A City on the Grow
Historic San Antonio is now the eighth largest city in the United States. Over the last decade San Antonio has seen its population swell over 14% to 1.1 million. When the metropolitan area is added, the population exceeds 1.5 million. Long known for the Alamo and the Riverwalk, San Antonio has always been a tourist and vacation destination. However, with the last decade's growth San Antonio has also become a transitional city between two growing economic regions - one north and one south. To the north lie the high tech worlds of Dallas and Austin and to the south lies the growing trade market with Mexico's Monterrey. These, combined together with the already rich and historic past make San Antonio a unique city and crossroads leading into the 21st century.
A Strategic Place
Our place is found in the neighborhoods "inside the Loop," that is inside Interstate 410, south along Highway 281 to downtown. Here lies a great mixture of people and places - including the urban-professional communities of Alamo Heights, Olmos Park and Terrell Hills; the historic district of Monte Vista; Trinity University and other culturally diverse neighborhoods. Rich in resources and people, this area is strategic to our vision. In a time when churches are leaving the city, our vision to serve and reach the city could not be more important.
A Gospel Need
San Antonio is a city with a rich spiritual heritage. However, for many the relevance of faith has lost touch with the realities of life. In the words of one resident, "San Antonio's greatest need is for people to connect with their faith." Whether God had become irrelevant or life has become too secular, San Antonio has what we may call a "Gospel need." As a new church in San Antonio, we long for people to be surprised by how penetrating the classic message of the Gospel is to their lives. The Gospel is not simply about sharing a message, doing better or being nicer, but about renovating the whole of our lives - giving us a new object of worship, new fuel for life and new purpose for the future. What kind of church would we have to be so that this would happen? This is the question that makes our dream come alive!