Sixteen years ago, I was leading a successful church-planting network based in Charlotte, NC. We had planted five churches in five years and seen 1,000 baptisms — a landmark ministry accomplishment at the time. Driving home from a ground-breaking ceremony for one of our churches, God convicted me and spoke so clearly that I had to pull over to the side of the road. I felt the Spirit impress upon me two questions: "Neal, how is my city doing? How are the people of my city doing?"

Regarding my city and its people — I knew that every year there were more lost people in Charlotte than the year before. And every year, the issues they faced were more palpable than the year before. Educational opportunities were fewer every year, particularly for certain groups of people. Poverty was worse. Racial division was worse. There were more divorces, more hurting families, and more children in the foster care system every year than the year before. 

In that moment with God, he began to challenge my definition of success and birth a vision that would become the foundation for The Cypress Project. I dissolved the church planting network I was leading and sought to link arms with new partners who were also driven to take responsibility for the brokenness in our city.

I was joined by some incredible men and influential leaders who worked together to envision the earliest blueprints for Cypress. In 2008, seven church plant lead teams joined our first pilot group and completed a nine-month church planter training intensive. Some of the participants, who had traveled to Charlotte from other places, left convinced that their own cities need to experience Cypress as well. And, that’s how it all began. 

Since then, our training has been condensed and customized for different environments as we seek to share the “every man, woman, & child” vision with as many people as possible. We have a weekend Workshop for church leaders and one for marketplace leaders, as well as a three-weekend Residency for pastors and church plant teams. We’ve also helped to establish regional Clusters – groups of churches that collaborate to own the lostness of their geography together.

Today, leaders from over 1,000 churches across the country and overseas have dedicated themselves to creating culture that produces missionary disciples. God is on the move and doing something only he can do.