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A monthly roundup of faith, membership, and visioning
Hello! Welcome to the new and improved 1-Stop Pop Up.
We’ve re-visioned what this newsletter can be and we hope you’re excited for the things contained within. In this monthly edition, you can expect to find:
a testimony on how Checkpoint is helping people walk through denominational transitions
a breakdown of our new YouTube memberships
an invitation to our next DLC gathering
From visioning to revisioning, here’s how Checkpoint is living out our mission this month.
An Ecumenical Haven for In-Betweeners
While Checkpoint has a strong United Methodist DNA (being pastored by an ordained Elder and a plant through the UMC), our focus on YouTube and Discord has leaned toward welcoming people from any faith tradition, including those with no faith tradition. While this may feel obvious to the Church, it’s not always the case.
Since our early days, we’ve welcomed members and pastors from various denominations. As part of that ethos, we’ve also helped people explore their own spiritual identity — often this looks like a space to feel welcome while they ask hard questions.
One of our leaders, Resident Orthobro, put it like this recently:
It’s taken a while and being in checkpoint, reevaluating my faith, and two denominational changes and I’d say I think I’m semi there
Because if I’m being honest checkpoint is some of the reason I wanted to explore the Early churches more oddly enough.
And I mean that in the best way possible because I went from basically southern baptist (iykyk) to being apart of a community that allows for love and growth and has fairly traditional church views that I think Jesus would be happy we’re striving for. Im just lucky and glad checkpoint and NPN exists
We’re glad that people like this exist and can find a safe space at Checkpoint to do this work. We believe that Jesus is also happy that Orthobro has found a renewed passion for loving others.
Updated YouTube Membership Opportunities
In our 2026 Nerdy Sermon Review video, we announced several updates for the new year, including expanding our YouTube membership options.
For those unfamiliar, YouTube allows channels of our size to set up memberships for their viewers. Prior to this update, we had only one tier as we deliberated what we could offer. In that vein, we decided that we’d treat this membership program as a way to express financial patronage to our community.
This means the membership is not really designed for members of our church, but for supporters who want this ministry to thrive. The perks of the tiers are thus tied to the well-being of the ministry, as you’ll see below.
If you believe in the ministry of Checkpoint but don’t really see it as your church, this is the perfect opportunity to support us financially. Similarly, if you’re uncomfortable with tithing to a church due to trauma, this is a way to support the videos we create, like you would Mr. Beast or any other YouTuber. We need your financial support to keep this ministry thriving.
Our January DLC is quite the vision
We gather every month for what we call a Difficult Life Conversation, or DLC, where the community of Checkpoint comes together around a topic and, of course, Communion.
For January, we’re kicking off the year with a visioning night. We’ll be making bingo cards for 2026 for ourselves and for Checkpoint as a whole. We’ll talk about the merits (and risks) of goal-setting and resolutions, and offer ways to do so wisely. If you want to join us, hop into the Discord server at 8pm EST on January 25th, 2026. We’d love to share that time with you!
Thank you for reading! We hope you enjoyed this January 2026 edition of the 1-Stop Pop-Up.
As always, the best way to stay involved and informed about Checkpoint Church on a week-to-week basis is through our Discord server or YouTube channel. We strive to keep this newsletter for those who are primarily curious about the overarching events at Checkpoint, so many of the smaller, but equally exciting, elements will not make the cut for this space.
This newsletter is about showing you the heartbeat of Checkpoint — stories of transformation, opportunities for impact, and new ways to see God at work in nerd culture.
I look forward to reading your replies or comments in the section below this newsletter. I sincerely appreciate your support by subscribing to this newsletter. If you haven’t taken the time to do so, then consider doing so here:
And remember,
God loves you.
We love you.
You matter.