Capstone Church

One of Capstone’s values is the family. We believe that the family is key to a successful ministry. So we are going to have a family day this Sunday. We are planning on meeting at the Main Picnic Shelter of Heritage Park in Simpsonville at 11am. You bring a picnic basket lunch for your family and we will provide drinks /dessert and entertainment. This will be a great time to get to know those in the Capstone family you might not be familiar with. Come and be a part of Capstone’s Family Day

Sunday Sept 7th we will begin meeting weekly for Capstone Discovery.  We will be at the Fountain Inn Activities Center starting at 10:30am till 11:45am.This will be a time we will begin to train our leadership what it means to be a missionary in our community.  This will be a very hands on time where we will start to look at the tools needed to build a new kind of church.  If you have questions about Capstone, the month of September would be a great time to come hear about the DNA of this new church. Read the rest of this entry »

“I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.  The stone the builders rejected has become the CAPSTONE…” Psalm 118:21-22 NIV

Friday night Capstone Church had its first official event with our Public Vision Casting.  We had 50 adults and over 40 children at the 08.08.08 event.  The night was filled with food, fellowship, inflatable slides, and vision.  There was much excitement in the air for the idea of a new church in Fountain Inn.

This was a big first step in the life of Capstone.  There have been many months of discussions and thoughts on Capstone in the city. This was the beginning of what we believe will change many lives and a city. 

In the next several weeks we will be visiting churches around SC to see how other models are reaching those in their community.  Stay tuned for information on where we will be heading.

We are less than a month away from our first vision casting meeting.  The Vision Casting will be on 08.08.08 and is for everyone interested or curious about Capstone Church.  Both I (Walt) and Chris will be speaking about the vision, mission, and plans for this new church for Fountain Inn. 

We will be having FREE FOOD for anyone who wants to listen to this crazy idea called Capstone.  The meeting will be at the Barrineau’s home on Main St. If you could please email Chris at Chris@Capstonechurch.net and mention your numbers (kids welcomed) that would help us make sure we have plenty of food.

After this meeting we will have a better idea of those who want to start this journey with us on Sept 7th as we begin meeting together as a Core Team for Capstone Discovery.  You will have to come on 08.08.08 find out more on Capstone.

 Hope to see you on 08.08.08

Some folks might be wonerding: “Why does Fountain Inn need another church?”  It is a valid question.  The South is often called the Bible Belt because of the number of churches located here.  And the Upstate of South Carolina is sometimes referred as  the Buckle of the bilbe belt because of the image of “churches on every corner.” 

Yes it is true that there are many churches, esp in the South.  Buth not is all good in the church world in North America.  Check out a few of these stats:

These are just a few of the disturbing numbers that have led many to say that the North American church is dying.  There are millions of people who don’t know Christ and don’t see the local church in a positive light. 

Capstone wants to change that.  We want Christ to transform lives, save families, and impact a community.  Our message of truth will be the same Good News Christ taught, but the package might look a little different.  In Matthew 9 Jesus said:

“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.”

Capstone wants to be that new wineskin.

The word “church” has taken on new meaning for me these past few months.  In an effort to prepare my wife and three kids on this idea of a new and different church we have been experimenting with a lot of different Sunday morning activities.  At first we just visited different churches.  This is really fun to do because it is great to see all of the different styles that are out there.  It is going to take all kinds to reach all kinds and it has been refreshing to see that happening in our extended area. 

But the reason the word “church” has taken on a new meaning lately is that we have stepped out of our normal go to church ways and started looking for different ways to be the church.  One Sunday, we were able to visit our old neighbor who was in the hospital.  My son read her a Bible Story (she had been his Sunday School teacher at our former church) and we prayed with her.  On Father’s Day we just stayed at home and cooked a big breakfast and talked with our kids about how God is our Heavenly Father.  Last week we became aware of an opportunity to really be the church.  A friend of ours found out about a new church that had been serving a hot breakfast to the homeless men and women in downtown Greenville.  We decided to check it last week.  The Barrineau’s and Bagwell’s joined them and helped serve breakfast to over 40 people.  It was quite the experience for my three kids.  My youngest, Libby was so sweet as she went around and handed honey buns out to everyone.  Well, it just so happened that they needed someone to cook this week, because it was the 5th Sunday.  We told them we would cover it, so Capstone had their first official missions project today.  My wife organized a wonderful meal of breakfast casseroles, biscuits, fruit, grits, juice and water (we also had more honey buns for Libby to hand out). 

This to me became the true definition of what “church” is - loving God and loving your neighbor.  I pray that this is just the beginning of how Capstone “Church” is defined. 

“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.”  1 Peter 2: 22

I (Chris) thought I would give an update on just how Capstone came to be and what we are up to these days as we wait for our fearless leader to join us in August.  We have felt God leading us to start something new here in Fountain Inn for a while now.  This winter, when we stepped out on faith and totally depended on God all the parts started falling into place.  Walt and Betsy caught the vision too and decided Fountain Inn was the place for them in early February.  During the last few months we have had the opportunity as a family to grow closer together and closer to God, experience many different “church activities” (more on this later) and receive valuable training on church planting that has really challenged us.  During that same time we have been able to talk with a lot of people about what we are trying to do in here.  It is great to see and hear other people get excited about transforming a city and not just starting a new cool church.  We can’t wait until August when we officially get started on this journey.  In the meantime, we are going to continue to seek God and those that He is leading to Capstone.  Please continue to pray for us as we prepare for the battle that lies ahead…

Welcome to the Capstone Church Blog. We (Walt and Chris) will update this website weekly with news and information about the upcoming church plant in Fountain Inn, SC. We are so excited about what God has planned for Capstone. Our vision for His church is that we are transforming lives and a city. Stay tuned for the latest news on Capstone.

We want to hear comments on what you think about Capstone coming to town. Let us know.