History of Third Day Victory Church
The initiative for planting Third Day came in June 2003 when the Pastor of Iasis Christ Fellowship, Fort Collins, Colorado, put forth the idea to three of his staff people - Jeff Green, the Worship Pastor; Mike Hougnon, the Business Administrator; and me, Blake Bush, the College Pastor. Although there are many perspectives in the story, and many people received the call to plant the church, for brevity I will limit the story to my perspective.
In September of that year my wife, Kristen, and I went on an extended time of prayer and fasting to confirm the call to plant. During that season God made it very clear that we were to plant a church in Fort Collins with three other couples. (The fall of 2003 ended up being a time of an abundance of prophetic words from many different people concerning the launch of the church!) God also laid upon my heart two very specific directives.
First, we needed to find an apostolic, world-wide church planting organization that would confirm the call on our lives, and be the counsel and covering for the church.
Second, for the church to be launched properly, all authorities in my life had to be in agreement about the timing of the launch – all of them had to bless the establishing of a new church in town. The Pastors and Elders at Iasis were to maintain the authority to stop or delay any movement forward – I was to submit completely to their directives.
By November of 2003 both mandates were supernaturally fulfilled. In late October God lead us to Victory Churches International where, during one of their conferences in California, God spoke prophetically through Doctors George and Hazel Hill, (the Founders of Victory), as well as other leaders, that we were called to plant a church. Specific information was given that made the words both credible and powerful – especially in light of the fact that they did not know us at all! In the weeks that followed, our relationship with the Hills grew and we made a commitment to join their organization with the intentions of planting a Victory Church in Fort Collins.
After the conference, we returned to Fort Collins amazed that God had fulfilled the first mandate. Two days later at an Iasis Elders meeting the Pastors and Elders voted unanimously to release us to the work of planting a church. The second mandate had been fulfilled.
I like to say that Third Day was established through the guidance of the pastor, under the authority of the apostle, by the word of the prophet.
In November Jeff and Mary Beth Green, Mike and Erinn Hougnon, Richard and Cherri Houle, Kristen and I came together to make plans for a new church. Skipping a lot of details we had our first meeting with other people interested in a new church on January 4, 2004. By February we had a good core group of people, and on Sunday, March 21 we officially launched the church.
As of the fall of 2009, we have about 300 adults and kids who call Third Day their home. Growth is happening in all areas, and God is blessing us. We have about 15 ministries in the church, and our belief is that God will continue to expand our borders! Thank you to all of our leaders and followers who make Third Day a great place. Many people have given sacrificially to see this church be established. But, to God be all the praise and thanks both now and forever! His glory will fill the whole earth!
God bless,
Pastor Blake Bush
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