Last night at Church Council/Dream Team, we took the first step in helping to start a new church in our area.
You may remember that in 1975 the First UMC Lees Summit worked with the conference to help launch Woods Chapel. You may also remember that in June 1995 – the conference was considering starting a new church in N Lees Summit. Or did we want to go out to the highway?
Today the conference is considering a new church start in E Independence. They are asking if we can we help shape and deploy it?
How we would help:
work w other churches in area to insure health and success of new start
provide space for one year
pay ½ of pastors salary
-20k in 2009
-20k in 2010
office, copier, meeting rooms
teaching our culture, mentoring
provide seed families
Challenges-
time spent on project
sharing space- they would set up in lecture hall at 8am and be done and out by 955am.
parking – more needed or run the shuttle
seed families
Opportunities
most UM churches in our area are in decline
we have the chance to help establish a future successful church in Independence
we can model churches working together
model church parenting and partnership
connect more people to Jesus Christ
extend beyond our 20 acres
we can model kingdom building, vs empire building
carry a cross for one year for the benefit of the greater kingdom
The comments last night were very positive. Consensus was reached to send this proposal on to the next step which would be a discussion at the all church conference on Nov 11th for priorities for 2009.
Please be praying about this opportunity.
It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
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3 comments:
I believe it sounds like a wonderful opportunity. One question, would this church hold their own Sunday School classes (for adults and children) at 8 AM using our facility?
My wife and I were involved in a church start in Iowa. I think our first Sunday there was week 2. We met in a school cafeteria for a year and a half. God Blessed that church with good people and leaders, who were generous with their time, finances and who worked hard to grow the church. There were bumps in the road and times when we weren't sure if God wanted us to grow (or even make it). My wife and I relocated to Kansas City about a year after joining and it was hard to leave because we knew how important each family was to the success of the church. Within a year the church was in its own building and had grown 7 fold. I was concerned when we left that the church may fold, not because we left, but because there was an imminent change in the pastor (I came to church early to tell him we were moving and that was the Sunday he announced the change). It is heartwarming to sit in that sanctuary and see what God had done. He had put the right people in the right place and a church that struggled for 2 years all of a sudden was flourishing and continues to do so.
People need to be served. I attended Woods Chapel in the old building in 1997 because it was close to my temporary home. We joined another UMC church in 1998 because it was closer to our permanent home. (We came back to Woods Chapel because that's what God had in mind) We need churches in close proximity to people. We need leaders who can grow those churches so we can connect more people to Christ. As we begin this endeavor, pray for our church. Especially pray for members that will step up to seed this new church - it's not easy, but things of importance rarely are.
DT
Question...if other Methodist churches in the area are in trouble with declining membership and finances, why not help them instead of starting new church?
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