New Website Coming Soon!

Our new home on the web is still being completed, but we’re glad you stopped by our temporary home!

If you were served by one of our team members and given a Love Columbia sticker, then we say, “Thanks!” for letting us serve you and for stopping by our site. We’re serious about loving Jesus and showing His love in tangible ways to our city.

On the right side of this page, you’ll see a list of pages that you can visit for information about Awaken Church and our launch date, location, etc.

Also, on the right side, is an entire page about the FREE, family movie night we are organizing this summer called MOVIES IN THE PARK. Be sure to check that out and spread the word!

As always, please contact us with any questions you may have about Awaken Church! We’re excited to be here in Columbia and eager to get to work to see this city transformed for the glory of God!

Love Columbia Week

Beginning THIS SUNDAY, July 12 and running through next Saturday, July 18, we are going to show the love of Jesus to our city through acts of service and blessing.

We call it…LOVE COLUMBIA WEEK!

On Sunday, we’re doing something a little different. We’re meeting at Polo Road at our regular time of 10:30a, but we won’t stay there. We’re going to kick off LOVE COLUMBIA WEEK the right way! I can’t wait to see how God will use our people on Sunday!

Teams of people will be delivering Starbucks coffee and Krispy Kreme doughnuts each morning next week to area businesses and service agencies like fire stations, police stations, nursing homes, hospitals, etc. Right now, we’re scheduled to serve around 150 people per day!

On Wednesday night, we will love on and serve the 176 residents and numerous staff members at Life Care Center of Columbia, a nursing home less that a quarter mile from our meeting location. We asked what they needed the most…and the answer surprised us. Sing hymns! Yep, on Wednesday night, a team of AC’ers will lead a hymn service at Life Care Center! For those of us who aren’t singers, we’ll love and serve the residents during their dinner and during the service.

On Saturday, July 18, we are going to do a clean-up, prayer walk, and block party at a local trailer park that is a haven for drug dealers and has little to no gospel influence. We are praying about “adopting” this community and these people and this will be the first step towards seeing what God has for us there long term.

Next Sunday, July 19, we’ll meet at Polo Road Elementary at 10:30a to celebrate what we saw God do during the week and to share stories of how we have been impacted.

If you are interested in serving in any of these projects or interested in learning more about Awaken Church, we’d love to hear from you! Email Sam Frye (samlfrye@gmail.com) to volunteer for Love Columbia Week and email me (jay.hardwick@gmail.com) for more info on Awaken Church.

AC’ers…let’s get ready to show our city how much we love Jesus and love Columbia!

Launch Team is Forming Now

We are so excited about what God is doing in Northeast Columbia! That is why we are starting Awaken Church…to join with God in the transformation of people, Northeast Columbia, and the world.

Do you want to be a part of something that is bigger than yourself? Do you want to be a part of a community of people that work together to make a lasting impact on our city? Do you love Jesus and love Columbia and want to see the two come together?

If you answered yes to one or all of those questions, then you need to consider committing to the Launch Team of Awaken Church. What’s the Launch Team? Glad you asked!

The Launch Team is a group of people committed to making the vision of Awaken Church a reality. As a team, they embody our vision by living lives that are more and more centered on Jesus, by loving each other the way Jesus has loved us, and by showing the love and grace of Jesus to our city through acts of service and blessing.

This summer, the Launch Team will pull of several community service projects as well as several events designed to give lots of people in Northeast Columbia a safe, fun, and free event to enjoy. The Launch Team will also work together to start Awaken’s Sunday morning worship service beginning September 13.

We would love for you to join with those who are already committed to the vision of Awaken Church and committed to making it reality! We will be meeting the next two Sundays, June 21 & 28, at 10:30a at Polo Road Elementary School (1250 Polo Road, Columbia, 29223) and will be having a party of epic proportions on July 4th weekend. Much more will be happening in July and August.

If you have questions or are interested, please email us at AwakenColumbia@gmail.com.

BBQ & Kickball…THIS Sunday

Awaken Church will host a summer kickoff party of epic proportions on Sunday, May 31!

Join us from 12:00pm – 2:00pm at North Springs Park on Clemson Road in Northeast Columbia for Little Pigs Barbecue and some serious fun with people that want to see Northeast Columbia transformed!

And what better way to KICK off the summer than with a KICKIN’ game of KICKBALL!

It’s all FREE and we hope you’ll join us!

Awaken Church Quick Hits

Last Sunday, 20 adults who are pumped up and ready to see a transforming move of God in Northeast Columbia committed to joining the Awaken Church Launch Team! Many others have said they want to help, which is awesome! God is building a strong team of people who will work together this summer to launch a powerful, gospel-centered, externally-focused church in September.

Remember…we will not have a gathering of any kind this Sunday, May 24. Celebrate Memorial Day with your family and friends.

On Sunday, May 31, we will get the summer started right with a cookout/party where the food and fun will be epic! Mark it on your calendar and invite your friends to join us!

On Sunday, June 7, we will have our first Launch Team meeting. These meetings are focused on building a strong team of people that own the vision of Awaken and know the unique part God has called them to play. As the summer moves along, we will also use this time to brainstorm and plan specifics for our launch in the Fall. Also, we are working on several incredible opportunities to engage and serve our community this summer that will build a DNA of service in our team and help people in Northeast Columbia know we’re here. If you want to help Awaken Church get up and get going, then join us on June 7!

God has given us a vision of joining Him in the transformation of people, Northeast Columbia, and the world! Now, He has brought the initial group of people that He wants to use to begin this movement! He is at work…now it’s time to join Him!

Awaken Church Launch Team

Sunday is going to be a huge day for Awaken Church and we want you to be a part of it!

It’s time for the rubber to hit the road! It’s time to make a commitment together to pray and work like crazy to see a transforming move of God sweep Northeast Columbia! It’s time to come together to do whatever it takes to join God in the transformation of people, Northeast Columbia, and the world!

On Sunday, I will ask people who are fired up about transforming our city to make a commitment to join the Launch Team of Awaken Church. What is the Launch Team?

The Launch Team will serve as the foundation of Awaken Church. The Launch Team is the group of people that will embody the culture that we want to define who we are as Awaken Church.

Practically, the Launch Team will work together to build a healthy, strong, and growing team of people who are committed to the vision for Awaken. Also, the Launch Team will lead our efforts to serve and bless our community this summer and beyond. All of this is to ensure that when Awaken Church officially launches in September, we will be the kind of church that we want to be – a gospel-centered, simple, externally-focused, powerful church that God uses to incredible things in our community!

Sound good to you? Join us on Sunday at 10:30a at Polo Road Elementary (1250 Polo Road, Columbia, 29223) to hear more, ask questions, and if you feel compelled, to make your commitment to join our team!

See you Sunday!

Easter Stage Set at Awaken

More photos from Easter are on the way, but thought I’d throw out a couple of our stage set from the one and only Patrick Boatwright. Big shout out to JD Richards and the crew from Columbia Church for generously giving of their time and gifts to help create an awesome adult and kids environment on Sunday!

Current Series: Death By Love

March 15, 22, 29, April 5

10:30 am :: Polo Road Elementary School (1250 Polo Road, Columbia, 29223)

What’s Happening in Awaken Church

We had a tremendous season of vision casting and culture-building over these last few weeks! We’ve seen people become followers of Jesus, people fully surrender their lives to Jesus, new friendships formed, and the foundation of a church laid. We have been able to serve and bless our community in a few small ways and we’re working on some bigger things that are still to come.

This Sunday, we begin a transition of sorts. It’s time to move from talking about what kind of church we want to be to actually being that church. And the timing couldn’t be better.

On Sunday, March 8, we will have a very meaningful time of worship, community, and communion as we begin our journey to the cross and the empty tomb of Easter. You will not want to miss this Sunday’s worship gathering as we sing, pray, read the scriptures, preach, examine ourselves, celebrate communion, and collectively respond to God.

We will gather at 10:30a at Polo Road Elementary (1250 Polo Road, Columbia, 29223). A clean, safe, fun, and age-appropriate environment will be provided for kids. Also, beginning this Sunday and continuing on, we will have a prayer gathering at Polo Road at 9:30a on Sundays. This will be an opportunity to pray over our worship gathering, for each other, for our church, for our city, and for the world. Please make every effort to be a part of this as we form community with each other and experience deeper communion with God. Everyone is welcome.

A few additional notes…
We are oh so close to launching our full website. We will still use this blog as a means of communication, but we will have a much improved primary web presence when the full site launches.

In order to help people in the Awaken community get to know each other better, we will be hosting several “Family Dinners” next Thursday night, March 12. Simply, you will have the opportunity to gather with a a few other couples and individuals for a meal and conversation in someone’s home. If you are interested, email Jamie Brewer (kjamiebrewer@gmail.com).

We will begin our first official teaching series next Sunday, March 15. This series will take us up to Easter Sunday.

We will have our first baptism service on Easter Sunday morning, April 12, at Polo Road! If you’re interested in being baptized, email Jay Hardwick (jay.hardwick@gmail.com).

We look forward to seeing you on Sunday! If you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

Grace and Peace to you and yours.

Vision Casting/Culture Building Gathering #5

THIS Sunday, February 8, Awaken Church will gather for our fifth vision casting/culture building gathering at Polo Road Elementary School at 10:30a.

Awaken Church is committed to joining God in the transformation of people, our city, and the world. Each week, we are focusing on what it looks like for this mission to become reality.

This Sunday will be the most practical gathering we have had to date. We’re going to put together all the pieces we’ve discussed so far and begin to answer the questions, “What’s next?” Over the last week, we’ve heard that question enough to know that it’s time to answer it. Frankly, we didn’t know what to expect when we began these gatherings in early January, but with new faces each week and a growing number of people eager to be a part of Awaken Church, it’s time to prepare for next steps!

We want you to come prepared to meet with God, meet some other people that are hungry for God, and discover together what it will look like for us to join God and see things change in our city. We’re not looking for perfect people, we’re looking for hungry people…people who are hungry for God, hungry for life-giving relationships with others, and people who are hungry to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

If that’s you, then join us on Sunday at 10:30a at Polo Road Elementary (1250 Polo Road, Columbia, 29223). There will be signs directing you to parking and the entrance to use. Childcare is provided for kids 5 and under. Feel free to invite others to come with you – all are welcome!

Email us at awakencolumbia@gmail.com if you have questions.