Time to Start

The time is quickly arriving to start GBC Rancho. I've written an update (please click here) sharing plans and prayers. Please pray with us that God would build His church in Rancho Cucamonga and allow us to have a part in it.

Update, August-December 2009

After too many months of silence, here is our overdue update (click for PDF).

Less than a year

By the grace of God, Grace Bible Church of Rancho will have its official launch service less than a year from now.

In preparation, my family and I spent ten days visiting churches sharing our plans, recruiting helpers, and requesting financial help. We gave out more than 400 of the brochures that are pictured in my last post, and we are praying that God will work through those means.

Our confidence is in Christ who alone can build His church and who has promised to do so. Our goal is to promote His fame through obedience to His great commission by means of church planting. We desire to be usable, and will trust Him to do what He wants with us.

Now continues the important work of edification and equipping at GBC Menifee, making contact and meeting with prospective people for GBC Rancho, and preparing ourselves and a team to go next year.

God has been connecting us with more people interested in GBC Rancho, and our goal is to meet with each of them to build those relationships. We also want to encourage as many as can to attend GBC Menifee at least some as they wait for the new church to meet.

The time table and other plans are in the brochure and past blog posts. We are grateful to be close enough to our target area to meet people and get to know the area gradually. The Lord will provide the people and funds that He knows we will need in His own way and time.

We desire to see a healthy church plant begun less than a year from now. As we prepare, our delight is to do what we believe is God's will and to rely on Him completely to promote His own glory through the local church particularly in Menifee and then Rancho Cucamonga.

Brochure--Plans, Requests

Above are pictures of our new brochure explaining the plans and requests we have for planting GBC Rancho. We are very grateful for the work of Justin Murphy and YCP for their excellent design work! Click here for a PDF of the brochure

Our prayer is that God's good hand would be upon us (cf. Ezra, Nehemiah) for His own glory through the spread of the gospel and the building of His church in Southern California.

A Providential Path of Preparation

If you were to plan the preparation of a church planter, you would likely include things that have to do with study and experience and would certainly have many options. But when you detailed the part about experience, what kind of experience would you consider most valuable?

Sure, you know that God can and does use experience from anywhere and any kind of ministry to prepare a church planter, but what is the preferred path? Ultimately it is the path of God’s providential choosing, and I’m convinced He has chosen well for me.

As I minister with Grace Bible Church of Menifee as part of the church, the leadership, and church planting team, my gratitude grows toward God who has put me in what I would consider a preferred path of preparation for Southern California church planting.

Rather than being in some other part of the state or the country, I’m here among the people that God is sending us to edify and equip long-term (Eph. 4). GBC Menifee is established enough in ministry to provide a wide range of ministry experience, but still new enough to be “practicing” church planting. The leadership and people I work with have just gone through what our next team is about to go through—providing fresh insights and warnings.

There are so many benefits to the present ministry, location, people, and projects going on at GBC Menifee that make me praise the Lord for the path of preparation He has chosen for me. GBC Rancho is and will be His work through GBC Menifee, but He is graciously preparing me to lead it, and His path thus far gives me confidence for the road ahead.

Update 6, April-July 2009

For this or past updates in PDF format, see the GBC website: resources.

How we plan to plant from a church plant, 2 of 2

Trying for a fast start that is bivocational seems possible to us for a variety of reasons. There are some factors in my preparation including assisting at GBC Menifee and Southern California experience that will help. We are going to have a year to pursue core families in Rancho Cucamonga and research the area. So much work has already been done for us. We have from GBC a philosophy of ministry, constitution and covenant, website, design and print materials, discipleship and evangelism materials.

GBC Menifee provides us with experience in Southern California church planting, facility research, equipment and sound systems, transportation and storage solutions, and legal and financial matters. Moreover, we will receive people, encouragement, accountability, and resources from GBC Menifee as well as from other Southern California churches. There will be mission teams, advertizing through programs like “phones for you,” and raising of startup funds. We will also gain some practice and experience from other church plants in nearby areas.

Our efforts over the next year will be focused on gaining and training team members from Southern California and elsewhere. We will develop a list of needs and try to find financial supporters. Finding a way for the lab to function without me as soon as possible will be an important job. We will do a lot of communication via trips, web, phones, and meetings.

Above all, as with any church plant, only God in Christ can build His church in Rancho Cucamonga. We will seek with all our hearts and diligent efforts to be growing Christians useable by Him. Our prayer and labor will be for the spiritual growth of our present church family and their becoming good parents for the new church plant. We are determined to trust God’s provision and guidance as we seek to live for His fame. Knowing His unique greatness, valuing it (Him) above all else, and living to make Him known to others will continue to be our mission.