Ron on the Road: Guy Wasko and Caleb Clardy
It is has been a very busy visit to New York and we still have one more day. We arrived on Thursday evening and we were able to go see "Jersey Boys" that night. It was a great show, I found myself wanting to sing along, but Miriam kept me in check.
Guy Wasko and Caleb Clardy
On Friday we spent some time with Guy Wasko of Trinity Grace East Village and Caleb Clardy of Trinity Grace Brooklyn. Spanish River has been able to partner with both of these churches the last few years.
Trinity Grace is actually a network of New York City churches that is planting what they call a parish model of churches. Each church has their own Pastor and small staff, but they work together on certain ministries.
One of the events that they worked on happend on Friday evening, it was called Citywide Worship and brought together all the Trinity Grace Churches as well as 4 other churches in the city. These churches gathered together to hold a huge praise and worship service that was attended by hundreds. Their purpose was to praise God and pray for their city. It was a great evening.
Please keep the pastors of Trinity Grace Church in your prayers. The challenges of doing ministry in this city can be overwhelming. But, the opportunities are endless. Trinity Grace now has seven neighborhood churches and plans to launch more in the future. Spanish River Church has a great partner in New York City, and looks forward to being a part of this movement in the future.
Ron on the Road: Renato and Claudia Bernardes
It was a nice drive up the east coast of Maryland, and then into New Jersey on Wednesday. On Thursday we drove into Newark, New Jersey and spent most of the day with Renato and Claudia Bernardes. Renato is the senior pastor of Christ Community Presbyterian Church, which is a PCA church that holds services in three languages, English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Renato has served as the senior pastor of CCP since 1994, since that time they have seen some incredible growth. The church is located in a neighborhood known as "Ironbound" Which is mostly an hispanic community. They also have an outreach to the children that live in a nearby impoverished neighborhood. Their Wednesday night children's program is full of children living well below the poverty line, who are bused in and have an opportunity to hear about the love of Christ as well as have a healthy meal.
Renato has been actively involved in the PCA's efforts in planting more Brazilian Churches. He was very involved in helping with the West Boca Brazilian church led by Ederson Emerick. SRC was a major contributor in this church plant.
The building that CCP occupies is a well used facility. The church has a day care operating out of the building as well as church activities and three weekend services. CCP has plans to add a second floor to this facility which will include space for a gym and more classroom space for the children.
Newark is a city that is home to five large universities, and many of the students serve at CCP. It is Renato's prayer that CCP can have a greater outreach to these students as well as have a church that ministers to the entire multi-ethnic community. Please keep Renato and Claudia in your prayers as they serve at Christ Community Presbyterian and minister to their community.
Ron on the Road: Jason Roberts
CrossCurrent Church was planted about nine years ago by Jason Roberts, Jason spent some time as an intern at Spanish River Church and was called to plant this church while serving at SRC.
Crosscurrent has experienced some incredible growth and they are now ready to launch their second worship service. Virginia Beach is home to several military bases and the church ministers to many of these families.
Jason and Aimee are parents to five children. Aimee is a busy mom, she home schools one of their children, and works as a birth coach for new Moms.
Crosscurrent has been involved in planting other churches right from their start. They give 10% of their general contributions to planting churches. Jason also coaches church planters through his work in Acts 29 church planting network. Their international work involves planting churches in England and helping to coach those pastors as well.
Crosscurrent shares a facility with two other churches. One of those churches is led by another former SRC staff member, Doug Haupt. It is great to see these three churches working together to reach their community.
Please keep Jason and Aimee in your prayers as they deal with a growing church, and the decision on when to launch a new site in the Virginia Beach area. Jason is an amazing leader and has a real heart for seeing the Gospel preached in his community.
Ron on the Road: Tyler Jones of Vintage 21
Vintage 21 is a church planting church, they give 12% of their general fund every year to help plant new churches. Tyler also serves as the Regional Director of Acts 29 and coaches new church planters.
Vintage 21 has seven weekend services at three locations. They are a very young church and have a large amount of college students that are members and regular attenders. The church is in the middle of a fundraising campaign to purchase 8 acres in downtown Raleigh. The property will be strategic in the growth plans for Vintage 21, and will serve as a community outreach center.
I had the opportunity to have breakfast with Tyler on Monday morning, where he treated me to a scotch egg (deep fried boiled egg), which must be a southern thing. Tyler is excited about the future of Vintage 21, and also concerned about the need of mature believers to serve in key leadership roles. Please keep this church and the leaders in your prayers as they step out in faith on the purchase of this property. Tyler and his wife Kimberly have three young children. Tyler is very grateful to the people of SRC for being faithful in giving to the vision of Vintage 21, so that now they too can help plant other churches.
Ron on the Road: Bryan Pierce of Seven Hills Church
On Wednesday, September 14, we spent the afternoon in Rome, Georgia, where 4 years ago Bryan and Krista Pierce planted Seven Hills Fellowship.
The Pierce's had the benefit of being close to David and Nori Nicholas's summer home.
David had the opportunity to preach at Seven Hills several times. Bryan shared how those times really helped him and his church. He also was able to attend one of David's last Gospel Boot Camps, which impressed on Bryan the need to share the bad news and the good news.
Seven Hills is a growing church community located in downtown Rome, they meet in an historic theater. They have also recently purchased and are now renovating a building attached to the theater. This building offers space for children's ministry, office space, counseling, fellowship hall and kitchen as well additional space for future use. The proximity of these two buildings to one another provides Seven Hills the opportunity to continue their ministry to the people of Rome through their established theater groups, community events, etc. while influencing them for Christ.