My Who, What, Where and When??????

bio bullets

• Born & raised in Ft. Lauderdale
• Met my wife Christy Hindson at Liberty University
• Loved & lived student ministry for 10 years, primarily in Columbus, GA
• Led hundreds of students to Christ
• Went back to seminary & became a min. of ed. at a mega-church (Lord, help!)
• Planted our first church in north Atlanta 2002
• Grew to 400 in 4 years and led hundreds of people to Christ

       recent highlight: When we moved into our cul-de-sac in 2002, our neighbors were so mad that a “preacher” was moving in they threatened to line up and moon me. Five years later, every family on our street had accepted Christ and was serving in our church. current calling Within about three months, every one of those neighbors we led to Christ relocated. So, we started to ask the natural question—“God, who do you want us to invest our lives in next?” Christy and I are wired for personal, relational ministry. It’s very important to us to have our family intentionally engaged in reaching and discipling people around us. After a year of prayer and a series of defining moments, we knew God was calling us back to Columbus, Georgia. We believe God’s desire is to use our influence in Columbus from our student ministry days with our church planting experience in Atlanta to maximize our impact for His Kingdom. When we finish this incredibly valuable residency at Mountain Lake church and ChurchPlanters.com (highly recommend it), we will move to Columbus with a goal of launching a new church by January ’09. Columbus, GA stats The city of Columbus is the third largest city in Georgia, located 1 ½ hours southwest of the Atlanta airport. It is adjacent to Phenix City, Alabama, which doubles the potential for outreach and multi-site ministry. According to the 2007 demographic reports…

• Almost 300,000 people live in Columbus and its tri-county region.
• The population doubles to 600,000 if you include the Alabama counties and the entire Columbus Valley region .
• 86% of those people are unchurched.
• The majority of unchurched people are ages 11-39.

 new church plantAccording to the stats, the people in Columbus, GA not only need a new church—they need a new kind of church. They need a church on a mission to reduce lostness. They need a church who will break down the barriers of traditional religion and connect with the younger generations. They need a church who will actively demonstrate grace and hope in the community. They need a church who will do whatever it takes to open the door for people who “don’t do church” to find Jesus Christ.  The Murphys are ready to lead this adventure in Columbus! Our dream is to raise up leaders and plant missional churches in our 16 surrounding counties. prayer & partnerships We can’t do this alone. We need you to pray for us and partner with us! Here’s how…

1. Sign up for the blog
2. Send us your email/address at jmurphy@mountainlakechurch.org
3. Join our team! (Columbus is a great place to live!)

 We’d love to hear from you!