What is Xenos?
By Dennis McCallum
Lead Pastor
In 1969 I was a lonely young Christian trying to recover from several years of addiction and lawless living. Walking the streets of the university that fall, I often felt so depressed I was vulnerable to old temptations, including drugs and booze.
My brother, Bruce, had spent time in Pittsburgh with a group writing and publishing an underground newspaper called Liberation. He wanted to start something similar in Columbus. I thought it sounded cool, but I was pretty negative on the idea because, as I reminded him often, “Newspapers cost money!”
He ignored my skepticism, and gathered together a group of eight people on a grassy hillside in Mansfield to pray about the idea. Several prayed in confident terms that if God wanted a paper, he was powerful enough to bring one into being. I couldn't argue with that logic, but I still didn't expect anything to happen. I didn't feel like making any more negative comments, and just wrote my article for issue one.
Bruce got me to go with him to a big printing company on the west side that we heard was owned by a Christian man. He refused to print our paper, but offered to loan us a huge, piano-sized printing press, which his men moved into our basement. We brought a kid over who had studied printing in high school. When he walked in, his face lit up. “That's the same press I learned on!” he exclaimed, and immediately set about readying it for our first run.
I won't explain here how we got paper and ink, but two weeks later, standing on High Street passing out a stack of Fish and talking to people, I had a revelatory moment. As I reflected on what had happened, I remembered how unbelieving my heart had been when I sat on the grassy slope with those people praying.
For the first time in my life, the sense broke in with awesome power that the living God was listening to us, and was moving people and events to grant what we asked. I realized he must want us to do this—that he was in this mission.
A wave of emotion passed over me so powerful it almost brought tears to my eyes. Entirely new vistas opened before me as I realized that if God was answering prayers, he probably was willing to do far more than we had asked so far.
I remembered how those believers stepped out as though God would answer, even before he did, and I've never forgotten that pattern.
During the years that followed, I saw God act many more times as we began holding our own Bible studies. These quickly attracted growing numbers of new Christians. Somehow, we had the idea that home Bible studies could multiply and expand in a wild-fire movement similar to that in the early church. First dozens, then scores, then hundreds joined in.
Even then, we had little inkling that one day, thousands would begin relationships with Christ and join us in this tiny movement. But one thing was clear right from the beginning: The whole thing was being orchestrated by God.
Everyone in our group had a strong inner sense that God was working, and therefore we were responsible to show up and do our part. Just like that realization hit me with The Fish, I again and again felt rocked by surprise as God would move heaven and earth to advance our fellowship.
the pattern is trusting God
Always the pattern has been the same: We had to move out in faith trusting that God would be there when the time came:
- when Gary and I gave up our business, even though the group had no budget or income;
- when we leased a warehouse we couldn't afford;
- when we gave $50,000 we didn't have to start an inner-city ministry;
- when we hired six full-time guys to organize the church, even though we were already in debt;
- when we signed a deal for 62 acres on a freeway exit;
- when we sent more than 40 missions workers out from a church with no missions budget.
growing and gaining ground for God
Many people don't realize our group has grown more in the past decade than in any previous one. After our big division, we were down to 2,200 people. Today, as we near 5,000 people, we are called on as never before to trust the same God who has moved so many times in the past is ready to answer our prayers again!
Many don't realize how successful our inner-city school is, with poor kids tripling their achievement scores.
Today, as we stand on the edge of a new phase of ministry, Xenos prepares to plant entire ministry spheres. The term “sphere” is based on 2 Cor. 10:13 (NASB), where Paul uses the term to refer to the entire group in Corinth including multiple house churches, centrally organized, probably with some kind of central meeting.
During the next few years, we pray that multiple clusters of house churches will be planted, both at our Main Campus, and in different areas of the city.
With the reorganization of our student ministries into three spheres, and the planting of a west-side and Sunday morning spheres, we will move from four to seven spheres, each averaging more than 700 people during the coming year.
After that, we anticipate more spheres will be planted each year. The new facility in the north campus area will open the possibility of planting adult as well as student spheres. Inner-city and east-side spheres will likely be planted as well.
Never have we stood at a more exciting crossroads than today. If our vision for sphere planting succeeds, we may see action in the future that goes far beyond anything we have seen so far!