June 1, 2023
Dear Central Church,
Happy birthday to the Church! This past Sunday we celebrated Pentecost, a day that is often regarded as the birthday for the Church. One of the things we thought about as we worshiped together with our Hispanic and Brazilian congregations was this question: What if we lived expecting the Holy Spirit to work in real and tangible ways? What if we actually thought a “new Pentecost” could happen regularly among us? This refers to things that only the Holy Spirit can do among us.
I’m excited to report three examples of how a “new Pentecost” is happening at Central Church.
Prayer for a renewed African congregation. We prayed specifically for Pastor Fritz Ommani, asking the Lord to clarify what a vision for an African congregation at Central Church would look like. We know there are people from the continent of Africa in the Greater KC area who are looking for a church home, and we are asking the Lord for wisdom and discernment as we envision how a ministry to this population might develop.
At the conclusion of our prayer time, Pastor Fritz and I had the opportunity to meet a lady from a country in West Africa (I won’t say which one at this time for privacy concerns). She and her children had been looking for a church and decided to come to Central for the first time this Sunday. It’s so amazing that this also happened to be the Sunday we were specifically praying for God to revive our African congregation!
Finding Peace with God. One of our pastors visited a person in the hospital this week who is facing a very serious health concern. This person has lived most of their life with questions regarding the Christian faith and has struggled to find their place in that story. Unfortunately, it’s becoming clear that their time may be limited. At their request, one of our pastors was able to clearly share the Gospel with them and explain how they could have peace with God. They put their trust in Jesus and testified to experiencing this peace for themselves. It’s a tangible example of Acts 2:21 in which, “all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Making Missional Investments. At the conclusion of Acts 2, we read that the believers sold their possessions and gave generously to all who had need. I’m excited to report that our church has responded very well to the Our Turn Now vision initiative. Over 227 families have committed $1,512,640 towards this endeavor. This is an increase of 50 families and almost $300K from 2022.
This increased engagement is evidence of the Lord’s hand in this project, but here’s a clear sign from God that we are on the right track: when we began this journey in 2022, the median gift to the campaign was $1,200. Through increased participation of both new and additional gifts the median gift size has increased to $2,400! I had our financial secretary triple check the numbers. We asked the Lord to make us a people of the “double portion” and the size of our median gift doubled!
Do you feel that? Do you hear that? The winds of Pentecost are blowing. Praise the Lord!
Next Steps:
Continue to pray for the Our Turn Now project which will begin this month.
During the project we will worship in the Student Center beginning on June 18. Our new service times will be 9 and 10:30am.
Vote. This Sunday our church board will present a recommendation to secure a construction line of credit for the project. The recommendation includes a plan for long-term financing not to exceed $400,000. We do not anticipate the project coming near this debt-ceiling, but wanted to build in some contingencies so the project can continue unimpeded. We will vote via paper ballot at the conclusion of both services.
I’m excited to be moving forward with you into this new chapter in the Central Church story. My prayer is that it will continue to read like the 2nd chapter of Acts.
Until He’s Finished,
Pastor Mark
