Welcome to Our New Blog!

Let's get started!

Hi folks. I'm Will Flathers and this is a new blog that we've started here at Valley to help us take a fresh look at some familiar topics. We're mainly going to focus on three big themes - gospel, community, and mission - especially as it relates to Gospel Communities (which we will define shortly!).

I was blessed to be part of the Crowded House Church in Sheffield, England, where Steve Timmis and Tim Chester, the authors of Total Church, are pastors. That book has been influential to the way Valley views mission, community, and our calling as a church. I'm certainly not an expert, but I learned a ton from being a member of and leading a Gospel Community in Sheffield, and I'm excited to share that experience.

I'll try to summarize the underlying theology, share how I've seen it applied in the past, and explore how we might live out our beliefs here in Great Falls. I will also try to include some links to various videos and articles that I've found useful. As a disclaimer, I originally wrote some of these posts for Element Christian Church in Santa Maria, California, and I've drawn heavily from Steve and Tim.

If anything in these posts sparks an idea, raises a red flag, or leaves a question in your mind, any of the Valley pastors, elders, or community group leaders would be happy to talk.

Cheers,
Will