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'How we got here'

How did we get here? From the very beginning, the vision has been to create an environment where college students and young adults could come together and pursue a deeper faith in Christ. By the grace of God, we have roots, heritage and history that is still affecting the overall focus of ACCESS218.

Before ACCESS218 even had a name, it was the desire in the hearts of Gee and Sandy Sprague to effectively minister to young adults. Gee Sprague ran a summer internship through his ministry, Cross and Crown, which gave young adults an opportunity to travel throughout the Southeast touring youth groups and camps with what known back then as 'contemporary music'. The 18-25 year olds that traveled with Cross and Crown were given the opportunity to be on the front lines of ministry. Sandy Sprague also led a Sunday School class at Lakewood United Methodist Church called 'The Unclass' while assisting Gee in Cross and Crown. This Sunday School class, which is still active today, offered community and connection for college students and young adults in that congregation, especially those who attended schools outside of the Jacksonville area.

In 1995, Gee was given the opportunity to start a new church in the Baymeadows area. He wanted this new church to be different in its approach to reaching imperfect people in the community, especially those in the 18-25 age range. Baymeadows CrossRoad United Methodist Church opened in April of 1996 desiring to be a place where young adults would want to worship. An college-aged Bible Study started as soon as the church did. Justin Murphy led the first studies in the family room of the Sprague house. No one knew where those first few meetings would lead.

The Tuesday Night College Bible Study became a popular event. Tuesday night dinners were faithfully prepared by Sandy each week. Even though the Bible Study would end in the early evening, folks would continue hanging around for hours afterwards talking, praying, and even getting a free haircut. The ministry was led by a few interns in the early days: Lisa Knoepfel (now Dedrick) and Kendall Hunt, who eventually became the Director of college ministries. Under Kendall's leadership, the college ministry gained a name, ACCESS. ACCESS Bible Studies were so well attended that the Sprague house became to small. It was time for a change of venue and so much more.

Kendall believed that it was time for ACCESS to change. In January 1999, the Tuesday Night Bible Study became a college service that would meet for dinner, worship and then a message. ACCESS would meet in the youth room (aka 'The WhereHouse') and sit on couches. Those first meetings were electric and included an extended time of prayer where God moved mightily among the group of faith filled young adults. The ACCESS Band was also started at this time and actively began working on bringing authentic worship experiences to the Tuesday Night crowd, which included the first of many original songs that would be written by the band. Many thought that Tuesday Nights would never be any better. From social events to hosting the Passion Tour Band and three RV's traveling to One Day 2000 in Shelby Farms, TN to a mission trip to Haiti, ACCESS desired to reach its generation and bring hope to the world.

In 2001, Baymeadows Crossroad turned into CrossRoad Church and made the huge move to its new building on Gate Parkway. ACCESS became ACCESS218 and also made the move. The last ACCESS service in 'The WhereHouse' included a worship night and then caravan over to the new church building. The Friday night before the church opened, ACCESS218 took the late night shift in a larger church project of reading the word of God over every inch of the new facility. ACCESS218 on Gate Parkway opened many new doors for the college ministry including an even closer proximity to the University of North Florida. Seeing all that God was doing in ACCESS218, the United Methodist Florida Board of Higher Education and Campus Ministry began to support the ministry with a grant making it possible for ACCESS218 to do greater ministry to area young adults. Much of what we see in ACCESS218 is due to the ministry and vision of Kendall Hunt.

Feeling the call of God to study in Sydney, Kendall stepped down from his ministry position in the summer of 2002. Kendall's job had to be filled by two people: Alison Graham-Smith and Derrick Scott III. The dream that started in the hearts of the Sprague's and the ministry that took form under Kendall's leadership was continued by Alison, Derrick and an amazing team of leaders. The co-leadership of Alison and Derrick added some new pieces to the ACCESS218 ministry in addition to continuing all that was already working. Among the highlights are the trip to One Day 03 in Sherman, TX where over 60 young adults jumped into five RV's to meet with God. ACCESS218 continued to pursue the vision of reaching college students and young adults in the Jacksonville area.

The ACCESS218 Band finally recorded its first project 'I Will Live for You', a live/studio CD featuring 12 original tunes from the band. The project released in October of 2003. Their next project, 'All for You' was recorded live with over 500 worshippers and released in September 2005.

ACCESS218 was given the opportunity to do ministry to University of North Florida on behalf of the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. Eventually, the A218 Club @ UNF was born as a student led organization and began to meet every Wednesday evening for Community Night; a time of fellowship, food, and fun watching sitcoms. In addition to the weekly meeting, worship nights and other events are hosted by the A218 Club.

Seeing a need to give back to the community and offer young adults volunteer opportunities, Mission218 was started to act as the service arm of ACCESS218. Mission218 has participated in various projects, in particular, two relief trips to the West End Village on the Grand Bahamas Island and the assembly of 600 health kits to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

In the fall of 2005 , Alison (who married Kendall in 2004) felt the call to reach out to young married's in the CrossRoad congregation. Her desire to see things done with excellence and compassion has made ACCESS218 a ministry known for doing things well. She has also raised the value of ministering to the young women in this age group. Among all the leaders of ACCESS218, she will be missed the most as she has made this ministry what it is.

The beginning of 2006 marks another new season for ACCESS218. Under the leadership of Derrick and an unbelievably devoted team, the dream and vision that started in the family room of the Sprague's continues on. New additions to the ministry include Rebirth, a ministry to artists in our community, and the Student Network, our way of staying connected to those who attend school outside of the Jacksonville area. The story continues for ACCESS218. But ACCESS218 is a small part of God's story of igniting the next generation of the Church.