Katie and I have been praying for quite a while for leading to what God wants from us.  Before Katie and I were married we both went on short-term mission trips to the east coast and both came in contact with church planters.  We both came back with the sense that one day God may lead us to something in the area of church planting.  Over the course of the last two years I have been closely following the church planting movement across the country.  In May, Katie and I attended the Whiteboard Sessions and left there feeling like we had found our “tribe”.  Church planters are our people.  It is what energizes us, specifically me.  The idea of planting and engaging the unconnected in our culture fires my passion.  It is that passion that I am following.

For the last three years I have been serving as Minister of Connections at Brady Lane Church of Christ.  I have enjoyed my time serving there and the people I have led and served.  During that time we have developed a heart and yearning to see the unconnected of THIS community come to Christ.  In order to reach the unconnected of this community we have to do what Craig Groeschel of Lifechurch suggests, “If we want to reach people no one else is reaching, we have to do things no one else is doing.”

That is what we will be doing beginning September 23rd.  On that day, I will begin on the staff of Connexion Christian Ministries, a new church plant here in Lafayette, Indiana.  We believe God has been using the last three years growing roots in this community to prepare me for this new adventure.  I will be working in the area of community life for the church plant.  I will be overseeing small groups for teens and adults.  Connexion will begin preview services the first week in December and will launch in March.  Over the course of the next weeks I will let you in on the world of a church planter embarking on the journey of a new plant.

I will ask you go GRANDE readers to for any and all help you might be able to give.  There are three basic areas of need for Connexion.  First, we need your prayers.  If you would be willing to pray for specific needs that come up, email me and I will add you to our email prayer list.  We are currently trying to secure a venue for our Sunday morning worship.  Please pray that God will open doors for the right opportunity.  Second, Katie and I are raising support for the first two months of our salary at Connexion.  Any financial help anyone could give would be appreciated.  If you might be willing to help, shoot me an email and I will set you up with the info on how and where to send support.  Third, we are looking for some churches and individuals to become financial partners.  If you or your church would be interested in information on our work here and how we might partner together in this plant, email me and I will contact you with information about the work.  We would be more than willing to send you a packet of info or, we can look into the possiblity of meeting with your church leadership to share the vision.

Above all, we are excited and are looking forward to what God will do through this new plant.  We would appreciate your prayers as we move toward our launch!