This Sunday, as part of the From Regret to Redemption series, Will Oswald will be teaching on overcoming sexual struggles. Below is a list of resources for those who wish to learn more:

INTERNET ACCOUNTABILITY AND FILTERING:
x3watch.com
covenanteyes.com

ONLINE RESOURCES:
xxxchurch.com
http://mentorguide.familylife.com/the-mentor-guide/romance-and-sex/
http://markgungor.com/pages/resources

COUNSELING:
counseling@journeyteam.org
journey2recovery@journeyteam.org

Journey Church has had a vision for seeing families redeemed since before our church began. The church planting team of Journey Church desired to make a significant impact on families in our city. Over the course of the last seven years, that desire has only increased; as a result, our church has made a transformative impact on many families.

But we feel compelled to do more.

This dream of doing more is the third objective of Vision 2020—Redeem the Family. Vision 2020 was built to inspire, involve, and impact our church family in five specific ways:

1.) Launch a Journey Counseling Center

2.) Identify and train 1 marriage coach for every 100 worship attendees

3.) Dedicate 8 Sundays a year to family oriented themes

4.) Host/lead a yearly marriage conference

5.) See a 99% marriage success rate among the partners of Journey Church

We have been working towards these goals now for 15 months. What progress have we made so far?

In November 2014, we officially launched the Journey Counseling Center. To date, we have served more than 40 different individuals/families. Jeff Payne has conducted 185 counseling sessions, helping families in multiple areas. Jeff is identifying leaders to take ownership in six critical areas—1.) Pre-marriage, 2.) Marriage, 3.) Addiction, 4.) Parenting, 5.) Finance, and 6.) Life Coaching.

In addition, a new ministry, Journey 2 Recovery, launched this fall to serve those struggling with addictions.

Looking forward, we are planning a local marriage conference for the spring of 2016 to serve those in our community and church.

One goal that we are working hard towards achieving is a 99% marriage success rate among the partners of Journey Church. To accomplish this goal, we need to understand the level of health of the marriages in our church. Consequently, we are working on a measurement system. This metric will give us vital information to achieve this audacious goal of 99% marital success within our church family.

I hope these initiatives inspire you to get involved. We are looking for marriage coaches, point persons to lead segments of ministry, and resources to accomplish these objectives. Would you consider becoming a point person to help us accomplish the vision God has placed before us? Would you consider joining a team? Would you consider giving towards our Vision 2020 initiatives?

We at Journey are excited about Redeeming the Family. Will you join us?

by Will Oswald, Director of Multiplication

You may have noticed that Journey Church is fairly passionate about starting new churches!  At the beginning of Vision 20/20 in 2014, we decided that one of our major initiatives would be to plant new churches. Here is an update on our progress:

One of our goals was to plant 5 churches in 7 years.  At the beginning of 2015, we helped launch The Pines Church in the Knightsville area.  While launching the Pines Church, we were also preparing to send a team to launch a new campus of Journey Church in Goose Creek.  It is amazing to see that the Ladson campus has continued to grow in numbers even in the midst of launching a new church and a new campus!  

We have 4 more churches to plant by the year 2020.  By the end of 2015, we want to identify the location and the pastor of our next church plant.  We are also working on a more defined plan and process for how we are planting churches.

Another goal was to give away $250,000 to church planting by the year 2020.  As of now, we have given $60,753 to help plant new churches.  At this pace of giving (adjusting for the anticipated growth of Journey Church), we could surpass our goal and give close to $500,000 to church planting by the end of 2020.

We also had a goal to train 150 church planters each year.  With our church planter coaching center (The Cypress Project), we have seen 213 church planters and/or pastors trained in the last year in 6 cities and 2 foreign countries.  We are currently working on ways for The Cypress Project to be packaged in multiple formats and to be live-casted to other locations.  By the end of this year, we will also have the basic framework in place to launch an internship and residency program at Journey Church for church planters and other leaders.

Our last goal was to assist and encourage Charleston Southern University to develop a major in church planting.  Currently, CSU has a minor in church planting and we have helped them start 2 courses in church planting taught by 2 of our staff members.

So, you may ask the question:  why do we care so much about starting new churches?  Why not invest the money and time into simply growing Journey Church?

If we look back at the history of the church, the most effective and efficient way for the gospel of Jesus to spread is by planting new churches.  Also, the healthiest churches are usually multiplying ones.  New churches seem to reach new people from the harvest at a much higher rate than existing churches.  

When we look at the greater Charleston area, we also recognize that it is one of the fastest growing areas in the U.S.  It is predicted that we will need approximately 100 new churches in the new 10 years just to keep up with the growth in the Charleston area.  


The most important reason we need to plant new churches is because every man, woman, and child needs to clearly hear and see the gospel of Jesus. 

It is not about Journey Church; it is about the kingdom of God.  We will continue to selflessly and courageously send people and money to start new churches!  Thank you for your investment in Vision 2020 and your investment in God's kingdom!