History

The Story

Steve & Janie Sjogren have been planting churches throughout the US and Europe for the past 25 years. In that time they have planted successful churches in Los Angeles, Oslo, Norway (yes, they speak fluent Norwegian – that comes in pretty handy on a regular basis in Tampa!), Baltimore, and Cincinnati. Interestingly, when they first came to plant the Cincinnati church over 20 years ago, they began to cast the vision for taking a team to somewhere in Florida to plant a new kind of church. 

During the time that they were in Cincinnati, they began to experiment with new ways of doing church – namely with what has become known as the “Outflow” approach to living. This is a unique approach where the average person has an important role to play in the total picture of the church’s definition toward the city. The local church, instead of being seen as being primarily a place for people come to for spiritual life, it becomes a place where people are strongly encouraged each week, trained in practical, biblical matters so they can live more effectively in the day to day issues of life and then go out of to make a distinct impact upon the city. Over the past twenty years Steve and Janie have been experimenting and learning a lot. Now, after the combined efforts of many, having seen between 6 and 7 million people touched with acts of generosity and kindness later, much has been learned. They bring these vital lessons with them to Tampa.

Why Tampa?

In 2004, they got the specific invitation to come to the east side of Tampa. They have a principle of guidance that is simple – they wait for an invitation from God before they make a major move. That invitation came when a significant church leader in the Tampa area came to them with an explosive idea: Move to this area, that has experienced so much growth in recent years, and architect an Outflow church. 

Steve and Janie spent an entire year just praying about this idea before they went public with anyone about the idea they felt God was calling them to–joining with many to change Tampa’s spiritual climate! For the past two years they have been prayerfully raising a team to go with them to the Tampa area. They have also been raising funds for the task. Currently, there are people from all over the US who have made the move south with them. 

When Tampa?

As they have listened to the unique plan from God, the goal has become apparent that at least 100 will be needed who will relocate to the Tampa area from “the north”. There are several dozen excited people in the Tampa area who are excitedly waiting for Coastland to start up. The projected date for “going public” is Valentine’s Day of ’08. In the meantime, people on the Coastland team are moving to the Tampa area on a regular basis preparing to be part of the launch team for this exciting venture, to unleash the power of kindness, hopefully in the I-75 / I-4 area and from there, around the world!