The History & Vision of Horizon International
The seeds of the vision of Horizon were planted during the 1980’s when four churches were planted in Europe through a network based in Florida, USA. In January 1990 the network disbanded.
The leaders of these four churches met for the first time in the fall of 1991 and a commitment was then made to pray for one another and to meet again in six months. From there on, approximately every six months, the primary leaders of Evangeliumscentrum in Munich, Germany, Levend Water in Delft, Netherlands, Cornerstone Christian Church in Dublin, Ireland, and l’Assemblée Chrétienne du Bon Berger in Paris, France met for a time of prayer and fellowship. During these early years numerical growth came very slowly. It was a season of furthering the relationships as each leader re-evaluated the core values and vision of the local work.
During the first five to six years these four churches, through their pastoral leaders remained at the core of the fellowship; the primary objectives were simply to encourage one another in each one’s personal growth and in the work of the Lord.
In October 1997 during the pastors gathering in Holland the leaders received a word from the Lord saying, “You not only have a common past; you also have a common future.” And together they set their hearts to understand better what that future would look like.
During the next few years each of the four founding churches embraced a vision of church planting. There arose within the fellowship a conviction that the environment of love and encouragement developed over the years would be a service to many other churches in need. Several attempts were made during this season at establishing a common statement of faith and vision. But these efforts were often fraught with tension and lack of consensus.
However, in the Spring of 1999 a “breakthrough” came when God gave a clear revelation as to the name of the small group of churches: Horizon Family of Churches. The word “horizon” speaks of the place where heaven and earth touch, meaning that the group of churches should be a place where God’s presence comes to touch and transform the world. The word “family” captures the primary value in our relationships and defines how we are to walk and build together. And the word “churches” identifies the primary belief of our group that God’s glory and ultimate purposes in the earth will be manifested through the local church; and hence our primary objective is to plant and strengthen local churches, even it that work demands the creation of support ministries and para-church organizations.
In the fall of 1999 the addition of several new churches created the necessity to form a steering committee. The pastors of the four founding churches constituted the “core pastors” group for the purpose of planning and facilitating the gatherings.
During this same year a small number of churches in the United States made contact with the European group. Some of these pastors had belonged to the same network that had disbanded in 1990. A group eventually formed in the States modelled in great part along the same lines as the European group and using the same name.
By the end of the year 2000 there were approximately 15 churches in Europe and a handful in the US which participated regularly in the Horizon events. And for the next five years the core values of the family were identified, re-identified, worked and re-worked, and at times written down. The number of churches in Europeassociated with Horizon continued to increase during this season, and the number of leaders in the core group eventually grew to include 6 couples.
A significant cross-road came in November of 2005. The majority of the pastors and leaders of the European churches met in the southern Spanish town of Malaga to determine the future of the group. A yearning for a more strategic and pro-active approach to missions, not only in Europe but beyond, had been developing within the fellowship for several years. A decision was made during this meeting to dissolve the “core pastors” group and to transition to a more stream-lined leadership structure. A single leader was appointed to lead the transition for a six-month period.
In May 2006 the first international conference for Horizon was held in Paris, France and a permanent leadership team was set in place. Throughout the year the number of new church plants and new adopted works in the family has grown at a rapid pace. Horizon continues to expand throughout Europe, now with a presence in approximately 15 nations. New churches in the US, and the Caribbean have recently arrived in the family. And new avenues are opening in Africa and Asia.
The leadership team, along with the greater body of pastors and ministry leaders continue to seek God to understand with ever greater depth the basic values and principles that this family of churches and ministries should be built upon and what attributes of God are to be reflected through our communion. What we will become, we can only see dimly. But we are committed to the pursuit of His excellence in the familial bonds of mutual support, honor and love.
The ministers and leaders representing the members of Horizon have joined themselves together in a common commitment to walk together in the holy bonds of love, support and mutual submission with the collective vision to plant, build and strengthen local autonomous churches in the context of family relationships.