What’s In a Name?

February 20, 2010
bridge (nikkispick on flickr)

image: <nikkispic> on flickr

It’s been far too long since Joy in the Journey has had an update.  A good friend of mine, Stevan Sheets, expressed frustration about ministries that don’t let some light in on the process they’re using/journey they’re on.  So, for Stevan, I’m going to do a better job at updating our process/journey as church planters in Pittsburgh.


It seems fitting to begin by sharing that what we have been calling “The Pittsburgh Church Plant” now has a name.  We are: The Bridge.

Now, I know this may not seem the most unique name for a missional community of believers you’ve ever heard of (we were thinking of something heretofore unheard of like “Faith Community Church” or “First Baptist” or “Second Wesleyan” or “St. Luke’s”, but, alas, we found out those names had already been taken, too…) but “The Bridge” really does fit our passion and mission in Pittsburgh.  We are driven to see people cross from death to life in Christ Jesus.  We are focused on the birth of a multiethnic, multicultural church where race, culture, and ethnicity aren’t seen so much as obstacles to overcome but aspects of life to embrace and celebrate in worship to the creative God who gave us something greater than a monolithic human race.  We are engaged as missionaries connecting a relatively rural district to an urban center.  We are praying God uses us to help equip others to overcome obstacles to they can further engage Pittsburgh and many other urban centers.

So, there it is: we’re The Bridge.

Soon, information on where we can be found on the web and through social networking will become available.  In the meantime, we humbly ask that you pray for The Bridge and the people who will be part of this new church.

Next post: a little bit on our process for landing a name.


By JeremiahGomez | Posted in church planting | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)

JourneyNote #3

December 13, 2009

55.5 Square Miles

Within an area of 55.5 square miles, not very far from where I write these words, is a community which is home to fortune 500 companies, seats of commerce, houses of industry and institutions of innovation and education.  Within those 55.5 square miles, hundreds of thousands work, live, and build relationships.  Millions more live just outside the area.

The community found within that tract of land is known for an uncanny ability to reinvent itself; so resilient are these people that the recent G-20 Summit was hosted there to showcase one city’s ability to not only weather but grow stronger through economic crises and global storms.

Within those 55.5 square miles, you will find incredible fusions of old and new, stayed and untried.  You will also find 455 bridges, 712 public stairways, 8 tunnels, 90 distinctive neighborhoods, and 140 separately identifiable ethnic groups.

But you won’t find a single Wesleyan Church.

In fact, you won’t find a Wesleyan church within what is considered ‘reasonable driving distance’ of those 55.5 square miles.

I’m sharing about the city of Pittsburgh, where “95 percent of the local population has no recognizable, identifiable relationship with Jesus Christ.”

Sarah and I, partnering with the Cox family (Rick, Eunice, and Trevor), and, hopefully, partnering with you, are working to change at lease one of those statistics.  The Coxes and Gomezes have joyfully accepted the call to church planting in the Pittsburgh region and are growing in passion for what we sense as God’s desire in the area.

Our heart’s passion is to see a multiethnic, multicultural church right in the ‘Burgh.  We sense God’s leadership in developing a relevant, engaging hub of ministry to people from a variety of cultural, economic, and spiritual backgrounds–where once steel was forged, now lives are fused with the Spirit of God, strengthened and engaged as members of His Body.   What we can see is a multiplication center working within the heart of the city where countless individuals are sent out as missionaries to the communities of Pittsburgh, the surrounding areas, throughout the region and around the world.  In fact, God is already drawing people to be part of this great work and we believe His dreams are far bigger than ours.

Does any of this stir your heart with excitement and passion?  If so, remain on the lookout because in a few days, we’ll be sending you more information on how you can be involved in this Great Pittsburgh Adventure.

By JeremiahGomez | Posted in JourneyNotes | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Today…

September 1, 2009

church_modern_classical_234086_l…I’ll be spending the day with a great group of people who are dedicated to creating a movement of church multiplication in what many would say is an unlikely place.    I’ll be meeting with the Church Multiplication Task Force for the Western Pennsylvania District of The Wesleyan Church or TOOMANYLETTERS if you’re making an acronym.

Say what you will about our penchant for too-long names, but the fact is the people I serve with are passionate about seeing new churches planted.  Now, you may find yourself wondering why Western Pennsylvania needs new churches, anyway.  If you were to take an even cursory glance at many of the communities in this area, it would seem most of them need yet another church like most communities need yet another abandoned storefront.

But here’s the deal: just because you may see a lot of churches, that doesn’t mean there all that many who are connected with a local church.  More than ever before it seems our communities—large and small; rural and urban; new and historic—are in desperate need of churches who will bridge the divide between culture and the hope, love, and power of Christ.  Those very communities may not even recognize this need, but it is there and it is almost palpable.

So, today, I get to take part in what God is doing to make the dream of new churches a reality… as part of the dream of seeing the lives of those yet unreached in our own neighborhoods invaded with the light and life of Jesus.  Our thinking is that every local church exists because somebody at some time had the courage and foresight to start it…

They Did.  We Will.

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What if you are someone God has given the foresight and passion to start something new in the name of his Kingdom in order that more people will know what it is to be called ‘sons and daughters of God’?  Will you step out of what is comfortable to cross cultural, generational, and conventional boundaries?

They did.

Will you?

To find out more about church planting in Western PA, check out theydidwewill.org and theydidwewill.blogspot.com.

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Image courtesy of slonecker

By JeremiahGomez | Posted in church planting | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

CPAC Reflection: Fear

August 28, 2009
282917665_ea0e711add (1)<image courtesy of oddstock>

As I’ve spoken to people who have experienced the Assessment Center, and to people who are a little timid about going—I’ve been struck by the discussion on how nervous they were in coming into Assessment.  You can count me among them: part of being nervous is the fear of the unknown, and part of it has to do with a misconception of ‘how much is riding’ on a person’s performance.  Here are some things which might help in settle your own nerves if you’re thinking of attending.

First of all, the Assessment Center is not the end-all of church planting. There’s a fear that enters when we think of being assessed as pass/fail or somehow having to perform well in order to ‘advance.’  The assessors make it very clear that their assessment is simply a recommendation; whatever agency the potential planter will be working with still has to make the call about who will be planting and what that will look like within their own paradigm.  As said before, I personally think your best bet is to view any kind of assessment as a tool for discerning how God wired you… so a ‘red light’ shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Secondarily, only the potential lead planter is being assessed.  Sarah (my wife) and the spouse of another potential planter both expressed a fear that they might some how ‘wreck’ the experience for their husbands, “What if he gets approved, but I don’t?”  Now, part of Assessment is an evaluation of relationship health if you’re married, and that evaluation is important.  But Sarah’s ‘role’ in all of this was definitely to participate, to answer some questions, and for this to be ‘our’ thing rather than ‘mine’… but she was not the one being assessed.  Spouses, if you are not the one feeling led to be a lead planter, there’s no sense of ANY pressure on you.  Just be there, love your husband/wife, and walk through it together.

Finally, there is no sense that if you assess well then you MUST plant a church.  As the title of this site indicates, I’m aware we’re all on a journey; maybe CPAC or something like it is part of your journey, but even a strongly positive assessment doesn’t mean you must do something.  As with anything, though, be open… and be ready for God to blow the lid off whatever box you’ve been operating within.  He likes doing that; and he’s very, very good at it.

By JeremiahGomez | Posted in Assessment Center | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

CPAC Reflection: Priorities

August 26, 2009
Check<image courtesy of iprole>

As promised, I’m posting some general (or maybe specific?) reflections about my recent experience at the Church Planter Assessment Center last week.

The first thing I think each of us were struck by was the sense of ‘priority’ communicated: early on in the experience, the potential planters were told the focus of CPAC is on advancing the Cause of the Kingdom.  Because no tool in our ministry arsenal is as effective at reaching those who don’t know Christ as a new church,  great emphasis is being placed on planting new churches.  While the more cynical among us might assume that a denominational emphasis on starting new churches is a solely self-sustaining move (The Wesleyan Church currently closes more churches in a year than it opens), there was never any sense of ‘we must plant new churches or the denomination will die.’  There was great urgency in planting new churches so thousands of people will enter into relationship with Christ.

Because church planting is a bit of a different animal when it comes to ministry, the purpose of the Assessment Center is to evaluate potential planters on their likelihood for church planting succes.  But this was explained to demonstrate the desire of the assessors and denomination to help people find their ‘sweet spot’ in the life of the Kingdom, because when everything is in the right place, the Body functions much more effectively.

This immediately took pressure off to see CPAC as a pass/fail scenario.  Instead, it is meant to be a discernment tool in understanding how God has wired an individual.  I have a friend who very much disliked the whole Assessment experience because they saw it as pass/fail and nothing else.  When you understand it as a tool to help find where you best ‘fit,’ it becomes a very freeing, informative experience.

The idea of ‘priority’ is also seen in the way Assessment is paid for—if a potential planter is given a green or conditional-green (yellow) light, the denomination sends a grant to the home district of the assessed party in order to significantly defray the cost.  CPAC costs about $1500 to attend, on top of travel, lodging, some meals, and about $80 worth of pre-assessment personality and strengths finding tools.  Speaking for our own district, they placed such a high priority on all of this, they went out of their way so the folks from WPA wouldn’t have to incur any of the cost associated with attending.

I’m definitely not into the ‘my-denomination/district-is-better-than-yours’ discussion, but I can say I feel privileged serve in a district and denomination which puts such a hugh priority in reaching people disconnected from Jesus and helping its ministers find the place they can be most effective.

Next time, I’ll share some of why a lot of the nervousness people feel going into Assessment is unfounded.

By JeremiahGomez | Posted in Assessment Center | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)