We are a network of missionaries that connect to one another for the purpose of worshiping Jesus and supporting various missional callings- from small individual efforts, to medium size teams serving specific community needs, to full fledged non-profits addressing societal issues. In short, we cultivate good works.
Where did the name come from?
A witness tree is a living tree that has lived through monumental moments in history serving to remind people of that moment. For us, the most significant moment in human history is the incarnation, life, death, resurrection of Jesus and imminent hope of the Son of God’s return. The Church has been the metaphorical tree of this most significant reality.
Jesus said that his followers would bear witness of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to the world.
Trees throughout scripture have served as powerful symbols, most notably as a symbol for life. Scripture begins and ends with the Tree of Life and scripture’s climax, the cross of Jesus, is referred to as a tree.
The tree from which our logo is derived is called a Bristlecone Pine. It is a species of tree known for its resiliency through very harsh conditions and inhospitable soil. The oldest living single species of tree said to be approximately 4,800 years old is a Bristlecone Pine. Our desire, like this tree, is to continually bear witness of Jesus Christ despite the hostile environment in which we live.
A missional community is a group of people who love and worship Jesus, live in genuine community with one another, serve one another, and engage together in mission. These groups typically gather weekly in a home to share a meal and walk through life side by side. They also either serve regularly as a group or intentionally support and encourage one another in the specific mission fields where they feel called.
Worship, community, and mission are the three essential elements of any healthy missional community. However, the way these three aspects take shape will vary depending on the type of group. It’s important to recognize that each one requires its own time and space to flourish. Worship, community, and mission do not always occur in equal measure, and we can not expect to experience them all fully in a single gathering. In fact, trying to force all three of these into every setting can unintentionally diminish one or more aspects. For example:
This is why it’s important to intentionally make room in our schedules for different kinds of gatherings. We need times where worship, spiritual growth, and prayer can be the focus, as well as times dedicated to active mission. Only when we give space for each aspect to thrive will a missional community remain healthy and balanced.
In the traditional Western sense—no. In the Biblical sense—yes.
Over time, much of the Western church has shifted its focus. “Church” has often become defined as a building with a paid staff who run programs and services (to those inside the community). Large amounts of money are spent on buildings, programming, and salaries, while comparatively little goes directly into serving the community and those in need. People are often seen as attendees or participants, while ministry is left to the professionals. Sunday services are treated as the main event, polished and entertaining, with programs for every age group where staff are viewed as the primary disciplers of the whole community. If this is your definition of church, then no—we are not that kind of church.
The Church we see in the New Testament looks quite different. It was made up of everyday people who lived as missionaries—worshiping together, serving one another, and living sacrificially for the advancement of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. They took seriously the call to pick up their crosses and follow Jesus wherever He led. We aren’t trying to create a new model of church; rather, we want to return to what the Church was always meant to be.
As Brian Sanders writes in Microchurches:
“It is time we stopped imagining the church as something we have to invite people into and see it as something that is blessed to be broken and given to the world.”
With this in mind, our Sunday gatherings aren’t the “main event” of the week. Instead, they are a time to come together, remember who we are in Christ, and be sent back out into the world as missionaries. We believe every follower of Jesus is called to actively participate in God’s work—going and making disciples, bringing light into dark places, and showing God’s love to everyone we meet.
Because of this, rather than investing the majority of our time, money, and resources into buildings and large staff structures, we invest into mission and community. Instead of using the resources God has entrusted to us to build our own comfort, we believe they are best invested in His people and His eternal kingdom. If your understanding of church looks more like the New Testament vision, then yes—we are a church.
Our missional communities gather most Sundays to worship, learn, and rest together. We believe the language we use is important in how it helps remind us of our identity and purpose as followers of Jesus. Therefore we intentionally don’t call these times “services” because we want to avoid the idea of entertainment or consumerism. Instead, we want to remind ourselves that we are all called to participate in the life and mission of the Church, not just observe.
Our gatherings focus on biblical teaching, worship through prayer and song, and being reminded of who God is and the mission Jesus has called us into. They’re also a time to find rest and encouragement as we return from serving in various areas of mission during the week. We are intentional about simplicity in our gatherings as well. By valuing simplicity when we gather, we are able to give more of our time, resources, and money to other people and areas of mission throughout the week.
Several times each year, we observe something we call “Sabbath Sunday.” Just as God rested on the seventh day of creation and calls us to embrace Sabbath rest, approximately every seventh Sunday we pause from our regular corporate gathering and set aside the day for renewal. What this looks like may vary—some may spend the day resting at home in pajamas, others might enjoy a hike, spend time with neighbors, or worship with another community. However it’s spent, the heart of Sabbath Sunday is to experience a full day of rest and delight in God. These dates will be announced on the website and posted in advance on the website calendar
Yes! Scripture places great value on giving praise to God through music and song (Psalm 95), and we reflect that in our Sunday gatherings in a variety of ways. Our worship may look a little different from a traditional church service. While we do sing songs led by members of our church family, we also make use of recorded music time. For us, the focus of worship is always God, not the form in which the music is played. Using recorded songs offers many benefits: it prevents burnout for those who lead music, frees up more time for missional service instead of constant rehearsals, keeps our focus on God rather than the worship leader, and helps us cultivate simplicity both in our gatherings and in our daily lives. We draw from a rotating set of about 25–30 songs. Having a smaller, consistent set allows these songs to become familiar and memorized, which helps us worship more fully from the heart without the distraction of learning something new each week. It also reduces the amount of practice required for those who help lead, freeing them to invest more time in people and service outside the church walls. At times, our gatherings also include songs of reflection that are meant to be listened to. These are songs with a biblical message, but not necessarily songs of worship to sing. However, these songs can be purposeful in that they help remind us of who God is, who we are in Him, and what He has called us to do. Because we value discipling our kids into leaders, we intentionally involve them in the leading of worship, knowing that their participation and spiritual growth is far more important than musical perfection. On some Sundays, we also worship to songs that are designed especially for children as they are just as much an important part of the church family as adults. Our hope is to help children experience the joy of worshiping God through songs. In addition to music, we worship together through the reading of Scripture and prayers, grounding our hearts and minds in God’s truth.
We believe that children are just as much a vital part of the body of Christ as adults are. We believe it is essential for both adults and children to embrace this truth, and for children to grow up experiencing their value and belonging within the life of the church. In many church contexts, children are separated from the broader congregation until they reach a certain age, at which point they are expected to naturally integrate into the wider church community. However, this approach often leads to negative consequences as children grow up feeling disconnected from the main body and become accustomed to programs designed primarily for age specific entertainment. As a result, they struggle to engage meaningfully with the life and mission of the Church when they are older. This disconnection can sometimes lead to disengagement or departure from church life altogether. In contrast, we have witnessed the benefits of including children in all church gatherings from an early age. When children are given opportunities to participate meaningfully—through worship, service, and relationships—they begin to understand that they are valued members of the body of Christ. This fosters a strong sense of identity, purpose, and spiritual formation. Our desire is for every child to grow up knowing that he or she is an essential part of the Church—not only in the future, but right now. Therefore, as much as possible, we encourage parents to bring their children into the Sunday morning gathering. Even if a child is too young to fully understand the message or discussion, he or she is still learning by watching and listening as the church worships, prays, and engages together. Most importantly, they begin to experience that they are already part of the church family—not just someday in the future, but right now. We understand that kids make noise, and we’re okay with that! To support parents, we offer “buddies” each week; trusted volunteers who can sit with your child during the service if you’d like. Younger children can use one of our “buddy bags,” filled with quiet activities. Their buddy will sit with them, assist as needed, and gently encourage them to participate and listen while playing quietly. We believe kids will benefit in many ways through this experience, plus they are then able to build connections with older church members they are buddied up with.
We understand that livestreams can be an important tool for people to use in discerning if a church is a good fit for them. However, we do not livestream currently for two reasons; First, if you want to see if Witness Tree is for you then we encourage you to join us in mission outside of a Sunday gathering context. Second, people often confuse serving God as only serving the function of a church gathering. People often give large amounts of their time contributing their skills to worship components of a Sunday service that they have no time to serve God outside of that time. Livestreams, if done well, are one of those components that consume much time and resources (if not done well are simply distracting). We do record the audio from the sermon portion of our gatherings for members who missed the gathering or want to refer back to what they heard.
We encourage you to read through our Core Values carefully as they serve as a foundation for Witness Tree’s decision making, regular function as well as a basis for membership in our network. From that document specifically in regards to theology, ecclesiology and missiology…
“To DIE to ourselves means…
Turn from unorthodox Theology – Distorted truth leads to destruction.
Turn from narrow Ecclesiology – Fighting over secondary issues leads to division.
Turn from aimless Missiology – Apathy makes hearers of the word spectators.
To LIVE for more means…
Turn toward Truth, Unity and Action – We will hold fast to biblical truth. We will seek to focus on the primary doctrine that has united the Church from the beginning. We will be doers of the Word, not just hearers, knowing that God is glorified in the work he has called us to do.”
If you have a specific question regarding our beliefs we encourage you to ask a member of our leadership team in person.
Anyone can participate with us during our mission related work regardless of their faith beliefs and choose not to participate in any other Witness Tree gatherings, provided they understand our motivation for “good works” is driven by our desire to glorify God.
Anyone can participate in a missional community gathering and choose not to participate in our Sunday gatherings, provided they desire to serve in some missional service. That can either involve joining with us in what we are already doing, getting support from us to continue serving in a mission they are already engaging in, or have a desire to determine their own calling and allow us to help equip them for that calling.
Anyone is welcome to come to our Sunday morning gatherings provided that they know the One worshipped in this time is Jesus and that they will be continuously encouraged toward greater community and missional involvement. We understand that many have been hurt by their church experiences and need help overcoming that hurt in order to connect and commit to mission. We hope to be a community where that healing can happen, not just for that person’s good, but also for God’s glory.
If you are asking this question, you should know that, of all the questions you could ask, we think this is one of the most important ones and we are excited to help you answer it. This is a question that can not be answered through a website, so we encourage you to ask someone on our leadership team for an answer. A simple overview of the process to determine that answer is this:
For more information, connect to someone on our leadership team in person through a missional service opportunity or a Sunday gathering.