Imagine's Story
In the fall and spring of 2000, I had the opportunity to serve as an Interim Youth Minister to a church in Stamps, AR. The summer before this opportunity, I had worked at Crosspoint Christian Sports Camps and God had already begun placing a burden on my heart for small group, "true" discipleship particularly in teenagers' lives. I had the awesome opportunity of allowing this burden take action in my ministry at First Baptist of Stamps.
One night, on my 30 minute drive home from Stamps following a Heaven's Gates Hell's Flames presentation at our church, God gave me a vision. I was listening to the song "I Can Only Imagine" by Mercy Me even before that song, and band, made it into the Christian mainstream music industry. God had given me this vision for a ministry primarily to small churches with minimal budgets (if any!). A ministry founded on discipleship as it was truly meant to be. Just as Jesus demonstrated with His relationship to the 12 disciples.
That weekend God allowed my mind and heart to race as I began the early stages of preparing a plan for this ministry. Over a two day period, God had allowed me to dream and utilize my business background from college to create a business plan, goals, mission statement, budget, etc... It was amazing! In all of this dreaming, all I could think of was "Imagine Ministries....stepping out of our imagination and into the reality of reaching lost students for Jesus Christ." What an awesome challenge!
While still on the high of this God-given vision, I sought wise counsel from one of my best-friends, Charlie Mooney, and two of my mentors, Dick Bagwell and Ben Phillips. After sharing with Charlie, he realized that this was something that God might be calling him to help start this with me. He took the challenge and became Vice-President and Executive Producer of Imagine Ministries, Inc. After speaking with these other two godly men, I had been assured that this was a God-sized opportunity and a most definite need in today's churches.
We soon began to promote via word of mouth and a free website by innerC Productions. We felt God had called Imagine to train, equip, and prime the teenagers within the church to realize their potential and call to be "true" disciples of Him. We knew that the best way to do this was through small group bible studies that involve alot of relationship time between the leader and the student. Disciple Now Weekends and camps were and still are our primary sources of doing this. We also felt that God had called Imagine to utilize college-aged students by giving them opportunities to do ministry while advancing their education. God knew exactly what He was doing, it was us that struggled with that.
In October of 2001, Imagine Ministries led it's first Disciple Now Weekend at White Oak Baptist Church in Chattanooga, TN with 8 college students from south Arkansas and a band from Tampa, FL. Since this first opportunity, Imagine has formed partnerships with different collegiate ministries and worship leaders and networked with other churches to increase ministry opportunities throughout the U.S. Imagine has begun writing our own bible study material, promotional items, and planning resources.
In the summer of '03, Imagine partnered with Humble Rock Christian Camp and put on our first camp...Impact Camps. Shortly after this camp, Charlie stepped down from his position with Imagine Ministries and stared a writing ministry with Doug McPherson called Mathetes Ministries. Mathetes writes most of the bible study material for Imagine.
In the fall of '03, Imagine Ministries officially became a 501-c(3) non-profit corporation. We have ministered alongside churches through bible study resources, planning aids, and entire Disciple Now Weekends and conferences in Alaska, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Tennessee. We can't wait to see what God will do next!
