Bellicose is a church in Kansas City














MISSION

Our mission is: The Kingdom Of God. In All Of Life. Together.

The Kingdom of God

Shared Priorities

Jesus taught that we should seek first the kingdom of God and that our hearts follow what we treasure. When we treasure and seek first the kingdom our hearts end up in the same place and we share the same priorities.

In All Of Life

Shared Vision

The bible says to always give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord. When we share a vision for kingdom priorities being fleshed out in all of life, rather than just parts of life it multiplies our opportunities for ministry by removing the limitations of when and where we can do the Lord's work, and takes the pressure off of meetings being our main source of life and church experience.

Together

Shared Responsibility

The new testament is littered with the language of togetherness. When we take ownership and responsibility for kingdom priorities being fleshed out in all of life, specifically in a way that insists on doing things together rather than on our own, it maximizes our impact, increases our joy, and lightens our load because we're carrying it together.

VISION

How We Flesh Out Our Mission

In order to fight for the togetherness of seeking first the kingdom of God in all of life, we organize our church into what we call missional communities.

A missional community is a small family of believers committed to living out God’s mission together in everyday life, to particular people and places.

They are called missional communities because we believe that both concepts of mission and community are essential for maximum impact. Community without mission becomes selfish, codependent, and complacent. Mission without community forfeits one of the greatest apologetics for the gospel.

Each missional community aims to express our gospel identity as a family of missionary, servant, disciples:

Family

In Christ we are sons of God which makes us family.

Missionaries

In Christ we are sent by God which makes us missionaries.

Servants

In Christ we belong to God which makes us servants.

Disciples

In Christ we are saved and sourced by God which makes us disciples.

Missional Community Life

Our missional communities are where the life of our church happens. This is where we do counseling, prayer, deliverance, discipleship, and mission. These are the people who help us move, work on our houses with us, and babysit our kids. These are the people we party with, cry with, eat with, and study the bible with.

Missional Community Gatherings

A missional community is not a weekly event on a specific night, but rather a people. Most of our missional communities do meet regularly on a specific night of the week, but our aim is for the majority of the life we experience and share together to take place outside of a weekly meeting. When, where, and how often a missional community meets is determined by what is necessary to do family, serving, mission, and discipleship well. And that looks different for different missional communities and can look different within a particular missional community based on the season it's in.

Missional Community Disclaimer

We're not passionate about missional communities. We're passionate about the kingdom of God in all of life together. Missional communities are just the way we've chosen to flesh that out in our church. If missional communities ever get in the way of that, then we'll stop doing them and organize our people in some other way.

How Missional Communities Do Mission

These are the five things we do in our missional communities to reach unbelievers and the unchurched.

We pray for the gospel to be proclaimed and believed

We pray for boldness to speak and ears to hear what is spoken.

We build new and existing relationships

We target unbelievers and unchurched professing believers.

We preach the gospel to strangers and those we are building relationship with

We preach the gospel with words and back them up with our conduct. How can they believe unless they hear?

We expose the people we are on mission to, to the family of believers

We show people what Jesus is like by exposing them to how we love one another in the church.

We make people into disciples who make disciples

We make disciples through both informal small group teaching in familial relationships, and formal teaching in large group settings.

More Info On Missional Communities

For a more detailed, in depth look at the practical mechanics of a missional community, click here.

Connecting With A Missional Community

The best and most common way a person connects with a missional community is through an existing relationship with someone who is a part of a missional community. If you know someone in a missional community, reach out to them, and let them know you are interested. If you don't have an existing relationship with someone in a missional community, you can reach out to someone on a Sunday morning. Over 90% of the people attending our Sunday services are a part of a missional community. They would be happy to help connect you with a missional community or introduce you to someone who can.

Values

What Drives Our Mission And Vision

The Glory of God

We value glorifying God as the ultimate goal of God and man
(1Cor 10:31, Is 43:7, Eph 3:21, Rom 11:36, Hab 2:14)

The Gospel

We value finding our identity in the person and work of Jesus and declaring and displaying the good news of the kingdom to the church and the world
(1 Cor 15:1-3, Mark 16:15, Phil 1:27, Luke 8:1, Acts 8:12)

Shared Apostolic Mission

We value being sent by Jesus on mission to make disciples who make disciples and radically reorientating our lives around shared micro missions to particular people and places
(John 20:21, Matt 28:19-20, Mark 8:35, Luke 19:10, Gal 2:7-9)

Holy Spirit Empowerment

We value being baptized or continually filled with the Holy Spirit for service, gospel witness, boldness, power, and spiritual gifts
(Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4-5, 8, 4:31, 1 Cor 2:4-5, 4:20, 12:4-11)

Faith Expressing Itself Through Love

We value faith expressing itself through love as indispensable for pleasing God, fulfillment of the greatest commandments, and the only thing that counts
(Gal 5:6 NIV, Heb 11:6, Matt 22:37-40, 1 Cor 8:3)

Distinct Gender Roles

We value liberating and empowering men and women through distinct, biblical, complementary gender roles.
(Gen 1:27)

Comprehensive Church Expression

We value the church as God's primary means of earthly activity and being every expression of church described in the bible
(Eph 3:9-11, Eph 5:25, Matt 16:18)

  1. People (1 Pet 2:9, Luke 1:17)
  2. Family (Gal 6:10 NIV, Eph 3:15, 1 Tim 5:1-2)
  3. Bride of Christ (Rev 21:2, 9, Luke 1:17)
  4. House of Prayer (Matt 21:13, 1 Pet 2:5, 1 Tim 3:15, Eph 2:19-21, 1 Cor 3:9-15, Matt 16:18, Rom 15:20, 2 Cor 10:8, 13:10)
  5. Pillar of Truth (1 Tim 3:15)
  6. Field (1 Cor 3:5-9, James 1:21)
  7. Fellowship of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 13:14, Acts 2:42, 1 John 1:7)
  8. Flock (1 Pet 5:1-5, John 10:16, Acts 20:28)
  9. Body of Christ (Rom 12:4-8, 1 Cor 12:12-27, Eph 4:1-16)
  10. Salt of the Earth (Matt 5:13)
  11. Light of the World (Matt 5:14-16, Rev 1:20)
  12. Holy Royal Priesthood (1 Pet 2:5, 9)
  13. Holy Nation (1 Pet 2:9, Heb 11:16, 2 Cor 5:20, Eph 6:20, 2:19)
  14. Army (2 Tim 2:3-4, Philemon 1:2, Eph 6:10-20)
  15. Ekklesia (The greek word for "church") (Matt 16:18)

PARTNERSHIP

How We Commit To Our Mission


Partnership is how we do membership at Bellicose. We chose the word partnership rather than membership because it's a word in the bible that we believe in our current cultural context, creates a clearer picture in the minds of those who hear it, of what we believe church commitment should look like.

A partner is someone who has moved from:
attendance to responsibility,
from observing to participation,
from consuming to creating value for others,
from primarily receiving to being an intentional giver,
and from helping to taking ownership.


Our partners are the ones whom our elders are accountable for leading, and who in return are accountable to their elders for growing and participating in the mission of God. Our partners are the ones we count on.

WHY PARTNERSHIP?

  • Commitment: To emphasize the importance of commitment to the church in a culture that deemphasizes commitment in general (1 Cor 15:58)
  • Unity: So that expectations and commitments are clearly defined, helping to lessen the likelihood of confusion and disunity (1 Cor 1:10)
  • Health: To facilitate healthy body life where each part does it’s work (Eph 4:15-16, Rom 12:4-5)
  • Accountability: So the elders know who they are responsible for and members know who they are responsible to. Membership is an official recognition of the elders’ responsibility to keep watch over a member’s soul as those who will have to give an account, and an official recognition of a member’s responsibility to obey and submit to the elders’ authority for building them up. (Heb 13:17, 1 Pet 5:2-3, 2 Cor 10:8)
  • Practicality: So that the elders can best serve, love, care for, and build up the flock that is in their care, and the members can best care for one another (Acts 20:28, 1 Pet 5:1-5, 1 Cor 12:25-26)
  • Mobilization: To effectively mobilize people for mission and discipleship (Matt 28:19-20)
  • Discipline: To effectively exercise healthy church discipline when necessary (1 Cor 5:11-12, Matt 18:15-17)

Fruit Of Partnership

In order for a person to be a partner of Bellicose Church, he or she must be a person that the other partners in the missional community can count on, who is committed to the mission of the church, and who shows fruit of that commitment in all three of the specific areas of the church's mission. The following items are meant to be examples of what that fruit looks like. This list is not meant to be a checklist or a complete list, but rather a guide to help paint the picture of what partnership with Bellicose Church looks like. These items are also not a list of requirements for being a Christian.

1. The Kingdom of God

Shared Priorities

  • Demonstrates the fruit of being a water baptized, disciple of Jesus
  • Demonstrates the fruit of the fear of the Lord and ongoing sanctification (being saved)
  • Demonstrates the fruit of a life primarily oriented around the kingdom of God
  • Demonstrates the fruit of valuing what Bellicose values
  • Demonstrates the fruit of serving the church as a joy and not a burden

2. In All Of Life

Shared Vision

  • Demonstrates the fruit of an open, vulnerable heart
  • Demonstrates the fruit of an open, hospitable home
  • Demonstrates the fruit of an open, flexible schedule

3. Together

Shared Responsibility

  • Demonstrates the fruit of owning the identity, mission, and expression of a missional community
  • Demonstrates the fruit of regular Sunday morning service participation and serving
  • Demonstrates the fruit of regular corporate prayer meeting participation
  • Demonstrates the fruit of regular financial support of the church’s mission by joyfully giving according to income
  • Demonstrates the fruit of a good reputation and a demonstrated effort to be at peace with all men
  • Demonstrates the fruit of using his/her spiritual gifts while also recognizing and receiving the spiritual gifts in others
  • Demonstrates the fruit of verbally building up the church
  • Demonstrates the fruit of commitment to ongoing training
  • Demonstrates the fruit of submission to Bellicose Elders
  • Demonstrates the fruit of monthly partnership meeting attendance

HOW TO BECOME A PARTNER

  1. Take a good look at the fruit of your life and determine where it does and doesn't match up with the three areas of the fruit of partnership.
  2. Let your lead partner and the other partners in your missional community know that you would like to become a partner and ask them to give their input on where the fruit of your life does and does not match up with the fruit of partnership.
  3. If you, your lead partners, and the other partners in your missional community determine that there is some fruit missing from your life, then be intentional in those areas and reevaluate in a few months with both your lead partners and the other partners in your missional community.
  4. Complete Gospel Training and Partnership Training
  5. Read or listen to "Build Up or Shut Up"
  6. Agree with and commit to uphold the Bellicose Statement of Faith
  7. Commit to check-in regularly with your lead partners and the other partners in the missional community, in order to hold one another accountable to the fruit and commitment of partnership
  8. Commit to regular attendance at our monthly partnership meetings
  9. Commit to becoming a lead partner of a missional community if called upon by the elders, or to taking up specific leadership responsibilities in your missional community if called upon by your lead partner
  10. You're officially a partner of Bellicose Church when you, your lead partners, and the other partners in your missional community are in agreement that the fruit of your life is consistent with the fruit of partnership. When that happens, they will make sure you've met with at least one of the elders regarding partnership, and they will invite you to attend your first partnership meeting, where they will introduce you to the other partners, and you will share how God led you to partner with Bellicose Church.

Leadership

How We Lead Our Church

Elders

Elders direct the affairs of the church and lead in shepherding and equipping.

Josh Christophersen - Elder    
Josh (45) has been married for 25 years to his wife Gina. They have eight children, three grandchildren, and are originally from West Bend, Wisconsin. Josh was saved at the age of 15 and has been teaching and preaching ever since. After a few years of pastoring youth in his home town, Josh and his family moved to Kansas City, Missouri for a brief stint in 2002. It was during that time that Josh and Gina sensed a calling to plant churches. Since then they've planted a church in their hometown, Bellicose Church in Kansas City, and Josh is currently leading a new church plant called Christ Church in Raytown, MO. Josh gets paid full time from Bellicose Church.

Bryan Purtle - Elder    
Bryan (45) has been married to his wife Audrey for 26 years. He has five children and five grandchildren. He became a Christian in 1996 and immediately began preaching the Gospel. Since then, he has ministered especially in Kansas City, MO, along with short-term work elsewhere in the U.S., the Middle East, and Asia. He has served as an elder in Bellicose Church since 2015, where he is devoted to the preaching of the Word, the shepherding of the flock, and the mentoring and equipping of future pastors and church planters. Bryan was a firefighter in KC for 13 years, but now gets paid full time from Bellicose Church.

Curt Schampers - Elder    
Curt (45) and his wife, Angie, have been married for 24 years, and have been blessed with 8 children: Korah, Enja, Lissette, Noelani, Israel, Titus, Zephan, and Reuel. They moved from northern Colorado to Kansas City, Missouri in 2015, to be a part of Bellicose Church. Curt grew up in the church, and made a decision to follow Christ and be baptized in 1991. He has been leading others in worshipping God through song since 1995, and is currently helping to lead the body at Bellicose. In 2006, Curt and his family served as missionaries to Mexico, serving both in a local church, and also reaching out to the lost, widows, and orphans. Curt has a deep desire to “shepherd God’s flock”, to see men and women freed from bondage, and to see the body walking in their gifting and calling, so that they can serve God and the rest of the body more effectively. Curt gets paid part time from Bellicose Church and part time as the owner/operator of KC Realty Inspections.

Sean Kellar - Elder    
Sean (47) has been married to his wife, Mindy, for 23 years. They currently have five children. Together they moved to Kansas City from Colorado to partner with Bellicose Church in 2015. Sean has a passion for seeing people use the gifts that the Lord has given for building up their local church. Sean also has a heart for shepherding husbands in leading their families well, sharing the gospel, seeing people free from unrepentant sin, and caring for orphans and widows. Sean is currently working full time as the owner/operator of Kellar Engineering.

Josh Wears - Elder    
Josh (38) and his wife, Monique, have been married for 12 years. They currently have five children. Josh grew up in the church in Kansas City, where he was born, and has been a part of Bellicose since it began. Josh has helped lead worship through song since the early 2000's, and continues to lead worship at Bellicose. Josh has a passion to see the church hold fast to the word of life, and to use the freedom we have in Christ to love and serve one another to the glory of God. Josh is currently working full time as the Director of Operations for a biotech company.

Deacons

Deacons lead in serving and administration.

John Clinton
Financial Administration

Micah Schmidt
Financial Administration

Lory Olla
Children's Ministry

Josh Ruff
Website/Technology Administration

Ben Clinton
Worship Administration, Audio/Visual

Stuart Becker
Building Maintenance

Jon Olla
Building Maintenance/Hospitality

Lead Partners

Lead Partners Lead Missional Communities Together With The Other Partners As "The First Among Equals"

David & Lauren Cathcart
Micah & Kari Olla
Tim & Sierra Longobardo
John & Lydia Brock
Josh & Chrissy Ruff
Daniel & Makay Bergthold
Sam Olla

Cody & Erin Callow
Kyle & Emily Reed
Micah & Korah Walker
Owen & Becca Gaffney
Cody & Ezra Faust
Jon & Miranda Munyan
Ben & Kat Burchstead

Caleb & Erika Olla
Kobe Hardin
Lars & Bekah Hanson
Josiah & Lacy Smith
Sal Arguello
Matt & Val Klinger
Wyatt & Jess Sosey

Richard & Bethany Redding
Cole & MacKenzie Ericson
Case & Emma Lucchi
Alex & Isabella Thiele
Bob & Amy Gibler
Daniel & Nicole Tixier

Aspiring To Leadership

If you are a partner and are interested in becoming a lead partner, deacon, elder, or church planter, please let one of the elders know so that they can begin the process of assessment and equipping. When someone communicates to the elders that they aspire to leadership, the elders assess readiness thru meeting and getting to know the person. The elders sometimes determine that a person isn't ready and that it's not time. Sometimes they determine that the person is a good candidate and they begin training and equipping. We usually have multiple people at different stages of the process.

Lead Partner Requirements

Must be elder-approved, a partner in good standing (bearing the fruit of partnership, not under church discipline, strong agreement with the statement of faith), and committed to participation in monthly lead partner meetings.

Deacon & Elder Requirements

Deacon Requirements
Eldership Requirements

Connect

How To Meet People and Get Involved

If you already know someone who is a part of Bellicose, then the most ideal setting for meeting more people and getting involved with the life of the church is in the context of a missional community. If you don't know anyone from Bellicose, then the next best thing is to come to one of our Sunday Morning Services so you can meet people and get connected.

Sunday Morning Services

Sunday morning services are open to anyone. Each week people start showing up at around 10AM for fellowship and coffee before we officially gather everyone together at 10:30AM. If you're really wanting to jump in, come an hour early for prayer at 9:30AM and be sure to stick around after the service as most people linger for quite a while to hang out and talk.


Why Do We Gather On Sunday Mornings?

We gather on Sunday mornings for:

  1. Worship in Song
  2. The Lord's Supper
  3. Testimony
  4. Preaching/Teaching the Good News of the Kingdom to Believers and Unbelievers
  5. Personal Ministry
  6. Vision and Leadership
  7. Interdependence of Missional Communities

Details

Location

5100 Ararat Drive, Kansas City, MO 64129

Times

9:30AM - Prayer (upstairs in the ballroom)
10:00AM - Fellowship and coffee
10:30AM - Service begins

Children

Childcare is provided for children 0 - 2 years old. Sunday School is provided during the sermon for kids 3 - 12 years old.

Attire

Dress casually.

Parking

There is plenty of parking all around the building.

Upcoming Events

Quarterly Fasts

Once a quarter we do a three day corporate fast. On the third Thursday of the months of January, April, July, and October we end the fast by meeting at the Bellicose building at 7PM to pray and worship together.

Weekly Prayer Meetings

The following prayer meetings are open to all:
Sunday Morning 9:30AM Prayer
3rd Thursday Evening of Each Month 7PM Prayer and Worship

Bellicose [bel-i-kohs] is an english word that means: inclined or eager to fight; aggressively hostile; warlike.

We named our church Bellicose because we don’t believe that Jesus wants his church to be passive.

Therefore we're inclined or eager to fight for people's hearts (John 15:13),
aggressively hostile to the gates of hell (Matt 16:18, Matt 11:12),
and warlike against sin (1 Pet 2:11, 2 Cor 10:3-5).

We’re aggressive in our love for God and people.