Hey Church!

Pastor Bronson here. These past 20 months together have just been incredible. It has been a remarkable season of grace. We have seen God moving by His Spirit in a significant way among us, and it is the joy of our lives to be your pastors. 

We have seen people who have walked with Jesus for decades growing and deepening, while at the same time it seems the Lord is “adding to our number daily”. We have been bursting at the seams with people seeking to follow after Jesus together. 

In the midst of all this, totally unexpectedly, God brought us into a relationship with Beechwold Christian Church. For a bit of context, Beechwold Christian Church (founded in 1953) planted Westerville Christian Church in 1968. What we thought would simply be a friendship among two churches with shared history has become something much more. And we have come to see that this is deeply tied to the vision God has given us as a community: Following after Jesus together and contending for awakening in our city. 

Although we knew we were called to contend for awakening, to be transparent we weren’t entirely sure what form it would take. Perhaps a revived passion for prayer in the “Big C Church” — we are still believing for that! Perhaps a move of God in the next generation — we are seeing the first fruits of that! But what God has brought to us has been a wonderful surprise: Contending for awakening by revitalizing a beautiful church in another part of our city. 

As we started with Beechwold, we thought, perhaps we can just send worship team members and help coach on the leadership side, But over time it became clear: God has called our two churches to come together as one united church family. 

This week, you as the congregation affirmed the decision of the Elders to move forward together under a united church name: ChristChurch.

This is a beautiful decision. Our name, our practices, and our aim are now aligned: to see God’s “Kingdom come” in Westerville, Beechwold, Columbus, and beyond “as it is in heaven”.

Practically speaking, the local expression of the church will continue to carry the name of the city they are in. 

In Westerville, the church will be known as: ChristChurch Westerville. 

In Beechwold, the church will be known as: ChristChurch Beechwold. 

And the parent name for the growing organization will be ChristChurch Columbus to represent the reach across our beautiful city. 

To be transparent, this has been a decision we have greatly wrestled with. We do not want to lose the great heritage and history of our two churches. We cannot lose it. But something occurred to me the past few weeks… we have never been a brand, we have always been a people. Our church's beautiful reputation is built on what Christ himself said it should be: You will be known by how you love. 

We will continue that heritage, as we move forward, taking the ground that God is giving us, for the King and for the Kingdom.

We will be rolling out our new visual identity starting on June 7th, and will slowly update our physical spaces and digital spaces to match through the summer. And we will bring our updated legal documents before you in July. 

We are truly in wonderful days, Church Family! I can’t wait to see all that God has in store for us in the coming days, months, and years.

Bronson Duke
Senior Pastor