After years of planning and preparation, King of Kings' NW Campus officially launched Oct. 1! Julie Eesley and Peter Baye talk through what the days was like and how God prepared us for this huge moment.
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After years of planning and preparation, King of Kings' NW Campus officially launched Oct. 1! Julie Eesley and Peter Baye talk through what the days was like and how God prepared us for this huge moment.
Stay up to date by following us on your favorite social networks.
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
Have questions or comments? Email us at contact@kingofkings.org.
Thanks for listening!
Hey there, king of Kings family. Welcome into another episode of the beyond Sunday multi-site podcast. I'm Dan Hoppin, the director of connect groups here at King of Kings, and we are here to talk about a monumentous occasion today, because for years we have been talking about and planning having another campus. We identified Northwest Omaha is the area we want to go to. We identified Concordia Junior Senior High School as our host and, as we are recording this, yesterday, october 1st was the first public release of our Northwest campus and we are so excited about that. Here to tell us all about it we have King of Kings executive director Julie Easley and the campus director, peter Bay Guys. I mean we just we got to start. Just what are your emotions? What are you feeling right now, now that we've had a couple soft launches over the last couple weeks, and then yesterday was the big shebang, the real deal. How are you guys feeling right now?
Speaker 2:A little tired the day after? Yeah, that's actually a really interesting question. I've got a lot of different thoughts in my mind and everything from like just pure gratefulness and thankfulness to the light depression that happens after you do something really big, and so coming into work is a really important thing for me to be around people today and celebrate and talk and but so pleased and grateful for what God did yesterday.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was just a wonderful day. It really was. It was kind of just right the realization of a dream that God's had put on the heart of King of Kings many, many years ago. I mean many years ago, and so I mean truly for me feeling like, wow, we finally did it. We've been planning this for so long and now it's come to fruition, so it was great. It was just a day of excitement and joy. It was so much fun to see the happiness on everybody's faces and it was just a great day.
Speaker 1:I'm super grateful to God In 15 years, when you think you look back on this day about the first. I guess it would be the second campus, but the first, like secondary campus at King of Kings launch. Hopefully we're going to have more of these. But when, in 15 years, you look back on this day, what memories do you think will pop to the front of your mind first?
Speaker 3:For me, it was the feeling of standing in the back of the gym and watching people worship and realizing that God brought all of this together in such a miraculous way. I think the other thing that will always stand out in my mind is really the truth of the body of Christ that everybody has a role to play. This was such a massive project that no one person could have ever done it, and we needed everybody's gifts and talents, everybody's generosity. Our staff has been absolutely incredible in their support of this, and so have our core and launch teams, and so when I look back, I'll just feel a really profound sense of gratefulness for the people that God's put here at this time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for me. I'm not sure in 15 years what I'll think about I know today the worship was fantastic. There are people that showed up that like shocked me former students of mine from Concordia who may I don't even know I'm. I wasn't able to connect with them all like if they live in the area, if they want to come back, or if they just wanted to see what it's like to go to church at their old school or what. Those really sweet. The team that gets up early to help set up just joyfully, and that's really impressive. Yesterday we had a guy who's he wasn't part of the court team, wasn't part of the launch team, but contacted me and said hey, we're gonna be attending there and I'd love to help. He said did you mention that there's a team that gets up really early and comes in?
Speaker 2:What is this.
Speaker 1:Is an angel.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, he pretty much is. His name is Ben. So thank you, ben. And he said I get up early, I'd love to come and help. Wow and so he was there, along with the rest of our guts team, the team with the intestinal fortitude to be be there by 530 am To start hauling things in and setting up a beautiful space that transforms a gym into a worship space.
Speaker 1:We've made a couple references to the core and launch teams. Who are those people?
Speaker 3:So our core team is a is a group of people who just committed to attending King of Kings Northwest for two years and they have said, hey, we'll serve, we'll step up and serve. Every single one of those people that's on the core team Is serving in some capacity at Northwest. It's just a tremendous commitment. A lot of them are in a connect group also and it's just fantastic to have their support. And then the launch team Said, hey, we'll do this for a year, we'll be with you for a year at least, and so they're the people who really make things happen. There are core serve team, and everything that you see happening at Northwest on a Sunday is Due to, due to their all of their work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely yeah. And and both of these teams were not, like Some people said, I want to be part of it, but I, for me, I know and I believe that God has appointed each and every one of them to be part of something new. They're courageous people, that value of courageous, of like we're gonna take new ground and try something new and trust that God's gonna be with us. And they're also generous people and all the time and serving that they're giving to to this new, new opportunity, this new place that God has given us.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it really it's. It even goes beyond Sunday. We had so many different events that led up to this launch. I'm just trying to get our name out in the community so people would know that King of Kings is a place that's for you and wants to get you, wants to get you connected With God, and so all of these events needed support as well, and so they've just been at at a ton of these, at of these events as well, so it's been amazing.
Speaker 1:Now, obviously these people aren't on staff, so they're not involved in all the discussions that went to the creation of this campus, but they, they were involved with the planning and they, you know, had a had a sense of what was going on. They've they've been a part of this for probably especially the core team probably the better part of a year, maybe even more than a year.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I mean, they've been part of it. They were invited in June and July of 2022 there you go, team. Yeah, the launch team filled in all the way up until A month before the the soft launches.
Speaker 1:So what, what type of conversations, what type of feedback have you gotten from from the court, from the core team, especially Because they've been invested for longer, like you know, they've been a part of this process as well. I'm sure this was an exciting day for them.
Speaker 2:Well, I've got We've got incredible people on this core team. One of my close friend of mine, who I've known for many years here at King of Kings and Even before I worked here at King of Kings, he's not. He's on the team, his name's Aaron, and Aaron is like, he's not bashful, he's really authentic and he's told me Ever since we started being friends, he's like oh, I'll always tell you the truth, even if you don't want to hear it, and he does all the time. And. But so, aaron, after the first soft launch, a guy who will unashamedly just tell you the truth, regardless of what it is.
Speaker 2:So it's sometimes you're like, oh, what does he think? And he was just glowing about the soft launch and I know that he's not just trying to be nice or patronizing, because this is a guy who tells the truth and so he was just so grateful, he was so impressed, he thought things went really well, he was excited to invite his friends. And there were other comments from other court team members who were just like, yeah, it didn't feel like a gym, it felt like church, it felt, um, just the that, the worship and the out, the messages were coming through so great. And so, yeah, it's been largely positive.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I totally agree. And just the just watching the core and launch team yesterday kind of just the joy on their faces of being able to be a part of something new, it's just a great joy. So I yeah, I know that they were all really enthused about what was happening.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well said.
Speaker 1:Now, we've been doing this podcast for probably at least seven or eight, right, maybe even nine months. I mean, we've been talking about this for a while now and one of the common threads that we've talked about is, yes, this is going to be a second campus of King and Kings, but it's going to have its own personality. You know it's. It's got its own leader and Peter it's. It's a smaller space, it's in an auxiliary gym in a high school, like it's going to be a little bit different not bad at all, but it's. It's going to be a little unique from what happens on I street. I know we're only three services in and only one official service, two soft launches in, but how have you guys already started to see the Northwest campus and that community kind of develop its own unique personality?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a great question.
Speaker 2:So, so one, when you are at a church like King Kings here at I street, where you have 1200 or more people on a Sunday and it's like everything better be right as it should be and and that's, it's not like that's not the case at a multi site.
Speaker 2:But when you are in a smaller group of people, there's just more availability for you to be relational, get to know more of the people as a leader. So when I was a leader here, I had tons of relational opportunity, but there's no way I could I could know most everyone, whereas at a smaller site, I'm going to get to know most people who come through the door, especially if they stick around for a few weeks. So that alone is going to change the feel of that site. As you get to know more people, you notice when they're gone, you call them, you, you find out what's going on with their lives. And that'll be the same thing for our core team, people who are launching our regular attendees. They're going to start to see a lot of the same faces, but less of them, and we'll be able to retain and and and hopefully dive into a little deeper community.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I agree, and you know it's interesting when you're in it with a smaller group. The investment just has to be high. We need everybody. There's not a sense of like I'm just going to pop in and then leave, um, and so when you're serving to that degree of intensity, you're going to get to know people really well. I think the other, the other things that I'm seeing starting to develop is I think that this campus is just going to be a fun one. Having Peter as the campus director, I don't think there's going to be any avoiding fun, and and actually Kate Solberg, who's our associate, is also a total hoot.
Speaker 1:She has a bit of a goofball and she is, and Kevin too, yeah.
Speaker 2:And our Kim, and our Kim and Gal Dina. Um, yeah, you watch her for Dina, she's, she's a spark plug. I know, I'm just waiting for pranks to start to happen to me, yeah.
Speaker 3:So I think it's really going to be fun. The other thing that I think and and this is the case with I street too, so don't hear me saying that this isn't true, right, but I think that Peter has a real um heart for the gospel and for the gospel that he shared really clearly every week, and so I think that that's going to be a hallmark of this campus as well. Just talking about all, about Jesus and his sacrifice and how we can come into right relationship with God through Jesus Christ. That's something that's going to be clear every week For sure.
Speaker 1:And, just playing off of both of you guys, said that's something. So I attended the second soft launch, which was, as we're recording this, about eight days ago, and that's something that I definitely felt. Obviously, as the director of connect groups, I'm all about getting people into. You know, yes, come on a Sunday experience our Sunday worship, that's amazing. But also get into a small group, because that's where it's good intentionality, that's where relationships are built, that's when you get a chance to really live life among each other. And that's kind of what I felt at Northwest. I was like this is just a bigger small group, like it. Just it seemed like, like you said, julie, everyone was really bought in. I felt like people lingered after the service a little bit longer. There was just good conversations happening.
Speaker 1:And again, that's not that that stuff isn't happening on ice street, because it is, but it did just kind of have that hey, we're, we're all in this together, we're all invested. We've all been thinking about this for a long time and we're excited to finally see it get off the ground. So yeah, it's just a Don't know. I don't even know how to describe it.
Speaker 3:It's kind of family feeling. Yes, yes it definitely does.
Speaker 2:Well, and when you go to a big church a way to get to know people's, get involved, you serve, you get in a connect group and all of a sudden, that big number of 1200 blows on the 12 really quickly and and you get to know people. The difference being at a small church is You're gonna be noticed right off the bat. You you'll still be able to kind of Decide how quickly you want to dive all in, but we're gonna notice you and it's one of our goals to learn your name on that first or second week and and and start to like, look for you and and pray for you and and Recognize you and and see what God is in store.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, something else I was just thinking about too is I think that this is gonna be a super kid friendly campus. I street is too, but just there's a lot in that little space. There's a lot of kids running around and I think there's just a feeling of, like man, kids are welcome here. This is a space that's gonna be can be a little bit loud and rambunctious, and I think that's fun and and it's very inclusive. You know, kind of come as you are. If you got a bunch of kids, please join us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there was a baby behind me during 11 o'clock and he was making like animal sounds. It was awesome. I was like we were all just chocolate the whole row.
Speaker 3:We're just laughing about it.
Speaker 1:It's pretty fun yeah now we got to give a shout out to our wonderful hosts, concordia junior senior high school, who has allowed us to use their space not only on Sundays, but also we're gonna be using it on Wednesday nights for for confirmation, for connect groups as well. So that's Just. They've been very, very gracious. What has it been like to partner with Concordia?
Speaker 2:Yeah, head of schools, rob Cookey, has been wonderfully accommodating. Their director of operations, kristen Herrera, has been. She's our detailed person, she's our direct contact there and she's been just downright amazing. Yeah, so responsive, quick to email, quick to text, quick to call. Check her assumptions hey, did you guys mean to do this, this, this or this?
Speaker 2:And those are so important for us to have a good relationship, because we don't want to be tenants in a space where we just come in on a Sunday morning. Otherwise we we don't want to deal with them, we want to have a partnership, we want to have relationship and we're with Concordia for the long haul. I mean, we're. Our hope is to be there a minimum of 10 years, and so this isn't something that we want to go in and and like we'll do our thing, you do yours. We want to work with them and they have been wonderful.
Speaker 2:I it's a bit of a homecoming for me. That was my job before I came to King Kings. I was a teacher at Concordia and so I I know the atmosphere there decently well and there's still a bunch of teachers that taught there when I was there, and so to be there and connect with them and they're asking questions how did this go? What did you do for this? And Inviting them into things, whether many of them attend other churches, but, like they want to be involved in some way, they want to help fill a void. Hey, do you need any of these? We've got? I've got these in my classroom, it's like. So that's a very different relationship than most churches have with schools.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's been a beautiful partnership and we're really excited about just getting to know that community more, and if there are families that don't have a church home, they're at Concordia. We would. We would love For them to come and check out Northwest and, and we're just hoping to continue to develop this partnership. I think it's gonna be extremely fruitful and I'm excited about what's coming up.
Speaker 1:We were talking off the mics coming into this. Both you guys are a little bit short on sleep right now. You can't tell it by by your attitudes or anything, but there I mean, there's been a lot of time and a lot of planning that's gone into this and just the minutia and all the little details that people don't think about who's gonna be directing traffic in the parking lot? Who you know? Do we have enough volunteers at 5 30 to come set up? Do we have enough donuts? You know, are the donuts won't like just so many Details that have to be thought about and worked out.
Speaker 1:But have you guys had a chance to just kind of sit back and just like almost marinate in the fact that there were people there yesterday who might have experienced Jesus or heard the gospel for the first time? Like, ultimately, yes, we're trying to create a great experience for people, for families, we want them to have great worship and everything, but it's all about Jesus. And there were people there yesterday, people who will be there in the coming weeks, coming months, coming years, who will meet Jesus because of the work that you've put in. Have you had a chance to sit back and just think about how amazing that is?
Speaker 3:A little bit probably, I think, at the first off launch, and I felt it yesterday as well, just standing in the back and just being overwhelmed with emotion about the goodness of God and the wonderful plans he has for people who are there already and who have yet to show up at our campus, but who will, and just how kind and good God is and how generous he is to invite us into His good plans. It's a real privilege and it's not lost on me or on Peter or any of us that it's a huge blessing to have the jobs that we have and be able to see God transform lives and just to be a part of that. So yeah, I've had those moments.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and those moments have to be planned intentionally, almost Like there's some that just happen spontaneously where you're struck by God's goodness, but I do think that there's probably every week, like in the Northwest team meeting we start off with what's one great thing that happened that you experienced this week in ministry. So planning intentionally to note those things, be able to discuss them and be able for us just to even get them out there, out of our mouths, is important, because otherwise it's like there are 1000 more things on that to do list to keep doing. So, yeah, that's a great question and a convicting question.
Speaker 1:But I mean I want you guys to give yourselves grace too. I mean, we're less than 24 hours as we're recording this, since, you know, the first open day of worship, so like you've got some time. There's going to be some time to sit back and think about the cool things that God is doing. Now, before I get us out of here, you two were talking off the mics about there's a funny story, something about the name King of Kings. I want to hear that story before we get out of here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so King of Kings, Northwest Omaha is also connected with Standing Bear Elementary OPS School. Principal Bridget O'Mealia has been wonderful to work with, and so our relationship with that school is one that where we want to care for the teachers, we want to care for the student body, we want to be there to help serve, we want to be there to give snacks and just to walk with that school and say we're here for you. And so last Friday was the Standing Bear Fun Run and so every kid, kindergarten through fifth grade, was out there running in the heat, and we were there with some of our corn launch team and some staff. Lee Patrick Griffith and his wife Lori came out and we were essentially what they do is like they run. And then you're at all these checkpoints and you say your checkpoint, you've got a marker and they've got t-shirts that are specially made for this, and so you mark off a number. Then they run to the next checkpoint. They mark off a number so that they know they're able, they got their goal of how ever long they were trying to run Right.
Speaker 2:And so we're doing this and it's like fun and the kids just keep going and the whole time they one of the teachers is like MC in this event. So he's got his table out and he's playing fun music and like three or four times for every grade, he stops and says we want to think our sponsors, and each time the very first one, king of Kings, northwest Omaha Church, and then he names the other sponsors, right. So one of the times he does this, one of the second graders goes hey, I got some mail from one of our sponsors. It was King of the Kings Church.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And so cute.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it was just like what an awesome I mean like there's been a lot of victories along the way We've gotten on radio, we've gotten on TV, we've gotten to meet so many people in the community with all these events but that one little story of I got mail from one of our sponsors, king of the Kings, like that was like the cherry on top of like a second grader knows who we are.
Speaker 3:It's incredible.
Speaker 1:God is so good at just sprinkling in those little moments in ministry where, especially at the times where you feel like you're just drowning and it's just like so many details, so much work, so much to think about how to make this happen, and then he just gives you that little blessing right there and he's like here. I want you to laugh at this Like this. This is fun, this is a win. Take a second and enjoy this, and that's something that I hope that you guys get to do.
Speaker 1:Obviously, this campus is just starting. There's a lot of work that still has to be done. It's going to grow, but I hope you guys get a chance to just just relax and think about everything that you've put into this. And now it's up and it's alive and it's running and it's successful, and God is gonna work through it, and I just wanna thank you guys for all the hard work and planning that you've put into this. I extend that to Kate and Kevin and Dina as well. They've been a huge part of the team. There's so many other people on staff here at King and Kings who chipped in in major ways to make this happen, but you guys did it Congratulations.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much. And, dan, thank you a lot for just hosting these podcasts for us and helping us get the word out about Northwest. You've done a tremendous job, just asking the right questions and allowing us to share about our experiences. So thank you. It's a perfect example of like everybody coming together to make the dream work in Jesus' name.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'd invite anyone who's listening to this to continue to pray for this campus. There's gonna be like there's still a ton of unknown in this campus as well as future campuses. Remember, our goal is 10 campuses over the next 20 years, and so I get to. I'm really careful how I talk about this because I know I can not put myself in the spot, but I did tell my wife. I'm like this is maybe one 1,000th of like the way that I can maybe understand how she experienced the mental part of childbirth, of like you work, work, work, work, work for something to get there, and then it gets there, and I was like, oh, now we need to keep this thing alive.
Speaker 1:Right, this isn't a one time event.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was like, oh, like a tiny 0.1% understanding of what a woman goes through with that, and so there's a lot to come and pray for reliance that God would be our bedrock every step along the way, because if we step away from him we're gonna sink, we're gonna drown. So thank you, dan, for leading this. Thank you, julie, for all the support you've given you. Now, I mean, I get to help sustain this church and you get to jump into the next adventure of the next multi-site or sites Yep, here we go.
Speaker 3:So here we go again. Exactly.
Speaker 1:And let's extend that thank you to you, king of Kings family, for supporting us, for coming along on this journey, for all the prayer, thank you for all that you've done, all that you're gonna continue to do. Thank you for listening to this edition of the Beyond Sunday Multi-Site Podcast. Thank you.