As we fought through power issues at St. John Sunday, most of us didn’t get to hear from Joe Lieway like I had hoped. This is the video we captured for the campuses. If you are part of Suncrest and missed it for ANY reason…it’s worth 10 minutes right here!
I have grown to love Joe very quickly…and this makes it easy to see why.
Never underestimate the difference you are making, Suncrest.
On Sunday, I got to talk about a favorite topic…church planting. Starting new churches has been in our DNA from Day 1 and that will never change. A few observations about the list below…
1. I find myself talking as much about multi-site as church planting, but I would want everyone to know our commitment to church planting has only accelerated since launching campuses. NINE of the churches below were launched in the 14 years before we launched campuses. SIX of the churches below have been launched (or have launches scheduled) since 2009.
2. We have tended to focus on New England and Chicagoland in the US and various partners globally. Other projects have come out of people connected to Suncrest being part of the church planting team.
3. I think it is fair to say Suncrest has supported close to 100 new churches in one way or another – sending teams to help, small financial gifts, commitment to prayer, etc. So, usually the lists (like the one below) include our major partners – loosely defined as financial investments in the range of $10,000-$50,000 often with leadership guidance. Click away on their links. You’ll see a wide variety of churches and you’ll see many of them are planting churches now too. (That’s the whole plan!)
Rockingham Christian Church – Salem, New Hampshire
LifeBridge Christian Church – Valparaiso, Indiana
TOMY Christian Fellowship — Tomaszow, Poland
Village Christian Church — Minooka, Illinois
EastPoint Christian Church — Portland, Maine
The Ridge Community Church — New Berlin, Wisconsin
Common Ground Christian Church — Tampa, Florida
Reunion Christian Church — Boston, Massachusetts
Jubilee Christian Church — Pachuca, Mexico
North Pointe Christian Church – Providence, Rhode Island
Journey Church — Jackson, Tennessee
Ganta Christian Church — Ganta, Liberia
Anchor Christian Church — Bensenville, Illinois
Senjay Chistian Church – Senjay, Liberia
Cluster Project with Ignite Church Planting — Upcoming Project in Chicago Suburbs
I want to write about the amazing way church planting has ramped up at Suncrest even as we have launched campuses.
I want to write about the CRAZY morning we had at the St. John Campus with all the power going out in the middle of our 8:00 service and coming back on later in our 9:30 service. And, the AMAZING leadership from our tech team and staff in the midst of it.
I want to write about Hobart packing up last Sunday at the movie theater for the last time! This Sunday, they open their new facility at 625 Lake Street in Hobart.
I want to write about Earl Anthony after doing his funeral this morning. He was in the backyard gatherings 17 years ago when Suncrest was getting ready to launch. His son (a pastor himself) told me, “Your church did a lot for my dad.” I hope that is true, but it could never compare to what Earl did for our church.
I may or may not get to write about all of those things. While I’m figuring it out, watch this…video of the first baptisms at our Walkerton Campus last week!
I’m still amazed how God works to bring people together. Friendships flourish and partnerships emerge. Sometimes formal…sometimes informal. In a very short time, our “rolodex” of relationships to people doing great work in Liberia has exploded.
Still, since not everyone is as close to this as me, I know if I mention a few different groups/projects in the same few sentences, people can be left with their head spinning! I won’t take the time to explain all the partnerships, but there are 3 very important partners that you hear fairly often around here, so I thought I’d at least give you a snapshot of what these three do, how we are connected to them, and how they are connected to each other.
1. Impact Liberia. This is the ministry in Liberia led by Danny Buegar and we’ve supported it heavily since day 1 of Suncrest 17 years ago. They have planted churches in the past and the vision is to plant more churches. Still, right now, their focus has been working with and strengthening their existing churches since the end of the civil war. We stay tightly invested even beyond finances with two Suncrest people (David Vineyard and Denise Tribble) on the Board of this mission.
2. Hope 2 Liberia. This is a ministry largely driven from the Church in Muncie, IN that we have shared trips with. Danny Buegar (see above) is their main contact in Liberia right now. A few Suncrest people are heavily involved too — Mike Robertson is leading their trip to Liberia in November with multiple people from Suncrest going.
Mike writes, “Hope 2 Liberia is going to water the thirsty in Liberia, Africa. With God laying the ground work and leading the way, Hope 2 Liberia is called to not only provide safe drinking water to three and a half million Liberians in need, but to plant 15 Hope Centers throughout the country. The Hope Centers are the backbone for the entire mission operation. Each Hope Center will provide tens of thousands of gallons of safe drinking water daily, and will also be used as a Church, Christian school, and a community center.” I am a raving fan of Hope 2 and love the difference they making.
3. Jesus Mission Liberia. This is Suncrest’s current effort to plant new churches in Liberia. The Mission Jesus gave in Acts 1:8 is local/regional/global and last year we came together to plant campuses or churches in Highland/Walkerton/Liberia. Our team from Suncrest looked for partnership with Liberians who had the bandwidth to plant churches immediately AND make them self-supporting (rare in Liberia). Our Partnership with Joe Lieway (a friend of Danny Buegar’s who will be at Suncrest Sunday) in Liberia has been more than we eve could have asked. We are now providing start-up funds for a new church in Ganta, trying to invest in a new church in Senjay (see special offering), investing in educating pastors to start new churches, and investing in Rubber Tree farms that provide desperately needed economic development AND are the engine for these churches to be self-sustaining long-term.
The three ministries are distinct in their own ways, but it’s also easy to see the overlap. We all know Liberia’s needs are more than any of us will accomplish on our own…
This Sunday at Suncrest we’ll receive a special offering at Suncrest for Church planting in Liberia. Here is the info.
Special Offering: Planting Self-Sustaining Churches in Liberia
New Church in Senjay –A group of people have returned to the village of Senjay after the war and are ready to start a new church there. This offering could have an immediate impact on this village as a new church is planted.
$1600 -half acre of prime land
$2450 – Construction of building for 200 people
-$750 – Zinc for roof @ $150 per bundle
-$1700 – Concrete foundation
-Labor and other costs undertaken by the church members.
$2400 – 1st year salary for pastor @ $200/month
$600 – 1st year transportation/fuel costs @ $50/month
————-
$7050 – Total Start-up Cost
Investment in Rubber Tree Plantation – The strategy for sustainability of new churches is a “Win-Win”. We invest in the Liberian economy and workforce with agricultural development. The resulting profits mean Liberian churches don’t depend on support from the U.S. long-term.
$70/per bag – Fertilizer for return on investment (63 bags)
$100/month – Employment opportunities for plantation workers
Transportation to assist church planting around the country – Joe Lieway’s church planting ministry reaches all of Liberia and a reliable vehicle for transportation is their most pressing need.
$10,000 -Mini-van or a four-wheel drive truck
You can contribute to this special offering by making your check to Suncrest and writing “Liberia” in the memo. (Your birthday gift to me is tax deductible too!)
Send it to:
Suncrest Christian Church
10009 Parrish Street
St. John, IN 46373
Watch this…laugh a little…and then think about what it means.
For me it means 2 things…
1. If I’m not GRATEFUL for living in the 1st world, I’m totally missing it.
2. If I’m not DOING SOMETHING about 3rd world problems, I’m totally missing it.
“and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.” (Isaiah 58:10)
The end of June is a checkpoint for us.
We can evaluate the first half of the year and assure plans are on course for the 2nd half. In church, leaders can get their eyes down in weekly cycle of doing church (Sunday still comes every 7 days!) but I want to make sure we step back at checkpoints to look a the big picture. No doubt…we are having a good year.
Our Picture is described in one line for me: God has been very good to us.
Stats never tell the whole story so let me describe what this graph tells me.
1. We see these numbers grow precisely because we don’t think “numbers”…we think “people”. God has kept that clear.
2. Our Staff Team is among the best anyone could hope for. God has brought us together.
3. Almost 200 volunteer coaches and leaders invest their heart and soul in this ministry. God uses them to change lives.
4. Launching campuses has accelerated our growth and broadened our reach. God exposed our limited thinking.
5. Financial Sacrifice was necessary at every stage. God has blessed us in response.
6. We are patient with people on their journey toward faith. God is our model for that.
7. Blood, sweat, tears, prayer, heartache, and failure all exist underneath the pretty graph. God doesn’t need us to fake that.
8. The hard decisions and faith-filled vision of our elders undergird it all. God guides them.
Things aren’t perfect. We have major issues we are constantly addressing for the health of our church. But I’ve committed myself to this principle in life: I will not pray for rain then turn and thank the clouds. God has been very good to us…and I’m grateful to Him.
I walked into the Highland Campus for their second service on Sunday a little after 11:00. I love their set-up at the Highland Christian School…and I think they love it too other than the “Set-up” part of it!
I had Jackson with me so I went down and checked him in. I looked down the hallway and saw one of our elders (Bill Davy) who went to help launch this campus teaching our “Life Building” Class (pictured).
Here’s the cool thing…”Life Building is something Suncrest has been doing for 15 years — we have seen hundreds of kids go through the classes (usually elementary aged kids asking more substantial questions about faith and baptism.) I loved seeing this begin to take root at a campus that is less than a year old. I’m sure that kids (and some parents) who end up exploring deeper faith also will be baptized after this experience.
Int he Worship service, I walked in to be greeted by people I had never bet before, communion was served by people I had never me, I sat back by the sound board which was being run by a guy I never met (learned later that he plays the drums for them too). I say all this because this campus has done an amazing job reaching new people AND plugging new people in to roles where they are using their gifts. Everyone was loving it!
Highland had a cookout after church that I got to stay for and meet lots of other new people. One lady sent me a friend request on Facebook later that day with this note, “It was great meeting you yesterday at the picnic. All I can say is Thank you! I am truly grateful for what Suncrest has done for me and my family in this short amount of time.”
Love Love Love our Highland Campus!
On Sunday, I got to make a quick tour of our 3 local campuses — St. John for 8:00/Hobart at 9:30/Highland at 11:00. I loved the experience, each in their unique way. Thought I’d share a little bit over 3 blog days here…
Hobart Campus
This was my last visit to them in their Movie Theater home (still love how they make these spaces work — see photo from Sunday). The personal investment of time and skills that MANY volunteers have made in the remodeling effort at their new place is simply stunning to me. When I come back in August, they will be well settled in their new facility up in the community of Hobart and ramping up for their 3rd anniversary (Wow…can you believe that?).
A few things are always true at Hobart…conversation that lasts long after the service…the people laugh easily in the service and out…this is our most diverse campus (I love that and hope it grows at other campuses too!).
Doug Gamble has led through every new thing there and the way people respect him is obvious. And why not? He risked big to launch our first campus and he goes the extra mile all the time for the campus (the building project is just one obvious example).
My favorite story from Hobart on Sunday came from a lady serving in our children’s area. She said her daughter and son-in-law were in from out of town during our May series on “contributing” and were inspired to reconnect with church and this larger purpose in life from that Sunday. Doug gave them a recommendation of a church he knew in their area and they are already worshipping and serving there in just one month’s time.
Love it. Love Hobart Campus. Tomorrow…Highland Campus.
So…I let our creative guys pull me into one of their crazy video schemes. The question…Is this type-casting or just great acting? Ha.
You gotta give this a few minutes if you want a great laugh. Great job to our arts teams!
.Real.Greg.Lee. 
Recent Comments