Along a 210-Freeway morning commute to Pasadena, California in the spring of 1996, a seed was planted which would grow into the work of VANTAGEPOINT3. As Randy Reese sat in Los Angeles traffic on his way to Fuller Seminary that spring morning, he considered the legacies of Charles Simeon (1759-1836) and Henrietta Mears (1890-1963). Both people had brought significant depth and renewal to the Church by paying careful attention to the leadership development of others. While pondering their lives that morning, Randy’s heart was grabbed by the Apostle Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:10…
“For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which he prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”
He sensed the Lord inviting him to participate in a similar movement as Simeon and Mears, a movement of fostering depth and renewal and service in the Church through the discipleship of others as Christian leaders. In 1998 Randy began researching and designing the model which would develop into the VP3 processess. In 1999, in partnership with the North American Baptist Conference, Randy began recruiting churches in Southern California and in the Northern Plains to participate in two pilot regional initiatives. These churches began meeting with small groups of people from their congregations in the Fall of 2001. From 2001-2005 we applied a regional approach working eventually with twelve groupings of churches in Canada and the United States, representing several different denominations. In 2005 we made a strategic decision to make our processes available to individual churches throughout North America. We often get asked, “What does ‘Vantagepoint3’ mean? Very simply, we want to take people to a vantage point where they can explore and discover 3 primary questions in the Christian life:
- Who is God?
- Who am I?
- What does God desire to do through me?
It has been a conviction of ours for some time now that a significant way to foster depth and ignite faithful service in the Church in North America is to notice or pay attention to those who are right before our eyes. It is one thing to develop leaders who can serve in various capacities in a local setting, it is quite another thing, and far more important, to pay attention to people who can become ignited to follow the Ephesians 2:10 way. Our churches have more than a few folks who are longing to be paid attention to and unleashed for Kingdom purposes. Over the past eight years, more than 6900 people in over 195 churches have participated in The Emerging Journey. This 210-Freeway seed has grown and we at VP3 today are so grateful for the ways in which our lives and work have intersected with so many.
