Our Leaders

Jim Pool

Lead Pastor

Nate Kimball

Executive Pastor

Rebecca Gezahegn

Childrens Pastor

Carl Dahmer

Worship and A/V Ministry

Josh Farlow-Wolgast

Welcome Ministry

Julia Doherty

Preschool Ministry

Andre Martin

Youth Leader

Michelle Burns

Youth Leader

Who We Are

Our vision is to be a community cultivating authentic disciples of Jesus - people who grow in loving God, loving others and living it out - with the effect that God's Kingdom comes on earth as it is now in the heavens. And we want to plant like-hearted churches that do the same.

In this picture, the colors are a little different and the lines don't all match up, but you can still clearly see it is Jesus. Our church is a lot like that. When we're together, you can see Jesus, even if the picture isn't perfect.

Our Story

In October, 2000, Jim and Megan Pool moved to Royal Oak from Evanston, Illinois to start a community of people that would seek and follow Jesus together. A team of 6 others gathered around them, from Evanston, Grand Rapids and metro Detroit. At the Evanston Vineyard, Jim and Meg had seen what God could do when a community of people passionately pursues Him, and they saw similar potential here in the Royal Oak area. Starting with three folks in October 2000, the church held their first monthly gathering in October 2001 and went to weekly Sunday gatherings in February 2002. The community moved into its present location in downtown Royal Oak in January 2007.

We love to introduce people to a living, loving and powerful God. We believe God is real, that He's alive, and not only can we know Him, we can be in relationship with Him (which is what He seems to really love). We also know God is loving and gracious. He isn't mad at us, nor does He hate us. We've experienced this love ourselves and love to share it. We also believe God is powerful. He is able to bring about real and lasting change in our lives, in our relationships and in our world. And He asks us to join with Him in the work. We've found that we most clearly see and encounter this God in Jesus and that the best way to get to know Him is in community. That's why we've started this church - to learn together - and why we really love Jesus. We believe Jesus is patient, not pushy, and so we try to be the same.

We believe that God reaches out to all people regardless of their background, age, sex, color or music-style. Since God made the world so diverse, His church must be also. Of course, the reputation of Jesus and the Church isn't all that great these days. Most people think of church as a place that wants their money and where they'll be made to feel guilty for how they lead their life. We try to be different. We want to be a community that welcomes anyone and everyone to come and seek God, regardless of their past experiences with Jesus or the Church. Jesus is able to meet people right where they're at and relate to them regardless of what they think of him. We try to be like Jesus.