A Tale of Three Church Plants
It is good to be back after a rather lengthy time away! The rest was needed. The refreshment was real. And renewal was accomplished. But ... it is nice to be getting back to familiar routines and the life of the body.
As I was away, I had the opportunity to worship a number of different places, a couple of which coalesced into a thought train that I wanted to share with you. Car #1 on this thought train is Cornerstone PCA in Muskegon, our presbytery's church plant that just celebrated one year of worshipping together. It was really lovely to see how this group has come together and grown, both in number and in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. While they are in the full throes of church plant mode (i.e weekly set up/tear down, desperately counting the people who show up for each service, striving for the best worship location, etc...), they are already making an impact in Muskegon! Let's continue to be in prayer for them!
Car #2 on this thought train is Crossroads Presbyterian Fellowship in St. Louis, a church that I was called to plant some 22 years ago. First, of all how is it that is is 22 years ago already?! These kids that we baptized are now heading off to college! For various reasons, I had not worshipped with Crossroads since we left in 2014. It was lovely to be there and to see how the Lord has sustained that church through some tough times, and now they are doing really well and continuing to make an impact in their part of the city. While it was great to see many original faces and catch up with their stories, I was moved most deeply by a couple of unexpected faces. The unexpected were friends and contemporaries of ours who were never connected to Crossroads, but just happened to be visiting that day because their now adult children go there. In one case it was Josiah's best little 4 or 5-year-old friend Theodore, who now calls Crossroads home with his wife. In the other case, Roxy Bailey who was 4ish years old when she lived above us with her family in seminary housing, was having her second child baptized at Crossroads as she and her husband raise their family in that community. For some reason, seeing these two families at Crossroads really impacted me. Of course, I expected that Crossroads had grown and that there would be many people who would be part of the community who we did not know. But for some reason, seeing Roxy and Theodore really crystallized for me the blessing that a church can be for generations unconsidered.
Which brings me to car #3 on our thought train, our own, beloved Christ Church. While we are in our sixtieth year and more characterized these days by planting churches than by being a church plant, at one time Christ Church was a church plant. Sixty years ago there was nothing but a vision of establishing a church where God could be worshipped, people could grow together, and the city could be impacted. Praise God for his faithfulness to this community over the years. Praise him that the visionary work of our founding members has come to fruition and the purposes of the gospel can be lived out at Christ Church. And let us keep praying, even as we are in the process of discerning our ministry priorities for the years to come, that along with us, people we have never associated with Christ Church might find a home to grow in grace, raise their families, and continue to impact Grand Rapids.