Vernon and Ashley take you through every room where they broke the news that they're planting a church in Charlotte. The kids around the dinner table. Ashley's parents, Pastor Mike and Kathy. The Christian Hills board. The whole congregation on a Sunday morning. Each room reacted differently. Each room mattered.

This episode covers the six months they held this news quietly, the audible gasp when they finally told the church, and the hard week that came right after the high of going public. They talk about what it means to bring your kids into a decision this big, what it's like to tell your father-in-law he's about to lose you as his worship pastor, and why the emotional crash after a big announcement can hit harder than the announcement itself.

There's a deck in Vernon's old neighborhood that sat unfinished for twenty years. Every board in place except two. Nobody plans to stop at 99 percent, but somehow that's where the story ends.

This week, Vernon and Ashley finally tell their congregation what they've been sitting on for months. It starts in Genesis 11, with a family that set out for Canaan and settled in Haran instead, and it ends with the biggest news of their lives: they're leaving Christian Hills to plant Extended Grace Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.

This episode is the real thing, recorded live the morning they told their church family. You'll hear the tears, the laughter, the fourteen years of history behind the decision, and the question they leave everyone sitting with: where's your Haran?

Scripture referenced: Genesis 11:27-12:1, Acts 7:2-4, John 10:12, John 15:16, Romans 8:28-31

Connect with Extended Grace Church:[website] · [give]

For the first two episodes, you've heard the story of the calling. This time, Vernon and Ashley slow down and explain the heart behind it all: where the name Extended Grace actually came from, what it means, and why it stuck even though neither of them expected a "church name" to sound quite like this one.

They also break down their mission statement, "Formed by Jesus together, to become like Jesus for others," phrase by phrase, including the theology behind how they believe real transformation happens. Then they turn to South Charlotte itself: who's moving in, what they're carrying with them, and why this specific community is who Extended Grace exists to reach.

It's part origin story, part theology lesson, and part honest look at what they're praying for as the move gets closer.

Learn more or get involved at extendedgracechurch.com.

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Keywords: church planting, church plant podcast, Extended Grace, South Charlotte, Matthews NC, spiritual formation, Christoformity, Dallas Willard, Fellowship of Christian Assemblies, FCA, co-pastors, church name meaning, mission statement, new churc