I (matt) graduated high school from Henderson, KY, only 30 miles south of Evansville.
The area and culture of people we are actually "targeting" is the Evansville/Newburgh "stretch" which is considered the East Side of Evansville, but Newburgh is in another county.
Toyota built a plant 30 miles north of downtown Evansville in Gibson County (Princeton), and has seen a considerable amount of economic and demographic development in the last 5 years:
Religiously, the area historically has a German and Catholic background. Having grown up in the area, Christianity can be very cultural and ingrained in the family for generations. After Catholicism, Evangelicalism is probably very much the predominant "religion."
Evangelicalism great contributions in the 70's, 80's, and 90's was a spread of the Gospel; but in some ways, the great "Evangelical Right" which produced alot of cultural and political Christianity probably did as much harm as good to that same Gospel message. Many who are turned off by the Evangelical Culture turn away from Christ for cultural reasons long before they can even hear the true "good news" (the word "Gospel" actual means "good news).
Who we are targeting, in many ways, are those of us (me, Matt, included) who grew up highly influenced by cultural christianity, but walked away from Jesus at some point because the intermingling confusion of the religious Christian culture with Jesus made us lose Jesus and not hear the good news of salvation and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
...I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard
what I have entrusted to him for that day - 2 Tim 1:12b
Separating out, or divesting oneself, from the religious culture of institutionalized Christianity (whether Catholic, protestantism, or mainline evangelicalism) can also mean a wandering or getting lost. Many want and are convicted that they need what the core of the good news (Gospel) is but because of the religious institutionalism created by cultural Christianity that is passed down generationally, they can no longer "hear" the gospel due to cultural noise.
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they
believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without
someone preaching to them? - Romans 10:14
This means we are potentially "breaking traditions" and possibly stretching the boundaries. We want to be allowed to ask the hard questions of theology (who is God?), ecclesiology (what is a "church"?), and doctrine (what does it mean to "teach them everything Jesus commanded"?), and also grounded in the word of God. We want them to understand the meaning in the traditions.
Our greatest hope is that many find Jesus. For some it may be a revival of what was a dying hope. For others it may be really hearing the good news of forgiveness and life in Jesus Christ for the first time. But it doesn't matter where you are on your journey, we urge you to join us on a mission to bring people back to God through the Good News of Jesus Christ. We are hopeing to follow what Jesus has commanded and promised.
We are calling this a JOURNEY and specifically JOURNEY 242. It is based on Acts 2:42 and what happened when the first followers of Jesus Christ shared the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ (with the evidential help of God):
That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.
Links about Evansville:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evansville,_Indiana
2002 Census info: http://www.helloevansville.com/Census.Cfm
University of Southern Indiana's description of Evansville: http://web.usi.edu/iceeagles/evansville.htm
Pictures: http://members.virtualtourist.com/vt/s/?m=6&l.q=bedb9
Downtown Freedom Festival: http://www.evansvillefreedomfestival.org/Festival_2007/Welcome.html
Bluegrass in the Park: http://www.bluegrassintheparkfestival.com/index_main.html?pathid=home
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