeting: Sunday, Nov. 15th. We will begin to flesh out job descriptions
for everything we need to accomplish as a team.