theadvance is a night where faith and life collide. We’re a group of high school, college and university students who really enjoy hanging out with each other. Whether you’ve been following Christ for years or are still exploring, we hope you feel welcome. It’s not exactly church the way you may expect it to be either. We’re not interested in people pretending to be something they’re not. Instead, we want you to come as you are because that’s how we believe God takes us—”as is.” We hope that as you hang out with us you’ll experience God in a way that helps you grow into all that God intended you to be and that you’ll meet a bunch of really cool people too.
As a community, our deepest desire is to become more than a worship service or a weekly gathering of people. Our hope is that we become a community that is completely committed to advancing God’s Kingdom at every curve and corner of our lives. We are a community in motion; we are not confined by the walls of a church building. Instead, we are defined by our ability to tell the story of God through the way we live, move, and love within our places of influence on a daily basis.
ART
At theadvance, not only do we believe that art speaks the language of our culture, but that it also honors God when done with excellence. One goal of our community is to cultivate the arts in building the church, helping people understand spiritual truths, and allowing people to use their gifts to worship God. We want to be a haven for artists who have often wondered whether or not their abilities are welcomed in a church setting.
DRAMA
Drama has the power to move the human soul. That’s why you’ll see us doing a lot of theatre at theadvance. We often do sketches in our services to raise issues in a humorous way. Other times the acting will go straight for the heart and move you towards a deeper understanding about yourself, other people, or God.
MUSIC
One of the most visible art forms at theadvance is music. People in our community love music and it’s not uncommon to see people dancing, jumping, raising their hands, and really feeling connected to God through music. At theadvance, we like to use a wide range of music that helps us find some common words to recognize God with or to communicate something. Don’t worry if you don’t know the lyrics, if we’ve got our act together, you’ll see them on a giant screen, feel free to sing along.
MULTIMEDIA
We are a wired generation that probably spends way too much time watching television and movies. The truth is, video has become a dominant way in which we learn and experience new ideas. theadvance often uses video in its services to make a point or to enhance a presentation. Whether it is a clip from a movie, an original music video, a cartoon, or some computer-generated graphics, our multimedia teams will produce some amazing pieces that will bombard the senses.
