Our Story
Our beginnings
If you would have told me years ago when I walked into a counseling office to deal with my childhood pain that Jesus was going to use those wounds to bring healing to others, I would have thought you were crazy. I walked out of that office into saying yes to mentor one girl, which resulted in twenty of her friends starting to gather in my living room. We looked at the life of Jesus and as He collided with wounded people in the New Testament and brought about healing, He too, collided with each one of us and began to bring about healing.
It was this group of young women that said yes to trying an experiment we called “Collide” which was the beginning of shaping gatherings that have grown from fitting into my living room into now out-growing most local churches. We invite women to be real about their brokenness because it’s there that God meets us and does His greatest work. Collide now impacts thousands of women a year and word is spreading.
We are drawing women from all walks of life. Women in the church, Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians and women outside the church who have wanted little to do with Christianity. We have women who are 17 and women who are 87 sitting on the same pews. We have meth addicts, professors, lawyers, pastors, single women, married women, stay at home moms, working moms, all colliding.
As this experiment began growing like crazy, events weren’t enough. We had women coming out of hundreds of closets with all their brokenness. Everyday women who were suicidal, cutting, sexually victimized, battling eating disorders and addictions were drawn to us in extraordinary numbers. Collide quickly became a place where women could be real. As we were giving them permission to be authentic with their stories, we were also assuring them that God would meet them there. We have life by life, person by person, story by story, attempted to meet women’s needs, and we’re so excited to partner with God to continue to help women collide with Him. I hope you will come along with us and collide and be changed and then together we can change lives.
Who we are. Who we are not.
We are everyday women running into Jesus.
We have indigestion, PMS, anxiety, and bad hair days. We work jobs, serve on PTA boards, sit on church committees, coach sports and attempt to bless our neighbors. We have different skin colors, generational experiences, faith backgrounds and economic status’. We like Cheetos and red wine, candles, a good book and a walk on the beach. We get insecure and let fear get in our way sometimes. We are your neighbors, your friends, your everyday women.
Get to Know Us
Mission, Values & Beliefs
Our Mission
Collide invites people of all experiences, stages, ages, and faith backgrounds, as imperfect or broken as they may be on their journey, to authentically run into Jesus; as He collides with them, they are forever transformed.
Our Values
They are something we live, not just something we teach.
We value women colliding with Jesus and His teachings.
We value and encourage authenticity (telling our story as it really is).
We value recognizing brokenness so it can be made whole.
We value the experience and support that comes from an intergenerational community of women of all ages, church backgrounds, life experiences, and faith stages.
We value teaching a theology that runs into the holistic parts of who we are, to encourage a healthy spirituality.
We value pushing towards growth and next steps to go further on one’s journey with God.
We value challenging, equipping and inspiring people to serve, lead, minister and use their gifts in order to live into their God-given purpose and change lives.
Our Beliefs
Here at Collide, we are committed to centering around Jesus. There are many theological disputes, political divides, and heated discussions occurring in our current climate, but Collide continually returns to one essential statement called the Apostle’s Creed. This creed was an early statement of Christian belief that stands the test of time and sums up our core theology. It is our guiding statement of faith as we seek to collide with Jesus.
Apostles Creed
We believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
We believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended to the dead.
On the third day, He rose again; He ascended into heaven,
He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He will come to judge the living and the dead.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Collide Staff
