The Mission

Pastor Scott and Anne Lively (we're pictured here in Israel, overlooking the East Gate aka Golden Gate of Jerusalem) came to Springfield, Massachusetts in January of 2008 as missionaries. Our goal was to create a new model of community-based missions to re-Christianize America, one city at a time. Our approach is rooted in the concept of "redemptive living" in which believers view themselves as agents of Christ tasked with investing their resources (money, time, skills, experience, contacts, etc) to transform the world around them to the blessing of all within their circle of influence.

The Redemption Project

Our first step was to form a group of like-minded Christians to work together toward re-Christianizing Springfield. We started a Christian-activist discussion group that drew missionary-minded believers from numerous churches. We met, and continue to meet, every Sunday afternoon to network and strategize about how to achieve our goals.

The Redemption Zone

After several weeks of meetings our Redemption Group decided to create a Redemption Zone where we would focus our efforts in the early stages of our work, to concentrate our limited resources most effectively. We selected an area of inner-city Springfield approximately 10 square miles in size, encompassing several of the most distressed neighborhoods.

Redemption House

In April of 2008, Anne and I purchased an abandoned, long-neglected house in the center of the redemption zone to serve as our home, the headquarters of the mission and an example of the power of redemptive living. We call it Redemption House. Read the story of Redemption House and see the before and after pictures at www.redemptionhousespringfield.blogspot.com