What Is For Columbus?

Uniting the Church of Columbus to Be for the City of Columbus

Many Christians feel there is something shifting in Columbus. The collaborative spirit among pastors is thriving. Nonprofits that used to compete are now networking for more impact. Business and workplace leaders are asking how their influence can bless neighborhoods, not just bottom lines. Followers of Jesus across traditions, languages, and zip codes are realizing they’re part of one story God is writing in our city.

This shift is not random and it's not a coincidence. It’s an answer to Jesus’ prayer in John 17: “that they may be one, so that the world may believe.” That’s what For Columbus is all about. It isn’t about an organization or program, but Christians embodying Jesus’ prayer to say “We Are For Columbus.” 

Because many of us are experiencing this fresh work throughout our city, let me frame out how God got us here.

A Theological Beginning

Nearly all “ecumenical” networks fail because they do not root themselves theologically– in what God’s Scriptures call forth for God’s people. But it is the sacred scriptures that give us a vision for the flourishing of cities– Jeremiah’s call to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city” (Jeremiah 29:7) or Isaiah’s vision that flourishing is an outcome of faithfulness to God, available to all people (Isaiah 56). 

We also see a vision for fullness of life where Jesus declares, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). This isn’t just eternal life later—it’s abundant life now: a life marked by peace (John 14:27), joy (John 15:11), and fruitfulness (John 15:5).

When we read the New Testament closely, we see that most of the letters weren’t written to individual congregations but to entire cities: to the saints in Ephesus, the church in Corinth, the believers in Philippi. Paul, Peter, and John were writing not just to one gathering of Christians but to the whole Church in a place—a network of believers who, together, embodied the gospel within their city. This reveals something profound about how God sees His people: not as isolated congregations, but as one Church expressed across many households of faith. That’s the same vision Jesus prayed for in John 17—“that they may all be one, so that the world may believe.” And it’s what Paul calls the Church toward in Ephesians 4—“one body and one Spirit… one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” The unity of believers within a city isn’t a modern strategy—it’s a biblical reality. When the Church of a city lives in relational unity, it becomes a living demonstration of the gospel’s power and a foretaste of the Kingdom where all things are made one in Christ.

For Columbus doesn’t exist just because a few folks thought it was a good idea, it exists to support what God wants to do in our individual lives, the whole Church, and the city.

Our Vision: One Church. One City. For the Good.

Therefore, our vision is simple yet deeply theological: To unite the Church of Columbus to be for the city of Columbus.

We believe the gospel is not only about personal salvation but about the renewal of all things (Colossians 1:20). When the Church lives in relational unity, it becomes a living testimony of God’s reconciling power both to one another and to the city around us.

And again– this isn’t theory or just ideas but it’s active and working right now in Columbus.

Our Role: A Trellis for Gospel Movement

Movements don’t grow because they’re controlled; they grow because they’re cultivated. For Columbus serves as the trellis—the structure that supports the living vine of God’s movement across our city. We don’t direct the growth; we create the conditions and cultivate its capacity.

We create spaces for leaders to connect. We equip and create opportunities to collaborate. And we pour fuel on our God-given mission to catalyze collective action. Our team builds the systems, trust, and shared vision that allow the whole Church to flourish together.

Right now, that trellis needs to grow stronger. As the movement expands, so do the needs for coordination, communication, and care. 

Your investment accelerates:

• Communication across the whole city through expanding our State of Our City (columbus.stateofourcity.com) platform and storytelling capacity.

• Connecting pastors and leaders across denominational and racial divides.

• Catalyze cause-based and neighborhood networks addressing the city’s most pressing issues.

• Equip nonprofits to become healthier, more sustainable, and more collaborative.

• Aligns the opportunities for business and leaders in the workplace. 

• Ensure that the Church’s unified witness remains visible, credible, and Christ-centered.

We’re inviting friends, churches, and patrons to invest not in one program, but in the ecosystem that sustains a citywide gospel movement.

A Closing Word

If we truly feel the gospel-soaked and collaborative spirit rising throughout our city, now is the time to accelerate it by investing in it. God is stirring something beautiful in Columbus! A unity that generations before us have prayed for and that generations after us will inherit. But movements like this don’t grow by accident. They grow when the people of God recognize the moment they’re in and respond with faith, generosity, and courage.

We’re not building an institution; we’re tending a movement of grace. We’re cultivating the trellis so that the living vine of God’s Spirit can bear even greater fruit. Every prayer, every partnership, every dollar given strengthens the shared life of the Church in our city– helping leaders flourish, churches collaborate, and neighborhoods experience the love of Christ in tangible ways.

So this is a moment for all of us to say “yes.” Yes to Jesus’ prayer in John 17. Yes to the unity of the Spirit in Ephesians 4. Yes to a city renewed by the presence of a united Church. Let’s not wait for someone else to carry it forward. Let’s step in together so that the fullness of Christ may be seen and felt across Columbus.