That vision shapes almost everything we do.

The last thing Jesus told his followers was to go and make disciples of all nations. We take him at his word. Ministry isn't reserved for pastors and missionaries — every student who follows Jesus is sent, and the sending starts right where they already are.

So how does a person become that kind of worker? By being formed in the kind of church we read about in Acts 2. We put God's Word above everything else and build our week around it — gathering on Sunday mornings, opening the Bible together in small groups, praying for friends who don't believe yet. A community like that doesn't just grow students. It sends them out.

Renew began in 2021, when a group of friends moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to New York to plant a college church. Today we gather as Renew Uptown, serving students at Columbia and across the city — and praying that what starts here doesn't stay here.