Formation & Mission

In the story of Jesus, immediately after the resurrection, we find Jesus saying to his closest friends: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (John 20.21)

We believe God is a sending God. We rarely use that word to describe God, but throughout the narrative of scripture God seems to be in the habit of sending. “The Bible is the drama of this God of purpose engaged in the mission of achieving that purpose universally, embracing past, present and future, Israel and the nations, ‘life, the universe, and everything,’ and with its center, focus, climax, and completion in Jesus Christ. Mission is not just one of a list of things that the Bible happens to talk about, only a bit more urgently than some. Mission is, in that much-abused phrase, “what it’s all about.” (The Mission of God by Christopher Wright)

This is the story we believe we have all been invited into.

Mission is not just another program alongside other programs. We believe we are to regularly gather as a community AND we are to scatter. To immerse ourselves in our neighborhoods, workplaces, and community (as we all find our way back to God) is the lens through which we see everything.

“It is not the church of God that has a mission, but the God of mission who has a church.” (Bosch)

Cave-Table-Road

Celtic monastics built their life around three primary movements:
The cave: a time of spiritual formation, meditation on scripture, prayer, and other disciplines
The table: a time of community, connectedness, hospitality, and friendship
The road: a way of being sent into the world that engages the ways God is already at work each of our specific contexts

Our Cave-Table-Road cohort is a six month journey of grounding and equipping people as followers of Jesus as they seek shalom in their own lives and in Knoxville. This is an invitation for each person in our community to learn about their own needs and giftings and to connect them with what it means to be in Christ in an increasingly complex world. This cohort was inspired by the folks and work at Forge.
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Home Groups

Environments where community, mission, and transformation can flourish.

These groups commit to meeting together on a regular basis for study and to share and support each other in life and in the mission God has called each person to. All our groups look very different and have very different rhythms.

Session Groups

Session groups meet together for a variety of reasons.

These are spaces defined by you to bring people together over the enjoyment of a common activity, common season of life, or the pursuit of growth and wisdom in a specific area. We’ve had everything from book clubs to justice groups, hiking groups to craft beer groups. These groups vary as interest and leaders arise. 

Current (Summer 2023) groups include: 

  • Crossings Recovery Community 
  • Genesis of a Genre: Paul to the Thessalonians
  • Group Spiritual Direction
  • How To: Host a Dinner Party
  • Paw Pals 
  • Restoration Work Group
  • Summer Books & Brews
  • Summer Tennis Group
  • Justice Group
  • LGBTQ+ Group
  • Tuesday Morning Book Club 
  • Student Community (StuCo)

We desire to participate in spaces all over Knoxville that are seeking Shalom. Within this ecosystem, there are groups, organizations, ministries, and people doing incredible work. We desire to highlight, support, and affirm this work of God’s Kingdom however we can without claiming them as “Crossings.” Like in a biological ecosystem, we believe we can all flourish together.