Lead Pastor Chris Vaught explains how Connection Point Church helps people find purpose and a sense of belonging.
Connection Point Church (CPC)
Jackson, Missouri
Website: YourCPC.church
Founded: 1959
Connection Points: Undercover Ambassadors, Starting Point, Small Groups, Serve Teams
A 2024 Outreach 100 Church
Describe the community and culture in and around Connection Point Church.
Ours is a very stout German community, highly Catholic and Lutheran predominantly—very traditional. At CPC we’re very strategic, so several years ago we completed a demographic study of our community. We found out the average age was 28 because a number of young families had moved in to work in the local region. Many of them were totally unchurched.
We knew that if we were going to follow Jesus’ command to go and reach the one, we were going to have to change our methodology. I believe that the greatest tool of evangelism in the local church is motivation. One-on-one invitations—with authenticity of connection—is still the No. 1 reason people come to church. So, we started to create a culture at CPC that is very authentic. Each Sunday draws attendees to applicable preaching, incredible hospitality and a sense of celebration.
As one of Outreach’s 100 Fastest-Growing Churches, how do you define “growth”?
Growth is more than numbers. Is each individual actually connecting deeper to Christ? Are they getting to know him? It’s not to know about him. Do they know him?
Can you tell me more about your church’s practice of getting people initially engaged?
Even before people experience the campus atmosphere, they often encounter members of CPC at various community activities, such as our people volunteering at local schools and running concessions at high school football games to free up parents, who then say, “I want to try out the church that kept me from missing my kids’ games.”
Members of CPC are motivated to invite others to church. Everyone knows someone who isn’t actively attending church. Twice a year, a specific emphasis is made on Sunday morning to invite others. It’s more than an invitation—it’s the power to change one life.
Within 72 hours of the weekend service, each guest receives a phone call or text message from the church to welcome them back the next weekend. We also ask if there’s anything we can do to help them through our prayer ministry or to get connected to a small group. Guests are invited to our next Starting Point event on Sunday afternoons where we offer more information about church life and provide dinner.
We also have what we call “Undercover Ambassadors” on site at each service. They don’t wear a name badge, and nobody knows who they are. But they walk around looking for people who look like they don’t know where to go or they’re overwhelmed by this building. The ambassador’s job is simply to walk up and have a conversation—to make a connection.
How are people invited and guided through CPC’s Connect, Grow, Go process?
On campus, our staff and volunteers help make the initial connection. After getting guests’ contact information, we follow-up that next week and invite them to Starting Point, a group or serve team. Throughout the process, we share with them that God’s doing something special here at CPC. We work hard to help them find a sense of belonging.
You have to go after them early. And you have to say things like, “I don’t want you just to connect here. I want you to come help us grow this church.” Or, “I don’t want you to fill a spot. I want you to help us build the kingdom.” We help people find purpose at CPC.
In what ways does your retention strategy include children, youth and adults?
Each ministry follows the same pattern. It looks different in every age group, of course, but the same strategic pattern is there: the Connect, Grow and Go and what that entails for everyone at every stage of life.
For example, our children’s department is raising up seven- and eight-year-olds to serve as greeters in the lobby. When they see someone who’s sick, they will walk up to them and start laying hands on and praying over them.
How has a specific person or family grown over time as a member of Connection Point?
A police officer and his family who weren’t raised in church started attending CPC. They have three boys in our children’s ministry. Every week the kids are given an incredible handout that breaks down everything they did that day—the message with application points and study questions for the family to discuss at home during the week. Teachers encourage families to make talking about God normal in their homes.
This young police officer said his favorite time of the week was sitting down and discussing the questions. He was amazed at what he was learning. He gave his life to Christ, was baptized and now participates in a small group with his wife.
Another story begins with a man who was riding a motorcycle wrecked his bike right outside the church one Sunday morning. CPC’s medical team performed CPR until first responders could take this man, who was in critical condition, to the hospital. Thankfully, he lived and entered into months of rehab. The church’s medical team continued to check in on him and his family. They even built a ramp into his home for when he was released from rehab.
Here’s a man who shouldn’t be alive and found Christ. It wasn’t off of a sermon. It wasn’t because of some creative thing we did. It was just people living out their faith and loving him through one of the hardest tragedies of his life. That man and his entire family didn’t know Jesus and have since come to know Christ and are active members of CPC. This is how the church is supposed to work.
