All right, hello, and welcome to episode one of the official unofficial Act 2 Network podcast. My name is Steven. I'm Isaiah. And we are excited to relaunch. Well, I'm excited. I don't know if Isaiah is excited. I'm down. We are, whether we're excited or not, rebooting the podcast. And we're rebooting the podcast because as we grow, as our network scales, it is quite difficult to keep track of everything that's going on, even through all the different ways we try to update each other.

And so we want to tell stories of what God is doing at our church. And there's so many neat things that are happening. There's so many behind the scenes sort of stuff. There's ministry partners that come in and help and that we get to do really cool things with.

And so we want to talk about those things and feature those things. Yeah, so for this first episode, we thought it might be good to just talk a little bit about what is the Act 2 Network and why do we change our name? Does that mean anything? What about this new mission statement, which I think was kind of a big deal?

Quite a few things have changed since our last podcast. And so we just want to kind of frame everything. So how should we do this? Well, maybe, maybe, Stephen, you can explain. Well, how would you explain to somebody either who's been in our network or our church for a while or someone new to it?

Like, why did we make this move to change our name to Act 2 Network? So we're Grace Point, now we're Act 2 Network. Like, what's the difference? Yeah, that's a great question. Thank you for making me answer it. I think I would say it really represents a new phase of our church.

So, I mean, I'm using the word church, right? So we're so used to using that word to describe who we are, and I think that's still a good thing. But there's a way in which that doesn't quite fit anymore. So Grace Point used to be, like, this church in, like, Berkeley.

And as we planted churches and, you know, we're at 30-plus campuses, 70-plus campuses, we're still calling ourselves church, Grace Point. And there's people in our network who have never been in Berkeley, right? They're growing up, and the way that they know our church is their local ministry. And so we're in a wide variety of contexts, a diversity of ministries and teams and things like that.

And we're in kind of a new phase now, right? We hope that those relational bonds, you know, and we think those racial bonds need to continue to stay tight and strong. But, yeah, I think we're in a phase where, because of that scale and diversity, some things need to change, you know?

And now we're on, what, 70-plus campuses, eight countries. Like, it's huge. And so network, at least that word, just seems to fit better for the reality that we're in. Yeah, and then better to change the name when things are still tight and close instead of, like, when people are feeling like, Oh, I don't really know you anymore, and then change the name, and then it's kind of sad.

Yeah, and I think one thing that we also wanted to, as my understanding, at least, is one thing that we wanted to do is to give people kind of a clearer, maybe, like, a more accurate picture of, like, what sort of thing we are. So, I mean, like, I think biblically speaking, like, we are a church.

Like, I would say, like, a lot of groups that call themselves, like, parachurches or missions organizations, like, I don't know, if you look at the way it kind of worked in the Bible, like, I do think those things are churches, and I think that's true of us, too. Yeah, but I also think, so, yeah, I mean, technically we are a church, but I also know that when people use the word church, they have a certain expectation of, like, what that's going to look like, and often kind of the way we are doesn't quite fit into that.

So, I think we also wanted to sort of capture who we are and, like, that difference a little bit, that, no, we are, we're not just a typical local church. We're a network, and in a way, we're something closer to, like, a missions organization or a word we've tossed around is, like, an order, which sounds a little weird.

I don't really like that word. Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the word, but I think it kind of... But order in the sense of, like, a priestly or, like, the monks, like, a monastic order. Yeah, so we're not just, you know, a place that sets up and invites people to come in.

We're a little more than that. Like, our motto is, hey, we are now launching lifelong kingdom workers for every college town, and so what we're about is saying, hey, come into this place not just to, you know, absorb a message or sit through a service, but really, if you're joining us, we want the understanding to be that, hey, our whole thing is we're going to turn you into a lifelong kingdom worker.

And we recognize it's not for everybody, you know, and that's not what a lot of people are looking for in a church, and that's fine, and we don't want to denigrate people who don't want to join or other churches who work differently from us. But we feel like that's sort of the mission that God has called us to, to take people and say, hey, if you really want to be discipled in this way of becoming a lifelong kingdom worker, kind of, you know, in, I guess, the Acts 2 Network fashion, you know, then we have something really robust for you.

But if not, you know, that's okay, and we want you to know, like, you know, there are plenty of other good churches out there and that sort of thing. Yeah, yeah, and so, like, I think even a lot of our local ministries have kind of rebranded themselves as college church, right?

And even that, like, that intentional decision is so that, you know, church, like, you think of families, you think of, like, you know, that sort of thing. But we're unique in that we target campuses, college campuses, right? And so it is strange, like, someone steps in and, like, oh, this church is all college students.

That's very atypical, right? So just trying to signal that through the word, like, college church. And so, yeah, we're trying to be more upfront with who we are and bring that clarity. One phrase that keeps standing out to me from this whole time has been, clarity is kindness, right?

So trying to be more clear about who we are, even though there is a part of me that wants to, like, fight that battle to, like, reclaim the word church, to, like, make it mean what it actually means and change expectations. But, you know, yeah, that's a whole other podcast topic.

And so it is, so I think our new slogan, right, launching lifelong kingdom workers from every college town. It used to be the next church in every college town. And that felt tough to leave that behind. I feel like that was, I think we all thought, like, we were going to be pursuing that mission until the day we die.

Or when Jesus comes back. Yeah. And it's like, oh, are we even, who are we now? Now that we've moved on from that motto. But I don't know, maybe, maybe, Steven, you can kind of share some insights into, like, what went into the thinking behind that and how we decided to kind of switch and why.

Yeah. Well, like, before jumping into that, like, Axe 2 Network, like, we felt Axe 2, there were a lot of terrible names. In retrospect, bad names. Co-vocational Network, Tent Makers. You know, Tent Makers was, Tent Makers was my thing. I still believe in that name. I was not for Tent Makers.

We were on the opposite side of that debate. But I think Axe 2, that really being, it's that community, it's that togetherness, it's that, you know, church as family, that connection that really enables us to do everything that we do. You know, like, why do I feel like I can go to church plant?

It's not because I'm doing it on my own. It's because I'm doing it on my friends, right? If my friends weren't doing it with me, I don't think I would go, you know? And so those close relationships, that community, we really wanted to, like, make sure that was preserved.

And so that, so we took care of that. Yeah, so that carried over. That carried over. That made the move. Okay. And so then launching Life on Kingdom Works from a college town. College town, still there. Still believe, you know, college ministry, college campus, unique place, unique time in people's lives.

There's a very special opportunity there for someone to receive the gospel and have their eternal trajectory changed and their lives transformed. You know, that's still a time where people are open and asking questions. And, yeah, we just felt like, okay, that needs to be preserved because we want to launch people from the college town, right?

And then launching Kingdom Workers, I think the idea there is whether you stay with our network or not, you know, we want everyone to, when they encounter us, have this thing that gets rubbed off of them, which is, like, my primary identity is that I'm a gospel minister. You know, it's not just a pastor who's doing the ministry from the pulpit.

Ministry is not just for the professionals, but every, it's the priesthood of all believers, right? Every believer is called to gospel ministry, and we want, like, you can come and experience that and see how that is lived out, and then wherever you go from there on, we hope you carry that identity with you, right?

Yeah, and I think it's also kind of a reflection of sort of our changing picture of, like, what our church is going to look like or what our network is going to look like in the future, where I think for most of us, like, as, like, when we were in college, the picture was always, it was going to be pretty standard.

Like, we're going to go to these college towns, we're going to start a college church that reaches, like, a big group of college students that are all coming together, and yeah, we had other ministries, but that was always the focus. But I do think as we've, as time has gone on, we're beginning to see, well, you know, maybe God wants more than that in the sense of, man, there's all these other ministries that we want to invest in, maybe just as heavily as college.

Like, I feel like youth is really starting to kind of pick up steam. I think international ministry is really big for us. I mean, we've made the move to, like, foreign missions, so it's like, oh, it's not just that we want to build a lot of college churches. It's what we really are about is finding people and saying, hey, join us in this mission of doing kingdom work, wherever the context may be.

And I think we're starting to sort of see the genesis of that in a lot of different areas. So we felt like, I think, yeah, this new motto sort of captures that reality in a way that the old one didn't, like, the old one's maybe a little too limited.

Yeah, very kind of narrow scope. Yeah, for what we're thinking about now. Because, I mean, like, there's a bunch of college towns that can't sustain, like, the kind of, you know, co-vocational ministry that we do. You know, like, some places are so remote. There's not a lot of industry there.

It's really hard for us to, like, move a team and start a church there. Yeah. But we still want to reach that campus. And so the idea is not going there and planning a college church, but launching people, you know, into kingdom work. And then I think that this last word, lifelong, that's the one that's been standing out to me personally.

Just the idea that, you know, as our church has gotten older, as people have gotten older and, you know, maybe they can't do college ministry anymore, right, health reasons or whatever. It's like, what meaningful ministry are you able to do then? You know, like, can we continue to have you engaged because people want to stay engaged in ministry.

So whatever season of life, you know, what support do you need? What meaningful opportunities, what context do you need to be meaningfully engaged in gospel ministry, right? And I think that's something that I was surprised, like, seems to be unique and distinctive, right? That, like, yeah, whether you're a young, single, 20-something-year-old or you're, you know, 30-whatever mom with two kids all the way up to, like, 50, 60, like, you can be engaged.

Meaningful gospel ministry, you just need the right support and context for that, right? And I think it's really neat that, you know, you hear stories of people engaged in ministry in college or, like, through the 30s and then they burn out or, like, something happens in their life and they kind of step away.

And a lot of them don't come back. A lot of them don't step back into it, right? And so we feel like that's tragic. You know, we want to support people. We want to enable people to stay engaged in that, to keep doing the good work that God has prepared for them to do.

Yeah. So one thing we say a lot is, like, everyone needs ministry. I think that's really one of the driving principles behind everything we do. And the reality is we, like, if our whole thing is just, like, pouring back into our church and, like, trying to make our church as awesome as possible, like, you're just going to run out of things to do eventually.

And, like, a lot of what I think motivates us is everyone needs ministry, not because, like, we just, like, keeping people busy, but because, like, that's the best thing for growth. It's the best life to live when you have people and, like, kingdom causes to actually, like, invest yourself in.

And so, man, it's a lot of work sometimes because we're trying to just, like, construct ministry for people. Like, we're always in, like, okay, what is a new frontier we can open up? And how can, you know, this person who maybe, you know, doesn't like being on the front lines of college ministry, like, how can they still be a part of the team and still be a part of kind of the greater work that we're doing?

So, yeah, I think in that way, like, that lifelong really captures kind of a pretty important aspect of us. Yeah, and it's, you know, another aspect of lifelong is not just, like, my life, but it's the relationships we have. We have to say we have covenantal relationships that I throw in my lot with you.

We're in it for the long haul. Okay, we're in it for the long haul together. And how do we, yeah, like, all be actually and feel unified in this gospel work that we're doing, right? And maybe you can't do college ministry, but, like, man, you're engaged in youth or you're engaged, like, in ECM or these other things.

And we can have that shared mission still, you know, because we're committed to one another, you know? Yeah, so one other new development since, in, like, the past, I guess, two years is this thing that we call the way of life. Yeah, go on our website. It's right there.

Yeah, it's very front and center. Could you explain to the uninitiated, what is our way of life? Why did we come up with that? Why do we have that? Yeah. If I were to put it in just conventional terms, it's sort of, like, our core values, you know, but it's a little bit more than that because it's boiled down into, like, what does this look like?

How is this actually lived out in practice? So it's a little more, like, concrete, I think. But I think as we were trying to figure out, as we were going through this name change and stuff, we were thinking about who we are. What are the things that we want to clarify for people?

Like, what does it mean to be part of our network? You know, what are you, if you're embracing that, if you want to join that, what exactly are you joining? What are you committing to? We want to clarify that. We tried to boil it down to those essential things, right, and tried to do it in a way that was concise and memorable.

It was very challenging. It was hard. We went through many, many iterations. And, you know, it's got a cool 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, but if you add it up, it's 15 things, so it's a lot. It's a lot. But, yeah, I think it's, again, trying to provide that clarity.

But I like the phrase way of life because it really does capture that, like, the way we're able to do all these things is that all of us have sort of agreed, like, this is the way that we feel God has called us to live. It might not be how every Christian, like, needs to live or it's not for everyone, but this is the way we feel like God has called us to live.

And when we do that, it enables so much, like, amazing, like, it's the branch that you're sitting on, you know, that you don't want to cut off, you know, but it's what makes the whole thing work. Yeah. So, like what you're saying about the clarity is kindness thing, I feel like the word of, I mean, word of life, way of life really feeds into that because we want people to be able to kind of have a picture, like, okay, hey, if you're considering joining the Ask2 Network, what does that mean?

What does that look like? Like, well, here it is, you know, this is the way we set up our lives and it's not easy. It's a lot of stuff on there and we're not apologetic about that because we think it's a good way to live. It's not the only way to live, you know, you don't have to do this.

Again, you know, we totally respect your decision if you feel like it's not for you, but we want to be upfront about it. And I feel like, yeah, maybe in times past, like, that was sort of in the air and we sort of kind of by default did it.

It was the culture, but it wasn't ever, like, really spelled out. Yeah. So I'm glad we get confused. Yeah. Some people are like, is this like an essential part of the way of life? Yeah. No, no, that's not. Yeah. Like, what are the necessary parts almost? So kind of having laid that out, my hope is that, you know, like for college students or whoever is new to our group, like, that'll just give them more clarity and kind of, hey, like, here it is.

You know, are you interested? If you're not again, that's fine. But if you're interested, yeah, this is what it looks like. Yeah. But I think to add to that, like, it is, it is hard. It's not easy. Right. But I think it's amazing to see the variety of people in our church who have embraced it and are growing in it.

You know, it's not just for like, I don't know, like AP level, SWAT level, like Navy SEAL kind of Christians. You know, like it's hard, but the way we're able to do it is because, again, we're doing it together. Right. And then, you know, we're hoping to not just clarify it, but create tools and things like that to help people understand, like, how do you grow into this?

Right. Because it's not something we expect like a college freshman to jump into or even a high school youth. It's something we expect people who graduate want to join us to embrace. And it's not like it's a surprise either, because our it's our college ministries have that same vibe, that same feel, that ethos.

Right. That we're where people, they are living the way of life. And so it is something that's like, as you experience it, as you grow into it, as you practice it, maybe you begin to appreciate it. You begin to you feel your life kind of growing a capacity to handle it and you grow in your relationship with other people and you can tackle it together.

And then there's like a, wow, yeah, this is the way I want to live. You know, so it's not so much like a take it or leave it kind of thing. It is a little bit of that. But then there's also this other, I think, softness. Yeah, yeah. And I think like, I think something that I have to explain to people sometimes who are kind of wondering about this whole way of life and like, why does your church like?

Network. Well, why is your church like this, essentially? You know, and why do you like set the bar so high? I mean, just that's the reality of it. Like we set a high bar. And I don't know, I think my response to that is usually like, you know what, it takes all types to reach our world, you know?

And like, you know, there's different, different denominations. I think, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing because, you know, some people, some people, they need like that more charismatic aspect. You know, people like, people like you who are, I don't know, more emotional and like, like to cry and things, you know?

I'm just kidding, but you know, I do like to cry. Okay, I don't know if you like to cry, but you cry. I don't know what that was going to happen. Yeah, but, you know, and for them, like that kind of charismatic, high emotion sort of experience is very helpful.

You know, whereas for other people who are more reasonable like me, no, people who are just, you know, not as into that, right? You know, they'll find kind of a different expression. And I think sort of we look at our world and we say, hey, I think there's a need for this kind of church, you know, and this kind of group.

And so we say, hey, we're going to try and fill that slot. And I don't know, I guess I say, you know, even if you're not into that, like I would ask that you respect our decision to be that way, you know, because I think we have a certain mission and a certain goal and a certain cause that we're set on.

And I feel like, yeah, by kind of embracing this way of life, it positions us to to fill that. Yeah. I like the way you put that, because then I think it, you know, just it's kind of relevant with the thing I would add to that is we're not the first ones with the way of life.

You know, like this whole idea came out of, again, this idea of a monastic order. You know, recent books. We're not monks. We're not actually monastic. But yeah, the idea. There have been times in Christian history where, like, yeah, that order came about, like the Benedict Option, you know, the Benedictine Order.

And they had a way of life they wanted to commit to. And for, like, that time in culture and in history, it was like, wow, really glad they did that. Because without the monks, we wouldn't have, like, literature, right? We wouldn't have literacy and stuff like that. And yeah, so we're not the first ones to come up with it.

We kind of took inspiration from them and mission organizations and stuff like that. We felt like, hey, if we were to define our core values, that actually fits us really well. And so we sort of adopted that as a way that we wanted to clarify that. Yeah. And I think that kind of brings us back to this podcast a little bit because I think overall, if you're kind of reading between the lines, like, as we've embraced this identity of a network and not just like a typical church, I think one of the upshots of that or one of the outcomes of that is that we've just gotten more complicated.

You know, like, there's just, like, more types of ministries and more stuff going on and all sorts of things happening. And part of our hope for this podcast is that it'll help, you know, our people as well as people on the outside who are interested in learning more about us.

Like, it'll just help people get a handle on, like, what is this thing and what does it look like on the day to day? And, you know, maybe if you are, like, a college student, you know, thinking about, like, hey, do I want to join this kind of weird group or not?

Like, it'll help you sort of sort through some of those things and make that decision. So I feel like because it is hard to understand, even as we talk about it, some of us were, like, as we talk about it, like, well, this is kind of complicated. It's kind of hard to explain.

So hopefully this will give you sort of that lived experience aspect of it. That's my hope. Yeah. Yeah. And so that, I mean, just to give a framework of that complication, you know, 70-plus campuses now, eight countries, we have ministries all the way from kids to, like, elderly care.

Yeah, we go cradle to the grave, man. Cradle to the grave, man. And then ministry opportunities for everyone. Same way, even the kids are taking ownership over the younger kids, you know, all the way to, and reaching out to their friends in elementary school, all the way to, yeah, older people.

That's just, I'm just humbled, actually, to be a part of that. I feel like that is, it would just be so much easier to just, like, pick one thing and just, like, be really good at that. But because we are covenanted to each other, it's produced something kind of complicated, but I think very beautiful as you hear all the different stories, as you see all the different things that people are trying to do to spread the gospel, as you see the way that people are trying to live life.

I think if you step back, it is actually a very beautiful picture. You know, it can be intimidating. It can be kind of crazy. Messy but beautiful. Whoa, like, what is driving all this? It's the gospel. It's the love of God for us, right? And through Christ, dying for us on the cross.

And, man, this is one, hopefully you see one very beautiful way that gets lived out that's very true to the gospel and the word of God. I feel like that's a good note to end on, huh? Yeah. So maybe we can end it there. Thanks for joining us for our first episode of the official, unofficial Axie Network podcast.

I always get that backwards. Yeah, make sure to like, subscribe, and we'll see you in future episodes. Yeah, looking forward to it.