History of 316 Denver

In the fall 2008 Rick and  Jean sensed a call from the Lord to plant a church. Their son Greig caught the vision and joined them as they sought God, prayed and listened. One of the many things prayed about was the name for the church.  All three of us felt led to choose 316 (Three six teen). 

Greig posed some very specific questions. “What has God put on your heart?” “What visions has He given you?” “Who does He want you to reach?” “What are the next initial steps?”

In response to Greig’s question, “What are the next initial steps,”  we knew we should start meeting in our home, share the Word, and seek God’s face as we journeyed with Him. That is what we did. Greig oversaw all the worship music and prayers in the service, while Rick and I preached and taught as the Lord led. The style of worship was eclectic and we continued to seek God’s plan.

Although fully convinced of the call to plant a church, I had a constant question nagging at my heart and mind. “Why another church.” “Doesn’t our neighborhood have enough churches already?” So I took this question to the Lord in prayer during the rest of 2008 and into 2009.

2009 I continued asking the question, “why another church?” No answer seemed to be forthcoming so we continued meeting, sharing the word and varying the format as the Lord led. Late 2009 we felt the need to move the service out of our home and moved into The Joshua School. We were warmly welcomed and soon became very much at home.

2010 The answer to the question “why another church?” came in January of 2010. Our church was called to have a unique vision and focus and God revealed His call for 316 to be a Celtic Christian Church. Although I am Scottish, and therefore Celtic, I felt the need to research Celtic Christianity. I spent from 2010 to 2012 engaged in this research and it became clear that we’d found the match for our vision in more ways we could ever have imagined.

2011 By the middle of 2011 we felt promoted to move again. The Chapel in Colorado Community Church, Englewood Campus, became our new home. This was another Holy Spirit led move and the strong sense of God’s presence with us each week has been very encouraging.  Rick and I transferred our ordination affiliation from the Presbyterian Church USA to Cumberland Presbyterian and we believe this is an extremely good, and God ordained partnership.  Our new denomination truly caught the vision for 316 and they have embraced us and our Celtic focus.

2012 Throughout the previous three years the sensed that God’s design was to keep 316 under the radar. We were very aware that this was extremely counter to all the church planting paradigms out there, but we had no desire to step out of God’s will. Having spent 1 year in prayer seeking the ‘why’ and two years in research and prayer seeking the ‘how’ we now believe it is God’s timing to let it be known we exist.

In answer to Greig’s questions in 2008 we now have the answers:

“What has God put on your heart?”

Answer: To plant a church in the metro Denver area.

“What visions has He given you?”

Answer: To focus on Celtic Christianity.

“Who does He want us to reach?”

Answer: The lost. Particularly those whose heritage is Celtic.

“What are the next initial steps?”

Answer: To let people know who we are and what we believe. Our desire is to have to have a Celtic worship band. Seeking the personnel for this is one of our priorities!

316 continues to be used by God.  In the past few years we have ordained four pastors who are serving as chaplains and as lead pastors.  We pray together, worship together, and support one another in living faithfully. As we continue into 2023 we look forward to what the Triune God will guide and empower us for further ministry.