About Created Church
Created Church is a non-denominational Christian church registered in the state of Ohio. Instead of going to a building, our campus exists online at Go.CreatedChurch.net. Our weekly services take place every Saturday night at 6:30pm (Eastern) and are streamed live across Facebook, Instagram, Periscope, Twitter, YouTube and Live.CreatedChurch.net.
Dustin Craig
Lead Pastor
Dustin accepted the call to go into ministry at the age of sixteen while he was serving as a student ambassador in Europe. After walking the old battlefields and touring the empty cathedrals, he gave his life over to the biggest cause he could think of – the kingdom of God. Since then, he attended Malone University’s School of Theology and earned his bachelor’s of arts in Youth and Sports Ministry with minors in Sports Management and Coaching. Dustin has also been recognized internationally as a student, athlete and ministry leader. He has worked directly with nearly 300 churches putting together outreach events and his current #630SN video series has been viewed by people in over 80 countries and territories.
Tony Craig
Executive Director
Tony has been an innovator in both the business and ministry worlds. He attended the University of Cincinnati’s College of Business and College Conservatory of Music before entering into business. His career includes overseeing the daily balance clearinghouse banks, writing policy and procedures, managing corporate communications and developing both intranet and internet databases. Tony has written reports to members of Congress on customer satisfaction and launched the first start-up to ever be featured on the cover of US Business Review magazine. Outside of his business interests, he also has experience in non-profit board management, staff-parish relations, youth ministry, sports ministry and music ministry.
Our Vision
To reimagine and reignite the local church using new technology
OUR VISION | “REIMAGINING AND REIGNITING THE LOCAL CHURCH”
We define the Church as the universal body of believers, and we define the local church as any gathering of Christians who are committed to pray, grow and serve together in their community. We believe the local church exists to do ministry and is intrinsically connected to the Church universal by the unity of the Holy Spirit.
Reimagining the local church
Reigniting the local church
Our Mission
To empower people to pray, grow and serve together both online and in the community
OUR MISSION | “PRAY, GROW AND SERVE TOGETHER”
PRAY to the Father
GROW in the Son
SERVE with the Spirit
Our Strategic Goals
To reach people for Christ, connect them to the Church, see their lives transformed while inspiring others
OUR STRATEGIC GOALS | REACH -> CONNECT -> TRANSFORM -> INSPIRE
“Reach” [v. reech] to stretch, to strive for, to move from your comfort zone.
“Connect” [v. kuh-nekt] to come together, to unite, to become one body.
“Transform” [v. trans-fawrm] to change, to grow, to be made new.
“Inspire” [v. in-spahyuhr] to be given vision, to be set free.
Our Core Values
If the Christian faith is a living faith, then what we believe should affect the way we live
OUR CORE VALUES | “A LIVING FAITH”
Personal Commitment
Water Baptism
Communion
Marriage & Family
Ministry & Calling
The Created Church Movement
Reimagining and reigniting the local church since 1842
Our Roots (1842-2004)
The Haven on Vine (the current home of Paradigm Shift Ministries) was built in 1842 by Charles Baker and was designed to serve as a station on the Underground Railroad.
The roots of Paradigm Shift Ministries itself stretch back over 120 years. During the Muscular Christianity Movement of the late 1800’s, the local YMCA in Erie, Pennsylvania established what became known as the Erie County Church Athletic Association (E.C.C.A.A.). The E.C.C.A.A. administered competitive leagues across multiple ages and sports. This led to a rich intergenerational history of those who had represented their churches and neighborhoods on the field of play.
It was this league future Paradigm Shift Ministries co-founder Dustin Craig was invited to play in shortly after moving to Erie in 1998.
Our Foundation (2004-2007)
In the fall of 2004, the YMCA decided to decommission the E.C.C.A.A. Instead of telling people the program was going away, the outgoing league director began to direct phone calls to future Paradigm Shift co-founder Tony Craig (since he was one of the more vocal church representatives). Representatives from seventeen local congregations gathered together to preserve the 100+ year heritage of ‘church league basketball,’ which continued play for several years under the name CLAY Team Sports Ministry, nearly tripling in size to become the largest youth basketball program in Northwestern Pennsylvania.
On October 28, 2005, Tony helped a group of students form a band to lead worship at a regional youth retreat, calling themselves the Created… Music Project. The group saw students come and go, playing wherever they could.
Also during this time, Dustin enrolled at Malone University School of Theology (then Malone College) to study youth and sports ministry while minoring in coaching and sport management.
Our Transformation (2008-2013)
In December 2007, Erie church league basketball coaches and representatives decided their program needed to evolve into a true sports outreach program rather than simply a recreational league for current Sunday school students and called on Dustin to be its chaplain.
In 2009, Dustin was invited to speak at the annual Christian Society of Kinesiology and Leisure Studies (CSKLS) on the topic of ‘Bodily Stewardship’ at the University of Ottawa. That same year, he traveled to Honduras in partnership with Scripture Union (Canada/Honduras) and Athletes in Action (Honduras) in order to train local pastors and to establish a church sponsored community soccer program. In 2010, Dustin launched a summer sports camp program for a church in Alexandria Bay, New York. In 2012, he helped to architect a national sports ministry tournament in partnership with the Association of Church Sports and Recreation Ministers (CSRM).
During this time, the Created… Music Project continued to play. Since its first concert, over 70 youth, young adults and some not-so-young adults have played everywhere from soup kitchens to sports stadiums spreading the message that we have all been created for a reason.
Through these experiences, it was realized that in order for sports and music outreach to effect real and lasting change in a community, it must be fully integrated with a local church. This led to the creation of what would be called Paradigm Shift Ministries, which began as a dorm room project in 2009 and took until 2013 to be defined to a point Dustin and Tony felt compelled to create a legally recognized organization.
NOTE: The term Paradigm Shift came from a song written by Dustin called “River Stone”, which describes God’s love breaking down the hardest of hearts like the river erodes the stones in the riverbed. The chorus states: “It’s a paradigm shift, it can take time or be quick. The change will be your own, just like the river stone.”
Our Future (2014-Present)
During the summer of 2013, the Craig’s moved their base of operations to Marion, Ohio and finalized what this new kind of organization would look like, and to create a not-for-profit corporation (designated as a church in the state of Ohio) to serve as the legal structure for its ministries. Papers were signed in January 2014 to christen Paradigm Shift Ministries, Inc.
Six Thirty Saturday Nite (#630SN) was soft-launched at The Haven on Vine Bed & Breakfast and Retreat Center in Marion on November 29, 2014 and began broadcasting live via Periscope on May 30, 2015. Live streaming extended to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in 2016, adding Instagram in 2017.
On May 19, 2015, PSM announced the purchase of The Haven on Vine, which provides a unique addition to the ministries of Paradigm Shift, providing facilities for worship as well as offices, meeting spaces, studio and retreat center. The Haven was built in 1842 and was designed to serve as a station on the Underground Railroad.
The Created… Music Project continues to play as the house band for #630SN and performs frequently at community events. The band won the Mid-Ohio’s Got Talent contest in the summer of 2015 and was invited to audition for America’s Got Talent in November 2015. This exposure now allows the Created… Music Project to promote local Christian music during various community events and festivals (including the Galion Summerfest, Galion Oktoberfest, Saturday in the Park and the Marion Popcorn Festival).
In 2019, we announced the launch of Go.CreatedChurch.net as the new online home for all past, present and future Paradigm Shift Ministries programs.
Created Music Project
CLAY Sports Ministry
PS Missions Network
© 2020 Paradigm Shift Ministries, Inc.