2023 ANNUAL REPORT
1581 N HIGH STREET COLUMBUS, OH 43201
forcolumbus.org hello@forcolumbus.org
TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter From the Executive Director..................4 History & Identity.........................................................5 Strategy & Impact......................................................8 Stats & Financial Data.............................................12 Future..................................................................................13 Board & Staff..................................................................14
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LETTER FROM THE
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Not a day goes by without hearing this sentiment: “God is doing incredibly unique, amazing work in Columbus right now!” Pastors, marketplace leaders, and nonprofit directors are all feeling it right now because we are starting to see the beginnings of a true gospel movement. After decades of gospel work, we are seeing the fruit, and we are just getting started.
“In Columbus as it is in heaven” Right now in Central Ohio, we are witnessing the fastest numerical shift in religious affiliation from Christian to “religious nones” while, at the same time, we are facing explosive growth in population, economic destabilization, and underutilized resources. Underneath these incredible cultural shifts comes the greatest missiological opportunity of our lifetime. We believe that God has been orchestrating a gospel-rich, unified, city-wide network before our eyes, bringing together congregations, specialty ministries, and marketplace leaders of different races, denominations, and languages to embody the good news as one. For Columbus, it is more than an organizational experiment but a new wineskin to carry out God's vision to “unify the Church of Columbus to be for the City of Columbus.” Throughout 2023, our board, staff, and leaders have been laboring to get the right people in the right rooms through our Leaders Summit, Concert of Prayer, Mission Increase Workshops, and the over 33 networks throughout Central Ohio. We’ve sought to bring greater infrastructure and tools to network leaders, pastors, and ministry leaders on how they can unleash their collective calling to make a tangible impact. We’ve seen new churches, schools, and nonprofits started with a fuller vision of the Kingdom of God in Columbus. The past 30 years have set the stage for the next 30, and we want to invite you to join thousands of partners praying for a mighty move of God, getting involved, and investing in the future to create strength and sustainability. Though this report is a mere snapshot of the endless grace of God upon us, we are praying that you read it as an act of worship to Jesus Christ, thanking God for His abundant grace that we get to serve Him in such a time as this. —Nick Nye
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THE JOURNEY TO NOW we stand on the
shoulders of giants Our history can be traced back to “The Great Awakening in Columbus, Ohio in 1895.” However, it was in the 1990s that our leaders took significant steps towards uniting as one city Church, a vision solidified by the gatherings led by Billy Graham. Fast forward to 2023, and For Columbus proudly stands on the shoulders of spiritual giants whose prayers and passions have driven us to achieve more together than any individual ministry could accomplish alone.
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WE MOVE FORWARD AS THE
CHURCH OF OUR CITY vision mission theory of change
To unite the Church of Columbus to be for the City of Columbus
To accelerate gospel-saturated connection, collaboration, and catalytic ministry for personal, Church, and city renewal
“We believe if we can get the right leaders, into the right rooms, to have the right conversations, we can create an unprecedented impact in our city!“ —Nick Nye
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2023 BY THE NUMBERS 700+
350+
attended an event
leaders representing
250+
300+
pastors across
250+
non-profits engaged
400+
congregations collaborating
hours per month of prayer for Columbus
200+
workplace leaders involved
20+
city network connections nationally including
9 in Ohio
33 active networks including 8 new
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OUR STRATEGIES unify Leaders Summit — “Make Us One” Christian leaders gather from across congregation, non-profit, and workplace sectors to celebrate our union with Christ and cultivate our collective impact.
Concert of Prayer Now 10 years strong, at this annual event hundreds of Christians from various denominations, languages, and backgrounds come together to pray for our city and rally a 24/7 prayer movement.
inspire forcolumbus.org We’ve worked to build a more impactful website to inspire collaboration and communicate events, networks, prayer, and more.
Collaboration Stories Watch, listen, and learn about how one network started a school, another planted new churches, and how we are fostering collaboration across the city!
Discipleship Testimonies Discipleship is caught more than it’s taught! Watch the testimonies of leaders sharing their discipleship journey.
multiply Networks Making Impact We’ve built, partnered with, and equipped 33 networks around Columbus! Keep reading to see how our networks are multiplying impact throughout our city.
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NETWORKS What is a Network? A For Columbus network is a relationally-driven group of diverse Christian leaders who share a common commitment to saturate Columbus with the gospel, and co-create impact in a particular neighborhood, or within a defined cause.
We are building, partnering, and equipping...
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Lead Networks Prayer, Discipleship, Evangelism, Church Multiplication
Cause Networks Collaborating around a particular cause in our city
Neighborhood Networks Collaborating within a geographical neighborhood in our city
As a powerful and flexible organizing system that can span regions, organizations and silos of all kinds, impact networks underlie some of the most impressive and large-scale efforts to create change across the globe. —David Ehrlichman, Impact Networks
LEAD NETWORKS Columbus Discipleship Network The Columbus Discipleship Network strengthens and expands intentional discipleship in Columbus through inspiration, equipping, and community. 121 people from more than 70 churches and organizations joined us for our monthly lunch gatherings, an 80% increase from 2022! 31 pastors from 19 churches were involved in our Pastors Network, up 40% from 2022! 35 leaders from 22 local non-profit organizations joined us for our first disciplemaking cohort in partnership with Mission Increase.
Pray for Columbus Network For nearly a decade, Pray for Columbus has mobilized thousands to saturate our city in prayer. Standing on this foundation, we have expanded into several new initiatives in 2023. 24/7 Prayer Canopy launched to cover our city in prayer around the clock, including public gatherings, individual times, and fasting, with 400+ hours covered per month so far. Over 55 churches banded together for our annual Concert of Prayer in September. Monthly prayer breakfasts gained momentum and even received positive press on NBC News.
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HIGHLIGHTS
Hear how some of the city’s dynamic network leaders are seeing God work for the flourishing of Greater Columbus. “The For Columbus Church Planting Network exists to facilitate relationships that accelerate planting churches of new expressions for new people in new places. In the Spring of 2023 we met to pray and dream about what this network would look like. We had our 1st meeting this fall and will meet again before the end of the year. Bi-monthly meetings are planned through 2024, and we hope to provide key connections, training, and even a retreat for church planters- Lord willing.” —Pastor Josh Franks, First Alliance Church “The Delaware City Network is still in its infancy, but our goal is to bring unity to Christian leaders throughout the city of Delaware as a response to Jesus’s prayer in John 17. We believe that if we help Christian leaders develop meaningful relationships in our region, and become aware of each other’s unique callings and skillsets, we will be able to see God’s kingdom come, and His will be done in Delaware like never before.“ -Nathan Gordon, Delaware Dream Center
“I am a professor at Ohio State that loves Jesus and I’ve been feeling a burden to drive unity on campus- specifically unity between the different Christian student organizations, as well as among faculty and staff. So, we recently launched The Way Prayer Gathering that meets the first Friday of every month to bring together all these groups of people to unify around the word of God and around prayer. We’re two months in and we’ve seen some great momentum. [We can’t wait to] see what the Lord has for us!” —Prof. Andrew Piletz, Marketing Dept., OSU
“Reach Columbus serves two primary purposes. The first is to gather and network non-profits and individuals whose primary purpose is evangelistic ministry, and share best practices and encourage one another in that mission. In addition, we work together to provide resources and training to individuals, nonprofits, and churches through the curriculum we have developed, the Art of Evangelism, and through our shared website at reachcolumbus.org.” —Dave Stephens, 104.9 The River
“The Hope Centers Network is a Biblical learning network focused on supporting and resourcing ministry leaders providing Hope to their communities. This Hope takes the shape of job training, food security, ESL, leadership development and other types of resourcing … all saturated with the Gospel. Activities for this year have included quarterly meetings of encouragement and prayer as well as participation in Columbus Discipleship Network and Mission Increase trainings.” —Wally Martinson, Mission Increase, Central Ohio Director
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LET GENEROSITY INCREASE
FINANCIAL SUMMARY 2024 Proposed Budget
How We Are Funded Businesses & Nonprofits 9.40% Grants 1.63%
Churches 0.72%
Individuals 5.56%
Special Projects 6.3%
Administration 15.2%
Events 16.6%
Total: $1M Foundations 82.69%
Programming 24.4%
Personnel 37.5%
Make a 2024 Pledge Please pray about giving through For Columbus! You can make a pledge by utilizing a For Columbus Commitment Card to let us know when to expect your gift, or simply use the QR code to make an immediate gift online or via check!
forcolumbus.org/give
Committment Card
Give Online
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FUTURE FORWARD We are prayerfully building partnerships to launch several new ventures in 2024… One City Weekend is a three-day campaign designed to accelerate the unity of the city's Church, with the goal of empowering leaders, mobilizing prayer, and loving our city, all so that Columbus will witness and come to know Jesus. Check out onecityweekend.com!
We are building a digital platform for Greater Columbus that curates valuable data, highlights key realities, and tells stories to inspire the Church toward getting engaged though collective impact efforts!
Based on the model of Mission Increase, we want to host Hubs to gather the three vocational pillars of our movement to have focused and impactful events. We plan to launch a unique opportunity for pastors and for workplace leaders.
MEET OUR TEAM Staff Nick Nye
Executive Director
Rachel Smith
Shane Tucker
Director, Columbus Discipleship Network
Director of Networks
Ashley Chickerella
Ursula Kemp
Administrative Director
Director, Pray for Columbus
Board of Directors
Scott Mallory
Dwight Montgomery
Bishop Lafayette Scales
Jess Gatton
Chris Kelley
Highland Realty
NCF Ohio
Rhema Christian Center
Alpha USA
Common Ground
Advisors Wally Martinson Mission Increase
John Rue Chris Watkins
Dr. Wayne Goron
Don Wells
Dave Durell
COhatch
Fairfield Medical Center
Wells CPA
George Edward Durell Foundation
Built to Lead
WE ARE Columbus is the greatest city in which to live, work, and play. We have a clear vision to see every part of our city saturated with the gospel! Together, we are building a sustainable movement to unite the Church to be for the City.
We invite you to join in this gospel movement by praying and partnering with us today!
f o r c o l u m b u s .o r g
forcolumbus.org
1581 N HIGH STREET COLUMBUS, OH 43201
forcolumbus.org hello@forcolumbus.org
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
– JOHN 17:20-23