For Immediate Release

Lamppost Ministries and Live4It Community partner to help churches across Northwest Georgia and Southeast Tennessee build stronger, lasting community.

DALTON, GA — July 16, 2026 — Lamppost Ministries and Live4It Community are inviting churches throughout Whitfield, Murray, Catoosa, Gordon, and Bradley counties to participate in a regionwide small-group initiative exploring what real, lasting community looks like from a biblical worldview.

 

Beginning Tuesday, February 2, 2027, participating churches across Northwest Georgia and Southeast Tennessee will offer Lamppost small groups centered on More Than Neighbors: A Biblical Worldview of Community.

 

The 12-week study will guide participants through the time-tested tenets of Biblical community, including hospitality, unity, service, grace, accountability, shared mission, and bearing one another’s burdens. The goal is not simply to teach people about community, but to help them experience it while building stronger relationships within their churches and throughout the region.

 

“Community is more than living near one another,” said Mitchell Hollis, founder of Lamppost Ministries. “It is choosing to show up, share life, carry burdens, extend grace, and remain committed to one another. Our hope is that churches across this entire region will open their doors and help people rediscover the kind of community God designed us to experience.”

 

Churches may offer the study through all or one of several Lamppost ministry lenses, including Lamppost Running, Lamppost Walking, Lamppost Outdoors, Lamppost Table, Lamppost Young Adults, and Lamppost Living. Each group will study the same biblical worldview while applying its lessons through a setting and activity that naturally connects its participants.

 

A running group may train together while studying community. A walking group may build relationships one mile at a time. A Lamppost Table group may gather over shared meals, while an outdoors group may experience the study through hunting, fishing, hiking, or time spent in creation.

 

Different activities. Different ages and backgrounds. One shared study and one common purpose.

A Regionwide Day of Community

The studies will culminate on Saturday morning, April 24, 2027, at the Live4It Day of Community in Dalton, Georgia.

 

Participants from churches across the five-county region will gather at the Vitruvian Health campus for a morning of activity, celebration, and community. Participants may take part in the Bill Gregory Health Care Classic or enjoy other activities offered as part of the event.

 

The Bill Gregory Health Care Classic serves as Live4It Community’s annual regional rallying point, bringing together families, schools, employers, healthcare providers, and neighbors around wellness, hope, and community connection.

 

Whether someone participated through walking, running, the outdoors, a dinner table, a young-adult group, or another Lamppost setting, there will be a place for everyone at the Day of Community.

No matter what brings participants to the event, the goal is simple: to create a stronger community held together by what unites us and to encourage people to love and care for one another, regardless of their background.

 

“This is bigger than one church, one ministry, or one event,” Hollis said. “It is an opportunity for our entire region to demonstrate that we can be different without being divided. We can come from different places, enjoy different activities, and worship in different ways while still choosing to love our neighbors and invest in one another.”

Churches Invited to Participate

Churches throughout Whitfield, Murray, Catoosa, Gordon, and Bradley counties are encouraged to host one or more Lamppost small groups beginning February 2, 2027.

 

Lamppost Ministries will provide participating churches with the study materials, ministry-specific resources, leader guidance, and practical tools needed to organize and lead their groups.

Churches interested in hosting a Lamppost study or learning more about the regional initiative may contact:

 

Mitchell Hollis
Lamppost Ministries
706-463-1000
Mitchell@LamppostMinistries.com
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About Live4It Community

Live4It began in 2019 as a collaborative effort led by HealthOne Alliance and Alliant Health Plans, in partnership with Vitruvian Health, formerly Hamilton Health Care System, and PHS in Dalton, Georgia. 

 

Live4It helps people identify what truly matters to them and supports them in taking small, sustainable steps toward longer, healthier, and more fulfilling lives. Today, Live4It Community is a nonprofit organization serving Northwest Georgia through partnerships, events, outreach, and community wellness initiatives.
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About Lamppost Ministries

Lamppost Ministries was founded by Mitchell Hollis and grew from the foundation established through Run for God, a ministry launched by Mitchell and his wife, Holly, in 2010. Run for God helped create running communities through more than 6,500 churches, schools, and organizations worldwide.

 

In 2026, Mitchell and Holly launched Lamppost Ministries to apply those same proven principles of discipleship and community to the everyday places where people already gather. Through running, walking, meals, outdoor activities, young-adult gatherings, and practical life application, Lamppost Ministries helps churches and individuals live out biblical worldviews in everyday life.


One study. Multiple ministry lenses. One region growing stronger together.