About

The name, “Poiema” comes from the original Greek Paul uses for the word “masterpiece” in Ephesians 2:10. In its most basic form, it means “something made” and gives us English words such as poem and poetry. Paul uses this word to teach that each of us is uniquely created by God with a specific intent and purpose.

For us, the name, Poiema, describes a community of discovery. We believe as God’s masterpiece you have beauty. You have value. You have a reason for your being. Our desire is to walk with one another as we learn our unique worth as God’s created.

We imagine a church:

Where every individual is awakened and activated to their masterpiece calling

Where every microchurch brings about gospel saturation to every street, neighborhood, or network it is connected to

Where the love of Christ permeates every friendship, marriage, and family

Where those wounded by past church experiences find healing and care in a healthy church family.

Where every skeptic is blessed and compelled by how well they are treated and how well we treat each other.

Where the next generation is surrounded by spiritual role models and mentors who will encourage, empower, and equip them to find their own faithful expression of a life with Jesus.

Where the grace of Jesus transcends differences in race, culture, socio-economics, and politics.

A few years ago God brought together several families looking to find a fresh expression of their faith. Some of us had grown weary of the Sunday worship gatherings, Bible studies, life groups, fellowships, and programs of our church experiences. Others had grown concerned with how faith and church have increasingly become less relevant in our culture. Many of us have witnessed friends and loved ones wounded by their faith communities and generations lost because the Gospel of Jesus was undermined by a story of pain, betrayal, or hypocrisy. Yet through it all, God brought us together in hope that the stories of our faith journey’s past will not be the stories of our faith journey’s future.

While we still believe God is at work in the local church, we also know God’s kingdom is generously large with room for new ways of living out our faith within the Body of Christ. When we looked at our communities, we recognized the family, friends, and neighbors who might be skeptical of an invitation to church on Sunday were less threatened when invited into our living rooms, backyards, and kitchen tables. The lack of overlap between faith and the rhythm of everyday life has always been an unsettling reality for us. For this reason, we’ve intentionally taken the time to listen and learn how the Gospel immerses itself in our lives and relationships the other six days of the week. The process has been life-giving, and the result has been a refreshing take on faith, mission, and church.

Poiema is a collective of microchurches whose dream is to walk alongside the churchless as the Gospel saturates the everyday stuff of life. We long to see faith and discipleship not confined to a particular time or place, but integrated into our living rooms, workplaces, classrooms, and neighborhoods. Our hope is for those who would never set foot inside the walls of a church building to still see that God loves them, has plans for them, and their reason for being is not a mistake.

We believe now is the time to launch a Gospel movement that invites people first and foremost into life together! We invite your family to get to know our family. Together, we can awaken our city to the divine beauty God always intended for life to have.

JESUS

Jesus’s life and ministry is our starting point. We desire to be a people who grow in likeness to His character, His thoughts, and His actions. Life with Jesus is simply better and we long to worship Him in all areas of life. Everything we understand about life, church, and ministry flows out of our understanding of who Jesus is and what He has done.

(John 1:1-5, 13:15, 14:6-7; Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:1-2; Philippians 2:1-11; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:3, 12:2)

STORY

God calls us to fully immerse and enjoy ourselves in his story, the Gospel. We are also called to invite others to explore and enjoy His great story. One way we do this is through the listening and telling of our stories to one another. Everyone has a beautifully and intentionally written story, worthy of being heard and known. We experience growth through the intersection of our own story and God’s story.

(Genesis 1; John 1; Ephesians 2:10; Revelations 2:17)

MISSION

We are a sent people. The church cannot be the church until it is engaged in the mission for which God has uniquely called it to. Therefore, we seek to be a reflection of Jesus Christ and bring His narrative of hope and grace to the world through the distinct expressions of our microchurches. Additionally, we affirm Christ as the head of the Church and seek to join what He is already doing in our neighborhoods and city.

(Isaiah 58:6-8; Matthew 9:35-10:8, 28:18-20; Luke 4:18-21, 10:25-37; John 4:34-38; Acts 1:8; Romans 12:4-5, Ephesians 4:3-4)

DISCIPLESHIP

We aspire for all followers of Jesus to become fully formed disciples. Discipleship is a two-way street. We are not only called to be disciples, but disciple makers as well. God has uniquely gifted each of us for the building up of his body and the growth of His kingdom. We affirm the priesthood of all believers and work to equip each disciple to fulfill God’s calling on their life. We desire for every believer to develop the ability to guide others to Christ, make disciples, and lead microchurches.

(Matthew 28:18-20; John 13:34-35, 15:1-17; 1 Peter 2:4-5,9; Ephesians 4:11-17; Proverbs 27:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)

LIFE TOGETHER

We are committed to one another. We are created to be in relationship and are instructed to love each other. We believe God did not intend for us to be alone, but to work towards the growing of familial bonds through the sharing of life at every level in honest, safe, and loving friendship. Following God’s example of love and thoughtfulness to His people, we aim for every person both in and outside the family of God to be treated with care and respect.

(John 15:13, 17:20-23; Romans 12:9-13; 1 Peter 4:8-9; Hebrews 13:1-2)

SPIRIT DEPENDENT

We are empowered by the Holy Spirit in all of life. The Spirit is the one that changes hearts and transforms lives. He is our primary discipler and equipper. Therefore, the work of discipleship must be done in submission to and in partnership with Him. It is our aim to live in total dependence on the Holy Spirit by growing in a posture of asking Him for help, listening for His direction, and obeying what He tells us to do.

John 6:63; 14:15 - 20, 26; 15:4-5, 26; 16:7 - 15; 20:19 - 23; Acts 1:4-5; Romans 5:5; 8:5 - 17; 1 Corinthians 2:10 - 14; Galatians 5:16 - 26