To bring the Kingdom of God to Toledo through word and action so that our city may be transformed by the love of God and the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Structure, Practice, and Purpose
In June of 2007, our lead pastor, Tom Schaeffer, headed to Sheffield, England to learn about St. Thomas' Church in Sheffield. St. Tom's is a dynamic ministry having an incredible impact on its city through a structure called "clustering" and a practice called "lifeshapes". Tom was led to this ministry by church consultant, Kent Hunter, who saw similarities in the development of Threshold and St. Tom’s in the U. K. That trip began a growing relationship between Tom Schaeffer and the leadership in Sheffield, as well as a more focused vision for Threshold.
The result was the development of “Call-Outs” at Threshold. Call-Outs are mid-sized groups called together by a common vision to serve God and others outside the church. These “Call-Outs” are the most important expression of what it means to be the church for Threshold. Through Call-Outs we seek to be the missionaries and ministers that God has called us to be, taking the Kingdom of God to people, rather than expecting people to come to the Kingdom of God. This represents one of the most important and defining values of Threshold.
Many churches, in fact, most, operate on a principle of attraction. The goal is to make church attractive or, in other words, to get people to come to church. Some churches have utilized this model with great success and have done great work for God. However, Threshold has decided to walk a different path. Rather than the church of attraction, we have committed ourselves to be the incarnational church. “Incarnation” is a word that means “in the flesh.” What it means to be the incarnational church is to bring the good news of the Kingdom of God “in the flesh” to the world. Our hope is to bring the Church to people through acts of love, mercy, and justice rather than people to a church. We believe if we go to the world, God will draw people to Himself.
As for purpose, the 10th chapter of the book of Acts has formed our vision from the very first days of our ministry.
The story of Acts 10 is the story of Peter and Cornelius. Peter is one of the leaders of the early Church shortly after Jesus resurrection and ascension. At this time, the Church consists mostly of people still entrenched in the "old ways" of doing things. Gentiles (or non-Jews) were not really welcome in the Church at that time. They were tolerated if, and only if, they adhered to all the Jewish traditions and practices of those who made up the Church. Peter was among those stuck in the "old ways."
But, God had a plan and his plan included all those outside the church. In a vision, he revealed this plan to Peter and sent him to the house of Cornelius, a gentile who was seeking a relationship with God. There is a climactic moment when Peter is standing at the door of Cornelius' home about to cross that threshold into a whole new way of doing ministry. Then and there he experiences a clarity of God's vision that has forever had an impact on the Church. Peter says, "It's God's own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you're from—if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open."
The Kingdom of God is open to anyone and everyone who wants to enter! That's God's good news and our message at Threshold.
Structure, Practice, and Purpose
