Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Home Sweet Home


Thank you all for your prayers over the past couple of weeks and months in regards to our home search.
I am very excited to be able to say we just got keys to a little home in Austin this afternoon. We will be leasing a little 3 bedroom house for the next 12 to 15 months. The kids are excited to finally have a place they will be able to call home for a while. It is small but very cozy, old but in a classy sort of way, and it even includes a good sized back yard for the kids long awaited dog (more on that later).

The best part is its location. The house is located in the very heart of Austin in the Rosedale neighborhood only a half a mile from our target point at Lamar and West 45th street in Central Austin. It is within walking distance to a great bakery, several cool coffee shops and an amazing brew house called the Drought Horse (oops - I guess my Germanness just came out...)!
Andrea, the kids and I have been praying for a long time about being in the city. Until now we just couldn't find a place that we either could afford or that could accommodate our large family. So we were looking in the suburbs, locating huge, brand new, wonderful homes. Did I mention they were cheap? Well every time we looked at these amazing houses we came back to the same conclusion: "We have got to be in the city!" God has called us to the city and in order to start a church in the heart of Austin we have got to be a part of the city's life; live in it, breathe it's air, rub shoulders with the people that live there, play at the same parks, eat at the same places, shop in the same stores, and develop a love for the place like one can only have for his home.
SO, here it goes...

Thursday, March 6, 2008

OPEN LETTER

Dear Friends of THE CITY community church –

We live in an era that has been described by sociologists as a Creative Revolution. Much like the industrial revolution, of the early 1900’s the late 1990’s and the early part of the 21st Century, can be described as an era of revolution. The industrial revolution marked a move to the cities as technology and factory labor drew masses to the urban centers of the world, resulting in overcrowding, poverty, crime, and other so called urban problems. Those who could afford it fled the cities and created the modern phenomenon of suburban life along with soccer moms and mini-vans.
We are currently encountering a return to the city and what sociologist Richard Florida calls the “Rise of the Creative Class”. More and more people are active in the creative occupations, and we are not only speaking of artists, musicians and entertainers, but also doctors, lawyers, software engineers, etc. Those creative people tend to gather in large urban areas that are conducive to creativity and change, bringing along with their creativity, innovation that impacts society and ultimately creates culture. These creative centers of innovators and culture shapers include cities like San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC/Baltimore, Raleigh North Carolina with its Triangle Research Park, Portland and Austin.
As a matter of fact, Austin, which was recently ranked by Forbes as the fastest growing metro area in the United States, has overtaken San Francisco as the most creative city in America. Here centers of government (Austin is the Capital of Texas), entertainment (Austin is nicknamed the live-music capital of the world and is second only to LA/Hollywood in movie making), High Tech (Dell Computers, Samsung, and various software companies are located in Austin as well as major gaming companies such as EA games etc.), and education (the University of Texas at Austin has nearly 60,000 students) dominate the sociological landscape and give rise to tremendous creativity and innovation.
We are dreaming of impacting our culture by reaching the culture shapers of Austin with the Life-changing reality of Jesus Christ. This next generation of leaders and influencers are our primary target group.
In order to accomplish this with the very limited funds of a startup venture we are coming to you to ask you to partner with us for the sake of the kingdom of God here in Austin.
Robby Forsythe a talented musician and seasoned pastor has given up his secure well-paid pastoral position with full benefits and the security and prestige of a multi-thousand person congregation in Southern California in order to help us accomplish this mission in Austin, Texas. He is working various positions in the marketplace here in the city, but to make the most of his abilities and time for the sake of this church-startup we would like to raise his salary and insurance through tax-deductible donations from individuals like you.
Would you pray about partnering with us, please? You can pledge a monthly amount, or send a one-time gift. No amount is too small (or too large ;-)) Send your tax-deductible gift to HCBC c/o Matthias Haeusel at 12124 RR 620 N, Austin, TX 78750. Please make checks out to THE CITY community church, with the words ROBBY FORSYTHE in the tag-line.

Thank you for partnering with us for the Gospel of Christ!


Matthias P. Haeusel
Senior Pastor
THE CITY community church

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Financial Support

WOW!
There are a number of you who have been financially supporting us anonymously - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
This is huge to us and helps us do what we need to accomplish in Austin.
I am deeply appreciative for your partnership in the Gospel!

THANK YOU

Hey everybody -
thank you so much to everybody who is praying for us. This is quite an adventure we are on here in Austin and we are quite aware that we need your prayers to make it through.
We have been preoccupied with gathering a CORE team, meeting new people who are far from Jesus, planning strategically how this church is going to operate and function, where to meet and not least importantly where to put down our heads at night.
In all this I am more and more aware that what we are trying to do is going to need as much prayer support as possible, because what we are trying to do is invade the territory of the enemy of God! I am comforted that Jesus says "I will build my church and the gates of hell will not be able to stand against it..." But I realize more than ever that we are in the middle of a spiritual battle. I am not trying to be mystical here or see a demon in every bush but there is very much a spiritual reality to what we are trying to accomplish, and for that I would love your prayer support!