User:Bevans655/sandbox

Living Stones Churches
Living Stones Churches is a Christian megachurch based in Reno, Nevada with three locations across Northern Nevada. Harvey Turner as the founding and preaching pastor. In 2012, Living Stones Churches was named one of the fastest growing churches in America. Living Stones Churches was established in 2010, and currently averages over 2,500 attendees across each of its three Northern Nevada locations.

History
Living Stones Churches was founded by Harvey Turner as a men's Bible study in August, 1998. The Bible study developed into a house church and adopted the name Living Stones from 1 Peter 2:4-5 in the New Testament.

In 2000, Harvey Turner was asked to head the existent college group at Grace Church in Reno, where he was a deacon. Living Stones began holding services on Friday nights at Grace Church to accommodate the growth of 250 people. It was soon after this that Living Stones became a Church within a Church. In January 2010, Living Stones branched from Grace Church, moving to Lawlor Event Center on the University of Nevada, Reno campus.

By the fall of 2010, Living Stones was in need of classrooms for children, permanent office space, and storage to accommodate the growth of 1,200 people. , So in October of 2010, Living Stones Church held its first service at the location on 445 S. Virginia St. in downtown Reno, Nevada. This location is the current site of Living Stones' Reno Church.

In January 2011, Living Stones planted its first Church, Living Stones Sparks, with Kyle Bateson and three community groups. In September 2013, Living Stones Sparks moved to its current location at 300 Los Altos Parkway in Sparks.

Living Stones Elko Church was started by Nathan Hornback, who hosted a small group of people at his house to listen to podcasts of Living Stones sermons. The Bible study quickly grew to over 100 members, and officially became a Living Stones Church in September 2011.

In 2012, Living Stones was named 34th fastest growing church in America by Outreach Magazine.

Community Involvement
Living Stones Churches is involved within the community in Reno, Nevada as well as globally. Since 2011, Living Stones Churches has supported Living Water International by giving an end of the year through the Christmas services. In July 2012, Living Stones Churches organized the local Midtown Artwalk a free event which featured 40 artists and musicians at 30 businesses in Reno's Midtown neighborhood. By July 2013, the Midtown Artwalk had grown to 50 businesses and 20 live art performances. In October 2012, Living Stones Churches started a food drive for the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, raising 20,000 pounds of food. In June of 2013, Living Stones Churches collected 95,000 diapers for the Women and Children’s Center of Sierra's diaper bank.

Beliefs
Living Stones is evangelical, believing in the authority and inspiration of Scripture, the full divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ, the triune Godhead, and salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Living Stones Churches’ vision statement is “Disciples making Disciples,” based out of Christ-centered rhythms of worship, community, and mission.

Locations
Living Stones Churches currently meets at 3 locations (Reno, Sparks, and Elko) with a total of 9 services each Sunday; additionally, two core group gatherings meet in Carson City, Nevada and Truckee, California, respectively. •	Reno Church. Pastor: Bobby Grossi. o	445 S. Virginia St. Reno, NV 89501 •	Sparks Church. Pastor: Kyle Bateson. o	1900 Whitewood Dr. Sparks NV, 89434 •	Elko Church. Pastor: Nathan Hornback. o	172 5th Street Elko, NV 89801

Acts 29 Network
Acts 29 Church Planting Network was originally founded by Mars Hill Church in 2001 and is currently based in Dallas, Texas with Matt Chandler as President. In 2008, Living Stones became part of the Acts 29 Church Network and in 2011 Harvey Turner became director of the West division of Acts 29 Network, which includes Nevada, Northern California, and Hawaii.