Monday, December 28, 2009

Church Planting

We announced to our church yesterday that we will be moving to the Magnolia/The Woodlands area to begin a new church plant. I will be serving as the Lead Pastor/Elder. Our church has been so gracious to us here in Brenham and they are fully behind this move and have committed their support to us in every way possible. It really is a great thing to be a part of a church planting church, and experiencing first hand them "putting their money where their mouth is" both figuratively and literally.

This has been on the horizon for some time, but I wasn't sure of the timing until recently. Through a series of events we found ourselves spending more time at our friend's lake house and more time in The Woodlands area. Now if you are familiar with The Woodlands area, then you know that there are a lot of churches. However, what you may not be aware of is that the population is booming out there, and there are a lot of people not going to church anywhere.

Also, to be honest, we like the area. It reminds us of where we grew up, but has a lot of trees, so that's a bonus!

We know a few people who are pastoring out in that area and who are planting churches themselves. Our heart is to go and serve alongside of them and partner together for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not our desire to compete, but to "spur one another on to love and good deeds." So far, every minister/pastor we have talked to out in that area have been extremely kind and welcoming. For this, we are grateful, and acknowledge God's favor.

I have already received a lot of questions regarding the church, and most of the information will be on a website that I am currently building and should have online soon. However, here's some of the details:

  • Target Area: Where Magnolia and The Woodlands meet: Click Here to see.
  • Will I keep traveling with Transform Ministries?: Yes. I love to travel and preach and that is definitely part of my calling. For the next year, I do not see too much changing with my travel schedule, but I may become less available on Sundays. However, depending on how quickly the Lord grows His Church, how Steph feels about my travel schedule, my elders, etc, all of those factors will be weighed. But for now, keep the invites coming!
  • When will we move?: We are working on some last minute touches to our house here in Brenham and will put it on the market hopefully in early January. Once we are able to sell the house, then we will move to the Magnolia/The Woodlands area.
  • Do you have a name for your church?: Yes. We just received notice from the state that our non-profit corporation has been approved: Christ Community Church of Magnolia
  • Who will we be affiliated with?: We are currently being assessed by Acts 29 and sent by Christ Church in Brenham as well as Crossbridge Church in Sugar Land. I have a video conference in early January with the Texas Baptists (BGCT). We will also partner with our friends in the San Felipe Baptist Association.
  • When will we start?: We are hoping to gather some folks together at least once in January to share the vision of the church and see who might want to serve as missionaries with us. We hope to have some folks to begin meeting weekly with for Bible study, prayer, and fellowship starting in February. Our plan right now is to not do anything on Sundays until we are actually living out in that area. We will probably not launch public services (that is, when everyone is inviting whoever they can) until we have a committed core of 40 or so.
If you have more questions you would like answered, please feel free to E-mail me.

Here's how you can help:
  1. Pray: Please pray for my family (the move, church planting, transitioning, finances, etc), for the new church plant (we need people, we are essentially starting from scratch!) We are asking God for a few families (singles are welcomed too!) who are believers and desire to live as missionaries in their current context and we are praying that we would see people come to faith early on in our ministry. Please also pray for finances. A lot of people don't like to talk about money, but it's the fuel that is necessary.
  2. Spread the Word: If you know folks in the area who do not currently attend a church, or who are missionary minded who would like to know more about the church. Please help by getting us connected with them.
  3. Give: If the Lord would lead you to support this new ministry opportunity, there are two ways to do so. 1) You can give to Transform Ministries if you are wanting to support Steph and I specifically as missionaries for the next year or, 2) You can give to the church. You can e-mail me by clicking the link above if you would like to give. Also, just a practical way to help out would be gas cards, Starbucks cards, and Amazon cards (a pastor needs a library, no? :-) ), as I have a lot of meetings and commuting to do.
  4. Pray some more.
Well, this is all for now. Thank you for your friendship, love, and support. We are grateful to God for His people and we are looking forward to being a part of what He is doing in Montgomery county!