New Venture Christian Church
(Video of New Venture missionizing)
New Venture Christian Church (NVCC) was established in October 3, 2004, by Pastor Steven Thornton and his wife Sharon. Pastor Thornton states that he launched New Venture Christian Church for the express purpose of helping as many people in the Richmond area as possible get connected with God and discover a growing adventure with Him. New Venture Christian Church was established with the help of Virginia Vision, a local church planting organization. New Venture is a contemporary non-denominational church with a focus on helping to build the community in which it is located.
The vision of the church is “to become the authentic presence of Christ in this community: illuminating and creating thirst through love, service and sincerity.” The mission statement is “Helping people discover a growing adventure with God.” The church bases itself on the notion that church can be fun, exciting, and an adventure. Its goal is to be “Progressive in approach and style; Conservative in beliefs and doctrine; Fun without a bunch of fluff; Relaxed yet addressing real issues; Casual while always challenging.” New Venture Christian Church is also known as the “relaxed church.” Dress is casual, and the sermons are more conversation than preaching. There is a band that leads worship each Sunday. New Venture Christian Church does not have long prayer times, reading of announcements, altar calls, or passing of the offering plate. The children participate in their own worship and grade-based classes.
New Venture Christian Church holds services every Sunday morning at Tomahawk Creek Middle School. Small groups meet on some evenings during the week in members’ homes, and there is a teen night. On average, 200 people attend a Sunday morning service. The congregation is quite diverse. There is a substantial contingent of children and teens, but the largest age group of members is between the ages of 30 and 45. There are two types of small groups, the C-group and G-group. C-groups are the connect groups; designed to connect people with others who face the same challenges in life that they do. G-groups are the growth groups; these are designed to provide a setting for personal spiritual growth and accountability
New Venture Christian Church supports many outreach programs and is constantly looking for ways to serve the community and meet its needs. The church regards these not so much as programs as a direction and purpose of the church. Recent examples of members’ activities would include 30-40 teens and parents doing a yard makeover at a woman’s house, purchasing and delivering a microwave oven to an elderly shut-in, 35 members organizing an inside and outside makeover on a persons’ house in the city, the congregation supporting a member to be trained as a volunteer at the Richmond Pregnancy Recourse Center, 35 people gathering clothes and preparing huge pots of soup to feed the homeless in Monroe Park, two members developing plans to assist those who might be facing foreclosure.
New Venture Christian Church is a technologically sophisticated church. There are video presentations during service, when appropriate, and there is a user friendly website. On the website visitors can find audios of the each sermon and online videos. A number of church leaders, including the pastor, have personal blogs. The website is a place where there is complete information about the church and current events.
New Venture Christian Church
PO Box 73311
Richmond, VA 23235
(804)-378-7727
Sources:
New Venture Christian Church website
New Venture Christian Church pastor
Profile prepared by Jaclyn Allen
March, 2009