Services are at the Lutheran West High School in Rocky River on Sundays @ 10am. The address is 3850 Linden Road, Rocky River, OH 44116 If you would like directions please click here and if you would like to know more about "What to Expect" then click here.  We hope to see you soon.

Sean Alexander – Lead Pastor

Sean felt the call to ministry at an early age, but like many, in the teenage years that call became faint. By the time college came around he poured himself into a bottle and tried to make it through Akron Universities Mechanical Engineering program.  He made a decision to drop out and became the lead singer for a local rock band.  The rock career was preimpted when a childhood friend asked him on a date for sweetest day.  On the first date, Faith told him it was either her and God or His rock band and the devil.  So much for taking it slow Faith! Sean made the decision  a month later to move back to Warren, Ohio and begin a life seeking God.  Sean and Faith were married 9 months after that first date.  In 1998, they left Ohio, vowing to never return, and went to bible school in Oklahoma.  

The plan was never to plant a church, or even pastor, until one day in April of 2002 while in some morning quiet time at work (faithHighway a media marketing firm for Churches and Ministries).  The only way he can describe is as if a connector from the matrix was plugged into the back of his head. Sean knew he was to plant a church in the Cleveland Ohio area, wait 5 years until he would hear the next step, and lastly, that he was to stay connected to the company and where it would take him for the next 5 years. That company became the largest provider in custom project church and ministry websites in America.  Sean was leading the sales board!  He then moved into consulting large churches and new product marketing development.  The company took him to Austin, Texas where he would connect to Celebration Church, one of the fastest growing churches in the country. 

In April 2007, (5 years almost to the day), the ARC conference was held at Celebration Church and many other pivotal things happened that confirmed what God had said 5 years earlier. For the first time, they saw the type of church that they didn't think existed. And they connected with a church planting organization that seemed to answer the questions on how they could begin to walk out the vision God had called them to.  After round tables, assessments and the year long internship at Celebration Church, Sean and Faith got the green light to embark on the mission to Ohio. See "The Rest of the Story" to get from here to present.

Sean is a husband of 14 years to Faith and Father of 5 kids (Christian, Grace, Elise, Ian and Ezra).

Faith Alexander, a native of Ohio and  the oldest of five children, was very blessed to grow up in a strong christian home. Never missed a church service, began memorizing scripture and serving in the church from a young age.  She made Christ her Savior at age 7 and heard the call at age 11.  All the while, experiencing brokenness and confusion through some dramatic events. She began to question her self worth and slowly drift away from her core beliefs.  At age 18, she was on her own and desperate for love.  Imagine that. 

Having no where else to turn, at age 19, she cried out to God.  Faith said, "His Love flooded that room. I knew that was what I needed more than anything else.  And that made life worth living for."  She made a decision to follow Jesus passionately and accept the call that August of 1994.  Not too much later, Sean and her began dating and on June 16th, 1995 they were married.

They began serving in Faith's father's church faithfully for 2 yrs, had their first baby in 1998, attended Bible School and graduated in 2000.  From there they went on a mission trip to the Czech Republic, helped to pioneer church plants, led small groups, Bible studies and served in every faucet of the church. In 2002, Faith received a call from Sean explaining God had told him, "they were going to move to Cleveland, Ohio and plant a church.  Wait 5 years, stay with the media marketing company and then you'll know the next step."  Through Sean's company, he was transferred to Austin, Tx.  So they made the move!  Which later brought them to Celebration Church, Georgetown, Tx where Sean did an internship. In 2007,the ARC (www.associationofrelatedchurches.com) held a conference at their church.  One of their pastors said you need to go to that.  So they went.  Exactly, 5 years to the date, they knew the next step. 

Faith has been in ministry for over 16 years and she loves it!  She has served as  a children's pastor, she has led worship teams, she has spoken at churches and womens' groups.  She is passionate about marriage, parenting, worship, outreach and loves teaching people about the love and faith of Jesus Christ. She loves being a wife, a mom and a minister.  She is thankful for the opportunity to love and serve God, her husband, her children, and Venue Church.

The Alexander Family left Their house in Leander Texas on June 27th, 2009 in a U-haul truck (driven by a friend from Celebration Church, Georgetown TX), with no real destination other  than North West Cleveland.  Being a homeless church planting couple makes for a good story years later, right?  We found a house after a week and moved in ready to go.  

They didn't know anyone here, so they began to figure out ways to meet people and build a core team. The first momentum (leadership) meeting on September 11th and by November they were holding weekly services in their home. The service was  in the living room, Kids Ministry in the basement and the Nursery was in the toy room.  We started the first of our weekly community outreaches (called "Feel the Love") in the beginning of January with a "Free Hot Cocoa Sledding Event".  The services continued in the house until the city called (because of complaints of having church in our house) and let us know that we had only one more week in our house, because it went against the city ordinances.  

We contacted the High School and asked if we could move in early and they agreed.  It came in time because that first week we had more people show up than would have fit in the driveway and house.  We had our first weekly pre-launch service in the Rocky River High School Cafeteria on February 7, 2010.  Venue Church was officially launched on March, 21, 2010.  We are excited at all that has been taking place and can't wait to see what has in store for Rocky River and Cleveland Ohio!  The only thing that is missing is you! Come check us out in the High School @ 10am on Sundays.  We look forward to meeting you.

If you're looking for information on what makes Venue Church stylistically unique, check out our Core Values (directly below this section).  Below you'll find what makes Venue Church theologically unique.  Of course, "unique" may not the best word to describe our Statement of Faith. Even though our methods and worship styles may be progressive our doctrines are as traditional as they come.  So, at Venue Church, we are absolutely committed to sound Biblical theology.
 
Below you'll find our statement to be quite similar to the vast majority of evangelical churches (which was intentional). Venue Church is a part of an organization that plants a large number of churches ranging from charismatic to conservative evangelical.  Because only 9.1% of Americans go to any Evangelical church of any kind, we're not a church that sees much logic in dividing over all sorts of theological issues.  Even though we are an ultra-contemporary non-denominational church we really just want to help bring the life-giving message of Jesus Christ to as many people as we can and support others with the same goals, whether they fit in our person box of preferences or not.
 
So below is a list of a few essentials.
 
Holy Bible:
We believe that the Holy Bible, and only the Bible, is the authoritative Word of God. It alone is the final authority in determining all doctrinal truths. The Bible, in its original writing, is both inspired and inerrant (II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:20-21; Proverbs 30:5; Romans 16:25-26).

Trinity
We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections, and are worthy of precisely the same homage, confidence and obedience. (Mk 12:29; John 1:1-4; Mt. 28:19-20).

Jesus Christ:
We believe that Jesus Christ is God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity. Jesus Christ is 100% man and 100% God. He is the only man ever to have lived a sinless life (John 1:1 & 14, 20:28; I Timothy 3:16; Isaiah 9:6; Php.2:5-6; I Timothy 2:5).

Virgin Birth:
Jesus Christ is the only-begotten Son of the Father, conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary. Therefore, Jesus is the Son of God (Matthew 1:18, 20, 23; Luke 1:27-35; Isaiah 7:14).

Redemption:
Man was created good and upright, but by voluntary transgression he fell; his only hope of redemption is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Genesis 1:26-31, 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-21).

Salvation:
We are saved by grace (which is undeserved and unearned) through faith in Jesus Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection. Salvation is a gift from God, not a result of our good works or of any human efforts (Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:16, 3:8; Titus 3:5; Romans 10:9-10; Acts 16:31; Hebrews 9:22).

Christ's Blood:
Because Jesus Christ lived a sinless life, His blood shed on the cross of Calvary is 100% sufficient to cleanse us of all sins when appropriated individually through repentance and faith. Jesus allowed Himself to be punished for the sins we have committed, enabling all who believe to be freed from the penalty of sin (which is death) (I John 1:7; Revelation 1:5, 5:9; Colossians 1:20; Romans 3:10-12 & 23; 5:9; John 1:29).

Repentance:
Repentance is a commitment to turn away from sin in every area of our lives and to follow Christ. Through repentance we individually receive forgiveness of sins and appropriate salvation (Acts 2:38, 3:19).

Christ Indwells All Believers:
A Christian is a person who has invited the Lord Jesus Christ to come and live inside him by the Holy Spirit. He is putting his trust in what Christ accomplished for him when He died, was buried, and rose again from the dead (John 1:12, 14:17, 23, 15:4; Romans 8:11; Revelation 3:20).

Water Baptism:
After receiving the Lord Jesus Christ, the new convert is commanded by the Word of God to be baptized in water in the Name of the Lord (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38).

The Church:
The church is the Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of Christ's great commission. Every person who is born of the spirit is an integral part of the church as member of the body of believers (Ephesians 1:22, 2:19-22; Hebrews 12:23).

The Lord's Supper:
The Lord's Supper is a unique time of communion in the presence of God when the elements of bread and wine (or grape juice), expressing in some spiritual way the body and blood the Lord Jesus Christ, are taken by believers in remembrance of Christ's sacrifice on the cross (I Corinthians 10:16, 11:23-25; Mark 16:16; Acts 8:12, 8:36-38, 10:47-48; Matthew 26:26-28).

Baptism / Infilling of the Holy Spirit:
Initiated at Pentecost, this ongoing baptism (or infilling) is the promise of the Father, given by Jesus after His ascension, to empower the Church to supernaturally communicate the gospel throughout the whole earth (Acts 1:8; 8:15-16; 19:2; Mk.16:20).

The Christian Life
We believe that every Christian should live for Christ and not for himself and should, by the power of the indwelling Spirit, allow Christ to manifest His life through him to God's glory. By ever increasing obedience to the Word of God, each believer should mature and progressively become more like Jesus. In the power of the Spirit, each believer should live a holy life; not fulfill the lusts of the flesh; exercise his spiritual gifts to build up the body Christ; witness for Christ; be personally involved in making disciples to fulfill the great commission; perform good works and bear fruit to the glory of God.
(Matthew. 28:18-20; John 15:8, 16; Acts 1:8; Romans 6:11-13; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:10, 4:11-12, 4:22-24; Colossians 1:10; 1 Peter 1:15-16, 2:11, 4:10-11).

Sanctification:
Sanctification is the ongoing process of being set apart for God, characterized by our yielding to God to complete the development of Christ's character in us. A lifestyle of developing righteousness and holiness is the evidence to all men that Christ's Spirit lives within us (I Thessalonians 4:3, 5:23; II Corinthians 3:18, 6:14-18; II Thessalonians 2:1-3; Romans 8:29, 12:1-2; Hebrews 21:11).

Healing of the Sick:
Healing of the sick is illustrated in the life and ministry of Jesus and is included in the commission of Jesus to His disciples. Healing is a provision of Christ's atonement on the cross and is given as a sign which is to follow believers (Matthew 8:16-17; Acts 8:6-7; James 5:14-16; III John 2; Psalm 103:2-3; Isaiah 53:5; Mark 16:17-18).

Second Coming:
Jesus Christ will physically and visibly return to earth for the second time to establish His kingdom. This will occur at a time undisclosed by the Scriptures (Revelation 1:7; Acts 1:9-11; Matthew 24:30, 26:63-64; I Thessalonians 4:15,17; II Thessalonians 1:7-8).

Resurrection:
We believe that Jesus Christ was physically resurrected from the dead in a glorified body three days after His death on the cross. One day all believers in Christ will also be physically resurrected in glorified bodies to their reward in heaven with God (Luke 24:16, 36, 39; Philippians 1:21-23, 3:21; I Corinthians 15:42, 44; John 2:19-21, 20:26-28, 21:4; Acts 24:15).

Heaven:
Heaven is the eternal dwelling place of all who believe in Jesus Christ (II Corinthians 5:1; I Peter 1:4; Hebrews 11:16; John 17:24; Matthew 5:3, 12, 20, 6:20, 19:21, 25:34).

Hell:
After living one life on earth, those who have rejected Christ will be judged justly by God and sent to Hell, where they will be eternally tormented together with the devil and the fallen angels (Hebrews 9:27; Matthew 25:41-46; Dan. 12:2; Revelation 14:9-11, 20:12-15, 21:8; Mark 9:43-48).

While there are many ideas that we value and that we believe makes Venue Church unique, 
there is a small set that we have defined as our "Core Values". 
If you'd like to learn more about the central beliefs of Venue Church, check out our Statement of Faith (in the section right above this one).

At Venue Church, we value...

• A church that's a celebration, not a funeral service.
  (Church was always meant to be an experience that gives you life, and not one that sucks it out of you)
   
• 
Preaching God's Word in a way that actually relates to normal people with ... normal problems.
  (If it isn't something you can take with you Monday morning, in the real world then, were not sure it matters)
   
• 
Passionate and innovative Worship.
  (We believe that worship should come from the heart and be exressed the same way)
   
• Family Growth
  (We believe that Families should be able to grow together and not apart, no matter what they are telling us)
   
• Local and Global Missions
  (Church should never end up being a resource swamp, but rather a river that is far reaching)
   
• Launching and supporting other great churches
  (Locally, in the States and Abroad)
   
• Sharing "sheep" and "resources" with other churches.

  (We strive to be non-territorial, non-egocentric, and extremely open handed with any church that preaches Christ. Php.1)
   
• And we believe in fellowshipping with one another outside of church services.
  (Church was never meant to be contained in the four walls of a building for 90 minutes a weekend)