During my teen years God gave me a desire to lead a different kind of church. As I would invite friends to church or sit next to people who were new to church, I often wondered if the ideas and concepts being presented to them were being communicated in a way and with language they could grasp and understand. I would watch them go back and forth as they tried to determine which book was the Bible and which was the hymnal, and then, not know where to find the place the pastor was telling everyone to look. These became clear indicators of the kind of church God was calling us to start. I also experienced individuals who "played church." They went through the motions but their personal lives were a mess. No one discussed it, or prayed about it, and eventually those people disappeared. I longed for a church in which people were challenged to follow after Christ while being transparent in the struggle it is to live this way. During my years of graduate training, Christine and I attended a church which was willing to do ministry differently, to creatively present the timeless message in a new, innovative way. It stimulated us to dream of a church that would be innovative and sensitive in its approach to invite people to discover the incredible wonder of a personal relationship with Christ and how to live a life for him every day.
Christine and I were assigned to complete our intern training at High Point Baptist Chapel and we discovered they were interested in recruiting individuals to start new churches. Our first meeting was a small group of five people in our home in September 1991. The group grew to a dozen adults and we launched our initial worship service on Sunday, March 27, 1992, at the Holiday Inn. God then provided a facility in Denver. It was a moving experience to see the room filled with people who wanted to see what this new church was all about. We continued to meet at the Holiday Inn for five months until God provided a facility for us to meet that was located in Fivepointville. We continued in this location for five years. When we outgrew that building God provided our present meeting location at Gehman´s Mennonite School.
We have seen God allow our vision of seeing CCC become a place that gives people the time and space to investigate Christianity. We have seen God reach out and draw people to Himself, as they become followers of Jesus Christ. Cocalico has become a place in which we are discovering how to experience true Biblical community. It has become a place in which there is freedom to wrestle with the day-to-day struggle to follow Christ. CCC is a place to love and be loved, serve and be served, laugh and cry together.