Expanding the Impact
From Brent Storms, President and CEO
As we find ourselves between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I’m feeling both a deep sense of gratitude and a great anticipation of what is to come. I’m grateful for the ways God has allowed our ministry to reach tens of thousands of people with the gospel. I’m also excited about the opportunity to continue expanding the impact.
What we have witnessed in New York City in the past three years is remarkable! Three years ago Renaissance Church was launched in Harlem under the leadership of Jordan and Jessica Rice. Today they are reaching nearly 400 people every Sunday. Last year Epiphany Church was launched in Brooklyn under the leadership of Brandon and Ty Watts. Today they are reaching over 250 in worship. This past fall The Gathering started weekly worship services in Harlem under the leadership of Kenny and Shanika Hart. They are already reaching 100 people each weekend. That’s three new NYC churches reaching 750 people in three years!
On top of that, two prospective church planters are currently serving within these churches as they prepare themselves to launch additional new churches. It’s easy to see how the momentum is building!
The need in New York City is enormous. There are over 8 million residents in the city itself and over 22 million in the greater NYC metro region. Recent surveys in Manhattan have indicated that attendance at gospel-centered churches has grown from 1% of the population 25 years ago to around 5% today. The need for more new churches is still substantial.
We do not want to lose the momentum we are experiencing. Earlier this year we announced our plan to add Jordan Rice to our team as the Regional Director for NYC. We believe Jordan is perfect for this role. Jordan is a native New Yorker, former attorney, and successful church planter. For all of these reasons, and more, we know that Jordan is equipped to both make our team stronger and help to recruit, coach, and oversee future church planters in New York City.
That’s where our need comes into the picture. In order to add Jordan to our team in a part-time capacity and to provide additional part-time administrative support for Jordan and other staff members, our budget will be increasing by $20,000 a year starting in January. We have chosen to take these steps in faith because we believe it is what God wants for us in order to reach more people. We’re asking God to provide the resources we need and we’d love for you to consider how God might want to do that through you.
As 2017 comes to a close, would you be willing to help in one of two ways?
- Help with a special gift in the month of December. Perhaps you could consider a gift of $200, or $500, or even $1,000 or more. Of course I don’t know how God might have provided for you in surprising ways this year, but if you’re in a position to help now, we would be grateful.
- Commit to begin giving on a monthly basis in 2018. If you could give as little as $50/month or as much as $500/month, that would be a big help with our ongoing need.
There are plenty of other great things God is doing around the world as we are helping to establish healthy new churches in places like Paris, Lagos, Cape Town, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Consider how you might help!
