WHO

WE

ARE

THE 12 SPRINGS STORY

With a call many years in the making, a disenchantment with typical Evangelical church, and a desire for the "weightier matters of the law," (Matt. 23:23) we started 12 Springs in living rooms in March of 2015. Our aim was simple - let's take Jesus seriously on this whole "love your neighbor and love God" thing. Our homeless neighbor? Yep. Our neighbor of a different racial background? Yep. Our gay neighbor? Yep. Our drug-addicted neighbor? Yep. Our incarcerated neighbor? Yep. Yep. Yep. Then, let's do that in a creative way in the Rosemary District in Sarasota. Let's be authentic with our doubts and questions. Let's allow the Bible to teach us through the lens of Jesus' love and teachings. Let's create a space where post-church Christians will feel welcomed, where deconstruction is welcome, and where we fight for a community where differing theologies can (and should) coexist. This, indeed, makes us a peculiar people who push back against a status quo that harms or dehumanizes anyone that doesn't fit the correct mold.

We've been on this path for more than a decade now. God has been with us. God has been faithful. People are baptized. Those who feel unloved, misunderstood, or otherwise outcast are finding community together.

Join us.

JUSTICE

Opportunities to serve others abound on Sunday mornings with multiple teams to join. We have a strong benevolence ministry helping people with real needs like rent, groceries, or bus fare and a memorial fund that helps those with mental health struggles.

FAITHFULNESS

We join together with 23 other congregations in Sarasota and research complex community problems and offer solid solutions to officials at our annual Nehemiah Assembly drawing over 1000 people. Through this ministry we have reduced youth arrests, gotten a treatment court in place for homeless individuals with mental illness, and we are currently working to increase affordable housing in the city. S.U.R.E.

MERCY

Sundays at 10 am we worship - we have multiple teams you could be involved with that make our worship times special. We also believe that God has uniquely gifted you to expand his kingdom and reach people in your context - we will help you do that too. Rhythm groups meet regularly throughout the year with church-wide Lenten Bible studies in the spring.

AT 12 SPRINGS WE ARE CREATIVE, AUTHENTIC, BIBLICAL AND INTENTIONAL.

WHY 12 SPRINGS?

In Exodus 27, God is leading his people in the wilderness after escaping 400 years of slavery in Egypt. These people don’t really know God. They haven’t pursued their religion much under the thumb of Pharaoh and they’re not sure if they can trust God. They get thirsty and start to grumble. But God leads them to a place called Elim where there are 12 Springs and 70 Palm trees – symbolically enough water and shade for every person in the 12 tribes of Israel – “…and they rested there by the water.” This is both a response to an immediate need and a promise for the future. God is one who cares for us even when we grumble, when we can’t see him, or don’t trust his goodness yet. He is a God who brings us rest in the middle of a crazy world. But soon the Israelites would face enemies and unbelievable obstacles. It would become clear that Elim was more than just rest…it was preparation for the mission God had for them.

At 12 Springs Church we are a place of rest, restoration, and preparation for the lifelong ministry to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.