New songs for modern missional worship, rich in Christian teaching and contextualized in modern culture. Contemporary hymns, psalms, songs of lament and praise written by members of the Louisville, KY-based Sojourn Community.
“Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.” Psalm 43:3
Former Sojourners Nick and Brittany Nye recently moved to Columbus, Ohio, home of the largest university in the country, Ohio State. They’ve settled into a neighborhood known as The Short North, which is Columbus’ arts district. There, they planted Veritas Community Church, making use of the call that God placed on their lives and the skills, knowledge and networking experience gained during their time in Louisville.
Veritas (the name is taken from the Latin word for “truth”) exists to carry the gospel to this city of nearly a million residents. “Reaching college students can be challenging because of the stage of life they’re in and their demanding social and academic schedules. And the arts community has deep roots here as it does in Louisville, which contributes many eclectic insights into life and spirituality that at times stray from the truth of the gospel,” said Nick Nye, the former intern and community group leader at Sojourn who also completed a Masters in Divinity with an emphasis in church planting while at Southern Seminary in Louisville.
The Nye’s and baby daughter Viola moved to Columbus in mid November and launched weekly Sunday night core group meetings in their house on January 6. With Nick as lead pastor and Brad Snyder and Jesse Evans rounding out the leadership team, these men and their wives form a nucleus that has already grown to include quite a few committed co-laborers and prayer partners in Columbus, Louisville and around the country. In addition to individual partnerships, Veritas is a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, as well as a new church planting network based out of Indianapolis called Heart of the City and the Acts 29 network.
The challenges are many. Veritas’ neighbors in Columbus tend to be highly educated, sexually active (both homosexual and heterosexual), devoted to career, transient, with a liberal social conscience that celebrates diversity yet is skeptical of organized religion (especially Christianity), and a secular, postmodern outlook. Though the fifteenth largest city in the U.S., not many churches operate in Columbus. And as with most cities, churches have mainly settled in the suburbs rather than the center of urban activity.
“Columbus, specifically our neighborhood The Short North, has the largest homosexual population (in the U.S.) outside of San Francisco, which is a fact that surprises many. The challenge is not homosexuality per se, but many in the homosexual community come to the Short North to get away from all the ‘fundamentalist’ or ‘religious zealots’ so when we come around talking about Jesus, we get a lot of resistance,” Nick said. “That’s why building good relationships is important. Also, because Ohio is a more northern state, not only is the weather a bit cooler, but the spiritual climate is as well. Columbus functions more like the Northeast than the Midwest, meaning we’re more likely to find people here who are unchurched than are over-churched, but of course both exist.”
Both Nyes, Ohio natives who planned to begin a church in Seattle before finding that God was drawing them back to their home state, feel that the experiences gained in Louisville will help them in this new setting. Brittany was one of the founding members of Sojourn’s news journal Travelogue, and is using the skills developed here to write the Veritas newsletters and E-Vox, the weekly email updates to their core group.
Along with Nick she led a community group and coached other leaders. Brittany was also involved in Sojourn Kids, which fostered her desire to see kids’ church be a valuable, cross-centered teaching time. She participated heavily in other aspects of Sojourn community life, including making meals for families in need through the hospitality ministry, and she hopes to integrate the same loving principles into community life at Veritas. Finally, opportunities to fellowship in Sojourn’s Women’s Ministry, including a Bible study for moms led by Sandie Dostal, gave her a greater vision for Christ-centered relationships that she intends to carry over to Veritas’ Women’s Ministry.
As previously noted, Nick was a community group leader and coach for other leaders. He was also a pastoral intern for one year, devoting anywhere from ten to forty hours a week to various needs of the church. He revamped the assimilation process at Sojourn and aided in the transition during our move to The 930. “It was a tough road because I was the first intern Sojourn had, so half the time I had no idea what I was doing, which was definitely humbling. I had to learn to trust the Lord with my time as I was working part-time, trying to sell our house, preparing to be a father, and going to school full-time,” Nick said.
As an intern, Nick learned much from Sojourn’s leaders, including a growing awareness of his own leadership style. “I learned how to function and what I really need to grow in,” he said. “I feel that Daniel (Montgomery, Sojourn’s Teaching Pastor) especially taught me a lot about leadership.”
All of these experiences helped shape Nick and Brittany for the work God has now called them to do. Though no longer in Louisville, they maintain close connections with brothers and sisters in the gospel here, and welcome support. This is an important part of the gospel: knowing that we’re not a figurative island, cut off from the rest of the body of Christ, but that in cities like Columbus, our fellow laborers are spreading the message of the cross in their local context.
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14