church planting « jxgomez.com | Your message matters.

25 May 2011

Church Planting Path

Courtesy of the Evangelism & Church Growth Department of The Wesleyan Church One of the great privileges I have already enjoyed in life is being involved in church planting, most recently as co-planter of The Bridge. Though my family and I are transitioning into a new season and place of ministry, church planting will remain an important part of how we serve the Kingdom of Christ. I am especially glad to serve in a district within The Wesleyan Church that places such priority on church planting–not because it’s a hot new fad, but because they passionately want to see people come to know the hope and life of Jesus. We recently posted the above photo (you can download the .pdf version here) at theydidwewill.blogspot.com — it’s a different way of looking at the church planting process within The Wesleyan Church and serves as a good reminder that seeing new churches come to fruition is a continuous journey and an adventure. (more…)

28 Jan 2011

Favor: Post 5 (of 5)

In March of 2010, we hosted a Prayer Walk(athon) in Pittsburgh (the above image is of most of the participants). Rick (Lead Planter) designed a couple of these as significant fundraisers allowing The Bridge to have the ministry dollars needed to carry us through the year. He would later share that he sincerely, genuinely sensed $30,000 would be raised for ministry purposes. It was also a tremendous way to build interest and momentum for church planting in Pittsburgh. The people who participated in the Pittsburgh Prayer Walk(athon) contributed in a big way. But by the time all of the fundraising was calculated, less than $7,000 had come in. This was enough to cover ministry during the summer and provide a number of opportunities to connect with the community. But it wasn’t $30,000. And we still had the biggest event of the summer to be cared for as well as making sure a facility could be rented for preview, launch, and (more…)

Tags: church, church planting, Encouragement, faith, Family Fun Day, Holy Spirit, Leadership, outreach, Pittsburgh, The Bridge, Western PA District
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27 Jan 2011

Favor: Post 4 (of 5)

THE CALL. For our pre-launch gatherings,we found the perfect place to meet. It was the ‘dream location’ for any church plant: a community hotspot, modern facilities, plenty of room to grow, plenty of parking, an area for connection, rooms for children’s and nursery ministries. Perfect. We might never leave. But as we looked at what the cost would be to stay in that facility following our Grand Opening when we moved from monthly to weekly gatherings, things looked impossible. We asked God to please provide what was an overwhelming amount for our perfect place to meet. One day, the phone rang. On the other end was a representative from 3 Lakes Golf Course with an offer: Rather than paying hundreds of dollars for a few hours on Sunday, what if we payed a quarter of the cost for an entire day at their club house? With a fully stocked nursery? And a dedicated children’s ministry area? And all the space (more…)

Tags: church, church planting, Encouragement, faith, Leadership, Pittsburgh, The Bridge
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26 Jan 2011

Favor: Post 3 (of 5)

LEAP OF FAITH. “Either we sell the house, or Sarah gets a job. We can’t move to Pittsburgh until then.” Of course we couldn’t move ‘until then.’ It was the only way ends would possibly meet. It made practical sense, so we dedicated time to trying to sell or rent the house and hunt for work. But after a couple months, neither the house sold or rented and my wife, Sarah, had yet to get a call for potential employment. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the moment, on my way to the ‘Burgh to look at potential apartments for us, when God clearly spoke to me that he had called us to Pittsburgh and we needed to be *IN* Pittsburgh. I immediately called my wife from the car and said, “I think I’m going to find our new home today, and that we need to move as soon as possible; are you okay with me signing a lease even (more…)

Tags: church, church planting, courage, Encouragement, faith, Leadership, Pittsburgh, Prayer, The Bridge
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25 Jan 2011

Favor: Post 2 (of 5)

This post is part of a series celebrating some of the incredible ways God has shown his favor in planting The Bridge. You can read the first post here. “Family Fun Day” was the high-water mark of our summer ministry season in 2010. If you read yesterday’s post, you saw some of the cool ways God made a way where there was no way in securing a location at the right time. But one of the most exciting aspects of the day was seeing how churches from across our district partnered together to see incredible things take place. Here’s an excerpt from an article I wrote earlier about the day: …during The Bridge’s summer outreach event, a free “Family Fun Day,” held at the end of August when ten of the District’s 28 churches helped provide over 100 volunteers, funding, food, and other supplies which made the day a great success. The Bridge had 425 present at the event, providing (more…)

Tags: church, church planting, courage, Encouragement, faith, Family Fun Day, Holy Spirit, outreach, Pittsburgh, Prayer, The Bridge, Western PA District
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24 Jan 2011

Favor: Post 1 (of 5)

The Bridge is having a Grand Opening Celebration this weekend (it’s our ‘official launch’ for those of you who prefer church-planty lingo) and we are incredibly excited. It’s hard to believe the day will actually be here — especially when you stop to consider that a year ago neither the Coxes nor the Gomezes had yet become residents of Pittsburgh and our Launch Team could have been described as ‘embryonic’ at best! In preparation for and celebration of this weekend, I am making it a point to share some of the ways we have seen God’s favor in the adventure of launching The Bridge. So, I’ll be posting one example of this each day from now to Sunday. Here’s today’s: The Park At the end of August, The Bridge was hosting a “Family Fun Day” as a way to connect with the community. More details about the day will be included in tomorrow’s post, but the biggest hurdle early on (more…)

Tags: church, church planting, courage, Encouragement, faith, Family Fun Day, Holy Spirit, Pittsburgh, Prayer, strength, The Bridge
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15 Jan 2011

The Rest of January

The rest of this month is going to be pretty busy as we prepare for our official launch/”Grand Opening” of The Bridge and spend time serving our community. We will be hosting preview services, topping-off washer fluid for motorists at local gas stations, hosting a blanket giveaway, and, of course, launching! In between we’ll be canvassing neighborhoods, inviting friends and neighbors, sending out postcards, and doing whatever else we can to get the word out to the community. We have seen the Holy Spirit go before us in amazing ways, and in the next post, I’ll share some of the highlights of how he’s shown us his favor (it’s probably going to leave you speechless). In the meantime, we are asking you to keep the following events as points of serious prayer throughout the month: Saturday, January 15 — Washer Fluid Top-Off (Exxon @ 7409 Saltsburg Rd, Penn Hills — click for map) from 10 am – 1 pm Sunday, January (more…)

Tags: church, church planting, JourneyNotes, outreach, Pittsburgh, Prayer, The Bridge
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13 Sep 2010

Preview!

Part of our process in launching The Bridge involves a series of monthly ‘preview’ celebrations. We’re hoping these monthly gatherings help build momentum while setting the tone for what will be once things are officially up-and-running. They also help to figure out what connects well and what doesn’t work so well given the culture and context of Penn Hills. Yesterday, we had our first monthly celebration–our very first public worship gathering, and it was a phenomenal experience. Thanks to those of you who were praying for us before and during the gathering; we know that it is God’s Spirit who is doing the real work in Penn Hills and that he honors the prayers of his people. We had a pretty healthy crowd of just over 50 (not bad for a first-go on a Steelers’ Home-Game Sunday!), but of the greatest points of excitement for us is that we’re beginning to see the answer to our prayer for a multiethnic, (more…)

Tags: church, church planting, Encouragement, faith, Leadership, Pittsburgh, The Bridge
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31 Aug 2010

Beauty in the Cluster.

One of the points of conversation following our FunDay the other day was the beauty of a cluster of churches working together with a missional focus. We know that there’s no way The Bridge could have, by herself, provided the kind of quality event that people experienced this past Saturday during the Family Fun Day. We could not have handled the expense, procured the necessary supplies, or raised the army of volunteers needed on our own. One of the the things that made the day great was seeing so many of our District churches, all with different histories and of varying sizes, partnering together to love on the people of Penn Hills and demonstrate solidarity with us. The same is true for church planting: for some churches, there’s no way they could, by themselves, daughter a healthy, multiplying church; at least not yet. For all kinds of reasons, raising up a church planter and sending them out with a healthy (more…)

Tags: church, church planting, Cost, courage, Encouragement, Family Fun Day, Leadership
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24 Aug 2010

That way!

As Sarah and I seek clarity on the ‘where’ of our next ministry endeavor (planting The Bridge’s first daughter church in Pittsburgh), the cry of our spirits to God’s has been, “Show us where you are moving and how to join you there.” A few years ago, in zeal and even greater immaturity than I now possess, I probably would have forced an exciting vision to bubble up, created a strategic plan, and then charged after what I had fabricated. But that isn’t right, and it isn’t at all what we want. We are praying, “show us when and where to move,” and will develop our plan based on the open doors and sense of God’s leading. In some ways, it feels like that means “let’s make this whole thing up as we move along,” but it’s the best way I know to heed what the Spirit directs rather than chase and build my own cardboard kingdom. So, we wait (more…)

Tags: church planting, courage, faith, Leadership, Patience, personal, Pittsburgh
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