Our Vision Story
Integrity’s Impact
on young people accelerates over 3 year period.
MARCH 31,2029
Integrity Church began over 32 years ago with a fresh and innovative way of 21 doing church in Alamance County. Integrity’s mission statement, ‘…to advance God’s Kingdom by developing fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ…’ has framed its approach to ministry since its January 1997 founding. The church refers to itself as a ‘Purpose-Driven’ church, with great emphasis on two key Biblical passages. The first being the Great Commandment, found in Matthew 22:37-39….
37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law
and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
The second is the Great Commission, found in Matthew 28:18-20….
18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new
disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
A high impact church during its first 20 plus years, Integrity seemed to kick into a higher gear nine years ago, around the beginning of 2020.
It was about that time that Integrity Church adopted an aspirational profile that describes the church’s targeted attributes for its members.
The Integrity Family Member
a. Embraces the core values of Integrity Church
b. Develops and nurtures healthy family relationships – parenting, marriage, and dating
c. Belongs to a Bible Study/Small group to develop lasting, quality relationships
d. Serves the Integrity church family in a ministry capacity
e. Participates regularly in mission initiative opportunities that reach beyond the Integrity Campus
f. Sees her/himself as workplace missionaries
g. Positively influences his/her own residential community
h. Pursues the discovery of his/her life purpose, vision and plan, and is intentional in living into that purpose, vision and plan.
This profile brought clarity to the Integrity members, and it continues to serve as a guide for Integrity in designing its ministries, programs and activities.
The Integrity Member Experience
Known for its strong musical and creative arts, high quality production in its weekend services, and relevant teaching at all age levels, Integrity’s attractional nature leads to a regular flow of first-time guest families each week, with many of those making Integrity their church home. Integrity leverages relevant and upbeat weekend services to encourage people to move toward smaller community and ministry groups. Today, nearly 80% of the regular attenders in the Integrity family are connected either in a Bible Study group, small group or a ministry team.
The church is also supported by a strong pastoral care ministry. Integrity’s spiritual formation strategy is built around helping people discover their specific God-ordained purpose and plan, and to activate that purpose and plan through service in their neighborhoods, workplaces, church, volunteer organizations, and in local, regional, and international missions. This approach has successfully allowed Integrity to train and mobilize members in productive roles in the church, the community, and beyond.
Integrity Student Ministries (ISM), for middle and high schoolers, reaches dozens of teens each week. Integrity’s children’s ministries are widely known for parent involvement, creativity, and fun. The Integrity adult congregation, which has grown by 40% over the past three years, has great generational diversity and is a good ‘picture’ of the surrounding community.
Integrity Student Ministries (ISM), for middle and high schoolers, reaches dozens of teens each week. Integrity’s children’s ministries are widely known for parent involvement, creativity, and fun. The Integrity adult congregation, which has grown by 40% over the past three years, has great generational diversity and is a good ‘picture’ of the surrounding community.
Coming Together in Community with Each Other
Small Groups Ministries (SGM) have been a community and growth builder within Integrity Church pretty much since beginning. In the early years many churches had adopted Small Group as a tool for building strong relationships within the church body, but as generations changed many younger couples and families were pulling way from these forms of community, even though the innate need for strong and intimate community has not changed.
In 2024 Associate Pastor, Ray Crompton says “God has created in His people a deep need for community with other believers, but the demands of time in today’s culture have pulled believers from this vital need, and they are suffering in ways that they don’t even understand.”
To ignite a renewed passion for this need of community, Integrity Church leadership focused on making sure that there was a group for every life season and need. In 2026 Integrity had small groups for men only, women only, young adults, young married couples, general married couples, senior adults, and mixed groups with various ages and marital status. At that time approximately 135 adult regular attendees were in an Integrity Small Group, including Integrity Midweek Recharge Services. This means that only about one quarter of Integrity regular attendees were in a small group. Most of these folks were members that had been attending Integrity for quite some time. The discouraging part in those days was this meant that a very small amount of our relatively new folks were getting connected into a small group, which affected the “community” aspect of our church for these folks.
In early 2027 Crompton and other leaders led an initiative to grow the Integrity SGM. Part of the initiative was to offer better and more consistent Small Group Leader training. Also offered were several effective Inductive Bible Study trainings where small group leaders have learned to lead effective and organic Bible studies without depending on the use of videos or book series. They also revamped the Small Group Ministries section in the Welcome Center where people can sign up for a small group on any Sunday morning. This area is manned by small group leaders who help inform folks about small groups and help them decide which group to sign up for.
The results have been encouraging. Now in 2029 we have more small groups and opportunities for folks to be in a group than ever before. The ministry now offers
20 various small groups, and 65-70 percent of our regular attendees are now involved in an Integrity small group. These groups actively invite folks that had not before been to Integrity Church, but now attend the church, many of which are involved in various Integrity Church ministries.
Lay Pastor Ministries
One of the difficulties in churches all over the country is that pastors are busy and overextended because of the many great needs for folks in the church. Many of these may be just normal day-to-day needs while some are family or individual crises. Some of these needs go undetected because of the many things that the pastoral team have going on in their work.
In around 2023, To help all folks in the congregation feel connected and cared for, the Integrity Church pastoral team and elders began a Lay Pastor Ministry. The primary role of the Lay Pastor position centers around Pastoral Care of the entirety of the Integrity Church body. An intensive Lay Pastor Care Training Class was created to help these men know how to bring effective care to their church members.
Since its inception and now into 2029 the Integrity Lay Pastors have developed into a team that provides pastoral care, spiritual care, encouragement, and crisis care when needed. These men commit to pray regularly for their assigned Integrity Church members. They also have proven diligent in helping their folks understand the vision/mission/culture of Integrity Church.
Our Lay Pastors also are familiar with the ministries and events of Integrity Church and share that info with their members, encouraging them to join in to engage these ministries, as they deem appropriate. They report monthly on their connection/touches with the Pastoral Team, commit to a level of discipleship to grow folks spiritually and when appropriate, identify and prepare potential Lay Pastors – help to equip them for service.
Though the ministry has experienced the normal ebb and flows of volunteerism, the ministry has helped establish a genuine culture of care. The ministry has also kept folks from the “leaving out of the back door” that occurs in many churches, and that in fact happened at Integrity for many years.
Assisting the Young Family
The following are ministry areas that are designed with the young family in mind. All of these ministries have come about since 2020, the year of the pandemic.
2020 certainly served as an inflection point for Integrity Church. The church had through its 20 year history always excelled through its Children’s Ministries as a part of their weekend offerings. But as Lead Pastor Bud Wrenn says about what was happening around 2020, ‘We realized our congregation was getting even younger. That was a blessing. We began to feel a greater sense of responsibility to meet young families where they are. So we decided to ‘externalize’ our focus toward young families, and we made a strategic decision to establish some ‘external facing’ ministries directed toward young families and their children – ministries that would serve our existing families AND would attract other young families to our campus.
Youth Athletics
The athletic field at Integrity has become a real asset in building a sense of community among young families in the church. In the fall of 2027 Integrity entered its first youth league soccer team. Since then two kore teams have entered the city youth leagues. With families converging on the Integrity field for practices and on the Burlington city fields for games, there have been a number of obviously strong connections between and among the church’s young families. These connections are spilling over into Bible Study groups and into the social settings for these young families.
Half-Day Pre-School
In 2026, Integrity began to make a shift in the mission of its very successful Playschool@Integrity. The playschool was started in 2020 during the pandemic, and grew rapidly, having served nearly 500 families to date since its inception. Today 90 families send their most precious possessions to what is now known as The PRESCHOOL@Integrity. The 2026 Missional shift was one that brought more of a learning culture to the Preschool. This has been a successful venture, as the staff have really stepped it up in their own professional development. Over the past two years, many families whose children have moved into kindergarten have raved about how well their children were prepared for the educational challenges of their new schools.
Tiny Treasures:
A full-day educational and care experience for children
The 2026 missional shift with the PRESCHOOL@Integrity was strategically timed to pave the way, at least partially, for the establishment of TINY TREASURES Daycare at Integrity in August 2026. Tiny Treasures is a full-day daycare program with an even more pronounced educational mission than the PRESCHOOL. Director Pollard points to the increasing demand for full day care as a major impetus for the Daycare. Integrity had to navigate some complex waters with government agencies for initial approval. But since its start, Tiny Treasures has received glowing reviews from the families who have placed their children there. Today 65 families entrust their kids to Tiny Treasures.
In just the past 18 months, out of the Tiny Treasures population, twenty-two previously unchurched families have joined the Integrity Church family. With rising birthrates in southern states – North Carolina included – and with the increasing number of jobs being created in business friendly North Carolina, the outlook for both the PRESCHOOL and Tiny Treasures is bright.
Summer Camp @ Integrity & Integrity After-School
Integrity’s Summer Camp Ministry and Integrity AfterSchool are companion programs that have consistently grown over five years of operation. These ministries provide safe and secure options for parents whose children need daytime summer care. The Summer Camp staff are meticulously selected, and activities are planned to a detailed level.
Director Pollard notes that Integrity AfterSchool is more of a niche ministry, and growth will likely be somewhat impacted by competition from other organizations moving into this space. Moving forward beyond 2028, growth will likely be more subdued than for the Summer Camp.
She notes also that we have seen fifteen families from the population of AfterSchool and Summer Camp join the Integrity Church family over the past two years.
Environmental Changes Transform Teenager Experiences
Back in 2026, physical changes in the Integrity Student (teenage) Center brought immediate benefit. Worn carpet gave way to clean LVP flooring, and audio system speakers moved to the ceiling, opening the space in both sound and spirit. The Student Center has the feeling of renewal. It is intentional, and even alive. Integrity Student Ministry Pastor Opie Taylor notes that ‘….students feel it the moment they walk in, and excitement spreads quickly. They begin inviting friends, not out of obligation but out of joy. When friends step inside, they pause, taking in the room, impressed by what they see and sense—something different is happening here.’
Now, in 2029 the fruit of that season is clear. Integrity Student Ministries (ISM) gathers fifty to seventy students on any given Sunday at the student service called You Matter. Taylor notes, ‘The room fills with voices as students volunteer to sing and play in the worship band, open their Bibles, and lean into Jesus-centered teaching. Small groups form naturally, laughter mixes with prayer, and friendships grow. In this space, students belong—to one another, to the church, and ultimately to Christ.’ Some simple environmental enhancements have helped catalyze a movement of faith and community.
Taylor continues, ‘Week after week, committed adult leaders walk alongside students, conversations deepen, and faith becomes personal and active. What began as a practical update becomes a place where students learn to serve, to listen, and to follow Jesus together. The room stands as a reminder that God draws students not just into a building, but into a growing, Christ-centered community.’
Young Adults Need Older Adults: The Titus 2 Collective
A 2026 initiative jointly developed by Taylor and Sr. Adults Leader Ted Wilkins, coined the Titus 2 Collective, started as an effort, to, in essence, ‘match up’ young adult couples with more mature adult couples, in order to facilitate ‘mentoring type’ relationships between them. After all, it is a Biblical imperative, according to Taylor and Wilkins, for this relationship of learning to be a regular initiative in the church. Taylor explains, citing Titus 2:2-7, that…. ‘Those who are mature in their faith are commanded to intentionally disciple the younger generation, mo
deling godly living and teaching them to navigate life, family, and daily responsibilities according to the Word of God. By investing their wisdom and example, they equip the next generation to stand firm in truth, live faithfully, and carry God’s Kingdom forward.’ In the three years of this ministry initiative, over 60 of these relationships between young couples and their more mature counterparts have been established, and most are still ongoing.
Wilkins cites his excitement over the willingness of Integrity’s Sr. Adult community to offer themselves as resources for the young adult community in the church. ‘Once we kicked off the Titus 2 Collective, most of our Sr. adults jumped on board. When they learned more of the issues and challenges our young adults were facing, most were so willing to invest in those young folks. Many of them had to overcome attitudes of ‘I’m not good enough to do that…’ and ‘they won’t listen to me….’ to give this a shot. What the they found was this: Our young adults are actually EAGER to listen to them. I’m so proud of our Sr. Adult community – they are investing in God’s Kingdom for the long haul. No ministry at Integrity is any more vital than this one.’
Integrity Musical Worship Ministry
Consistent Excellence
Integrity has always been blessed with a tremendous level of talent in its musical and creative arts ministries. Worship and Media Pastor Chris Newsom recounts the evolution of musical talent at Integrity, ‘We have had four fairly distinct ‘generations’ of the musical worship ministry here at Integrity. Each generation had some distinctions, but all of them featured incredible God-given talent, and an understanding of the need for our music to point us directly to Jesus.’ Founding pastor Bud Wrenn lauds some of the notable persons who have passed through the Integrity Musical Worship team, including former Van Halen sound engineer and two American Idol finalists.
This past year was a special one as the Integrity team recorded its first ever EP of original worship music. The project was overseen by Newsom and technical director Brian Compton. Two songs from the EP are beginning to receive airplay on media outlets, and the team has begun to receive invitations to lead musical worship at regional gatherings of worshippers.
Newsom says that,
‘….Next steps include plans for the team to lean into some of these opportunities and to discern just where God is leading the ministry. We’re excited about the possibilities!
A Culture of Experimentation and Adaptability
In about its tenth year, Integrity began to speak to, and ultimately embrace, a sense of being able to be nimble in its structure and operations. This necessitates the church being able to make good decisions quickly in order to respond to rapidly changing conditions and circumstances in our environment. During this time the church’s leadership structure had become overly dependent on operational decisions being made by the group of elders. This was a drifting away from the Biblical foundation for the elder function that the church had originally constituted.
The church made the move, Wrenn says ‘toward driving more of the strategic and operational decision-making to its growing staff, and freeing the elders to serve more in ministry oversight and leadership roles. This caused us to make sure that we staffed our pastoral and director roles with folks who combined big picture views with an orientation for detail, who could develop critical thinking skills and finally who were willing to take some risks.’ He goes on to note that while the church has grown in this area, there were quite a few growing pains in making decisions that were ‘less than the best’.
Today the church is able to foresee changing environmental circumstances and to adjust to them more quickly. While Wrenn admits that there are times when decisions are made perhaps too quickly, without enough information, more often than not the church is able to take advantage of opportunities and to ‘hit the windows of opportunity’ to maximize them. As a corollary, the church has adopted a ‘fail fast’ approach, focused on ‘taking reasonable risks in decision-making, learning quickly from mistakes and adjusting accordingly, and accepting failure as a part of the process of getting to the right answer.’
Measuring Spiritual Growth
One of the most significant challenges facing churches, according to Integrity Associate Pastor Ray Crompton, is measuring spiritual growth. Crompton puts it this way: ‘ We see all through Scripture that Spiritual Maturity is God’s goal for all of His children. Our level of Spiritual Maturity is a prime driver of our FAITH, which seems to be the most important metric on God’s scorecard.’ Crompton further notes that ‘…Spiritual growth is not exactly a tangible thing that is naturally quantifiable. So it can be tough to measure. Because of this, most churches shy away from measuring the spiritual growth of its members. And because most churches don’t do this, the individual parishioners don’t measure their own spiritual growth. This lack of understanding of whether they’re progressing in their faith is a reason that Christians aren’t more proactive in their faith. And so they don’t take risks to do things that grow God’s Kingdom – because they are afraid of getting it wrong. This fear of making mistakes often paralyzes Christians from leaving their spiritual comfort zones, where they usually just simply exist…’
Crompton led a charge within Integrity to deploy a tool that would help give an individual what he calls ‘a pretty accurate reading of progress – or regress – in one’s spiritual growth.’ This online tool helps the individual assess their spiritual ‘condition’ using ten key criteria of spiritual formation. The church offers it to any church member who requests it. In addition the church has created a Spiritual Life Coaching ministry designed to help assessing members with determining ‘next steps’ to develop in their faith. Crompton says that over 50 Integrity family members have taken the online assessment, and over half of those have so far engaged the Spiritual Life Coaching function to develop their ‘Spiritual Life Development’ plans. He finally notes that the church’s goal for the next two years is for 200 individuals to take the assessment and to receive Spiritual Life Coaching.’
A Christmas Destination
Christmas is, as Andy Williams sings. ‘…the Most Wonderful Time of the Year…! Certainly Integrity Church sees it that way. While many churches try to ramp down their activities during Christmas, Integrity takes an approach of giving their church family members a menu of things to do. Integrity Events Director Maryjo Pollard describes the progression of this ‘holiday blitz’: ‘Christmas is a time when folks are most likely to attend church. The spiritual significance of the season is irresistible to most folks. They are simply drawn to the Baby in the manger. At Integrity we try to leverage the assets of the church around Christmas.’
Integrity Church hosts a number of special Christmas events each year. The anchor is its tradition of its ‘Children’s Christmas Play’ , which has become a staple as each year it seems the Integrity children get more and more talented!
Integrity’s annual Christmas Night of Worship is an evening of music, drama and spiritual sacrament – usually the observance of Communion. Featured in the Night of Worship is the Integrity Musical Worship team. The music selection is 90% Christmas songs that the team also plays on regular Sunday services. Worship Pastor Newsom says that ‘…Our Nights of Worship are high energy and high connection with God.
Everything in our Night of Worship
points us directly to the manger and also to the cross….’
Other Integrity events help to bring the joy of Christmas alive. The Bethlehem Christmas scene is featured with Integrity’s ‘Live Nativity’ presentation, while shoppers enjoy the tasty taste of Mission House Coffee and Bakery with the Christmas Market. Here vendors offer their goods and wares.
Integrity Church:
The Hub of Your Life
The first time Lead Pastor Bud Wrenn told the Integrity family that ‘….Integrity Church wants to be the HUB of your life…’, there were plenty of eyebrows raised. The initial thought going through many people’s minds was ‘How can we be at church all the time? Our lives are too busy!’ Wrenn went on to explain to the Integrity family that the leadership of the church believes that the Acts 2:42-47 picture of the New Testament church is a framework of how God intends the local church to operate. Some of the points Wrenn made…..
‘We, as a church, need to offer to you all quality, fun and resources and activities that will help to grow your spiritual maturity and ultimately your faith.”
“Some of the absolute best people for you to build relationships with are the folks sitting around you. We want to help you get to know them and build quality relationships with them.”
“One of the reasons our folks are too busy is that they don’t do a good job of prioritizing the activities of life. We live like everything is important AND urgent, and that is simply not the case. We, as the church, need to help you with guidelines to create space for encounters and experiences that will be spiritually beneficial for you.’
From that Sunday morning in 2026, Wrenn says that Integrity began to lose its sensitivity to folks saying things like ‘We do too much around here…’ Wrenn counters with ‘You’re likely doing too much because you’re doing nearly everything in all the other areas of life. The fact is that if people – Christians included and maybe Christians especially – choose to cut something out of their schedules, there is a good chance it will be a church-related activity. Just look at the children’s activities, i.e. sports games, competitions, etc, that now occur on Sundays. Most will choose those Sunday children’s activities.’
Integrity Administrative & Communications Coordinator Holly Colvard speaks to what many perceived as a ‘full’ Integrity calendar. She says, ‘ The busy-looking calendar at Integrity is only because we want to offer a good variety of activities, socials, Bible study groups, etc. for our people. People who look at that calendar and assume that it is too full probably assume that they are expected to be at every event.’ Wrenn adds, ‘Some folks who see a ‘too full’ calendar may be choosing not to engage church activities, and so what they see on the ‘busy calendar’ reminds them of what they are choosing not to do….’. Colvard goes on to speak of one of the church’s key imperatives… ‘We place a high priority on making sure that our events and activities are not just about the events and activities themselves. We work to make sure they are designed around the relationships that can be, and are, developed within those events and activities. To us, our events and activities are great ways to build true community among our family members.’
Integrity Church seems to have been pretty effective in pinpointing events that church members engage in, like Mission House Café Live Music Nights, Crochet and Craft Nights, Saturday night dinners for Young Adults, etc. Things like this are in addition to all the Bible Studies, Small Groups, Ministry teams. and the list goes on.
UNITE
Wrenn says that ‘…The initial UNITE 2026 event was held in April 2026 in the parking lot of the Holly Hill Mall, for the express purposes of a) sharing the Gospel of Jesus in a very public place and b) getting the word out to attendees and the community about useful ministries run by some of our local churches.’ The ev
ent features some of the usual festival elements – live music, children’s games, etc. but the major emphasis is on the local church ministries. The first four UNITE events have been led by Integrity Student Pastor Opie Taylor, who also leads the church’s local missions initiatives. The four UNITE events have each been held in different areas around Alamance County. After a relatively modest start in 2026, the event has grown in size and in influence each year, giving exposure to numerous Alamance County church ministries, and to parachurch ministries like Mercy & Grace Homeless ministry and Arms of Grace Pregnancy services.
Regional Reach within North Carolina
Integrity Church does a significant level of Disaster Relief work in partnership with the Baptists on Mission of North Carolina. A number of years ago Disaster Relief was a regular part of the work of Integrity. Flooding, wind and hurricane damage led to seemingly endless opportunities to serve others in North Carolina. In 2027, Integrity’s missions team began scheduling twice a year relief trips to locations in North Carolina. This 2x/year frequency for NC Disaster Relief is good, but the Integrity Missions team in 2029 is shooting for goal of one trip per quarter.
In addition, Integrity Student Ministries made its first ever NC Disaster Relief trip in 2027. Twelve kids made the trip, and came home marveling at the meaningful experiences they had on the trip to Western NC, where recovery from the 2024 storm Helene is still ongoing.
Using Hospitality To Build Community
During the 2020 pandemic period, Integrity Church not only started a playschool and a school campus. The church also launched what has been known as Mission House Coffee & Bakery, an ‘in house’ coffee shop / bakery that caters primarily to the folks who frequent the Integrity campus – Integrity family members, school parents & staff, etc. The café provides a cozy place for folks to meet, work and just hang out. The café hosts numerous events during the year, providing ‘get together’ opportunities for any and everyone in the Integrity family. Net contribution margins are donated to missions initiatives that Integrity supports.
The Bakery was established in 2025. It has grown tremendously through contracting with numerous local restaurants, farmers’ markets, bakeries and other establishments, and providing them baked goods. The Bakery has won awards from local organizations for excellence in the food services field. The Bakery also supports the numerous events and activities held by and through Integrity ministries.
International Impact
Internationally, Integrity partners through financial support with organizations in three specific geographic regions. First, Integrity has sustained a strong long-term partnership with Youth for Christ missionary Alberto Leiva in Estelí, Nicaragua. Up until 2024, Integrity mission teams travelled to Estelí, providing childhood evangelism and family development workshops, teacher training in Estelí’s public schools, as well as leadership development training for area pastors and YFC staff and volunteers. Unfortunately, the governmental and civil unrest in the country brought the trips to a halt.
Secondly – Integrity financially supports the Open Door Foundation in Ukraine, to bring high quality evangelistic summer camps to the young people of Ukraine. Missionaries Vitaly & Natalia Smolin lead continuing efforts to bring relief to a war-torn country. While a mission trip had been planned for the year 2023, the beginning of the war caused that trip to be cancelled. Integrity continues to provide significant financial support to the work of the Smolins.
Thirdly, Integrity’s Men’s Service Ministry leads the focus on the church’s Honduras relationship with Alamance County-based Missionary Air Group. MAG provides medical aviation transport and care in a remote area of the country, through the leadership of missionaries Steve and Candace Crothers, Integrity family members prior to deployment. Integrity supports financially and provides construction and maintenance work through mission trips to help keep MAG’s airstrip and missionary living quarters functional.
Finally, Integrity provides financial support for the C3 Leadership Initiative ministry in the country of Eswatini, led by missionary Jim Muchuku. Here Jim mobilizes a team of adults in running leadership and skill set development camps and programs for young people.
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