The Renovatus Story
“In 2002, my church youth group wanted to start a coffee house; a place where they could bring friends to meet Jesus and to find purpose for their lives,” recalls Kevin Woods when asked how Renovatus got its beginning. “That was the beginning place where God began to reshape my heart’s definition of what it meant to BE church.” At the same time, God began to germinate a vision in the hearts of Stan and Gena Granberg to begin an organization later to be called Kairos, which would assist individuals and churches in planting new churches.
Two years later, in September of 2004, Kevin and Brenda Woods left a 27-year career in youth ministry to begin preparations for a church that would issue a simple challenge: Allow the presence of Jesus Christ to transform one’s heart back to its original purpose; its intended beauty. After a year of praying, dreaming, and listening, the Renovatus Church of Christ was born; the first of the Kairos ever-growing number of church plants.
“I served as the Vancouver Church of Christ’s youth minister for fourteen rich years! It became a safe place to dream and grow. I owe so much to those friends,” explains Kevin. With the blessing of those Christians, the Woods, with a team of seven others who shared Kevin’s vision, launched Renovatus on September 25, 2005 in the gymnasium of the Mill Plain Elementary School. Since then, while Renovatus has changed locations from that school to a grange hall to a tech center and on to variety of neighborhood meeting places, some things never changed: a passion to make Renovatus safe place for the first timer, a community where one can honestly bring hurts and praise to a loving God, and a place to find one’s life-purpose and meaning!
Paramount in the Renovatus biblical groundings are these words from Isaiah 61: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the broken hearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteous they will be like great oaks that the Lord planted for his own glory.” Kevin observes, “These words shape our language, our behaviors, and our hearts.”