“Take two unique churches located on the opposite side of the island from each other that are full of imaginative, talented people and figure out a way for them to become one big family and pool their gifts and resources
“Take two unique churches located on the opposite side of the island from each other that are full of imaginative, talented people and figure out a way for them to become one big family and pool their gifts and resources so that the coupling makes both faith communities flourish in a much greater way.”
That is how Pastor Rick Bundschuh explains the merger of Southside’s Kauai Christian Fellowship and Kilauea’s North Shore Christian Church into one church with two campuses.
“Unfortunately a lot of churches grow through division,” Bundschuh said. “We are trying to grow the opposite way.”
Now known as Kauai Christian Fellowship North Campus, the Kilauea church staff will be shared with the South Campus in a rare model of rotation.
“Because we are one church in two places we want both communities to experience the same teaching, the same special events and worship music so we will generally rotate our teaching pastors and bands so that both sides of the island get the benefit of our strengths,” said Bundschuh. “We will have some things that are indigenous to one campus or the other, such as our South Side Sports Center, but the good ideas and strong DNA from either side that can be replicated will be. It’s a noble experiment.”
The North Shore location will remain the same but already the church has invested in what worship leader Jeremy Hartshorn calls “an upgrade” adding, “Sound has always been tricky in this location due to the high ceilings and concrete floors. To manage this, we’ve replaced our old system with state-of-the-art Bose towers and added a large curtain for the back wall. The place has never sounded better.”
“We’ve replaced worn out chairs, beefed up the presentation, ambiance and even added a terrific coffee and latte service for Sunday morning so that the worship and fellowship experience has the same feel regardless of which side of the island you attend KCF.”
Pastor Stephen Thompson, founding pastor of North Shore Christian Church, remains a key player in the new mix.
“Steve is the face of the ministry on the North Shore” says Bundschuh, “Everyone knows him and loves his big-hearted way of relating with people, not to mention his skill in Bible teaching. We are anxious for folks on the South campus to get to know him.”
The kickoff of the new fusion will be at the North Campus, 4000 Kilauea Road, with a free special worship concert at 7 p.m. Sunday headlined by worship leader Brenton Brown.
“We hope that folks from all around the island will join us to celebrate this new blend on Sunday evening, it’ll be a great hour of terrific worship music,” Bundschuh said.
