What's Going On Here?!
As Jacob and I were praying about planting a church in Rochester word began to permeate throughout town that a new reformed baptist church would be coming soon. Many people contacted us expressing interest and others graciously revealed to us that they had been praying for such a church for many years. This positive response made us eager to get on the ground and start being used of Christ to build his church.
And the response ever since has been quite encouraging. However, we have heard that perhaps we haven’t been entirely clear as to what we are currently doing and what the schedule is for the year. Many have said they are confused about when they can join us. Our website says our core group is meeting on Sundays, but doesn’t say we meet for worship. We say we are launching in the fall, but it doesn’t explain what we are doing now. Some have said they weren’t sure if they are allowed to join us now or if they need to wait until the fall.
So let us try to clarify that a little bit and unfold the general plan until the launch date.
Right now we are meeting Sunday afternoons until we can find a place to meet on Sunday mornings (please pray for the couple of options we are investigating). We call ourselves a “Core Team” because we are in an awkward transition phase between a couple of guys who want to start a church and a church with committed members, preaching, and ordinances. When we say we will launch in the fall, we simply mean at that time we intend to be preaching regularly, covenanting in membership, practicing ordinances, worshiping through a planned order of worship, and launching home community groups. We say we are a “Core Team” just to let everyone know that we are still assembling and working out the kinks.
This is not at all to say that you are not invited. By all means, please join us! We would love to have the wisdom and gifts that God’s Spirit has given you to help us do this preparation work for the fall. It is our delight and joy to see new friends visit us on Sundays. We long for more laborers to help us in Christ’s great work of building his church and reaping a harvest of eternal joy in Christ.
The following is a loose schedule of the work we are anticipating over the next few months. Please email us with any questions you may have about any of these or to let us know you would like to visit. We are looking forward to meeting you!
Timeline:
April – Break from Ephesians preaching series (continue Acts teaching series on doctrinal distinctives)
- April 9 – Palm Sunday
- April 16 – Easter Sunday
- April 23 – Ephesians 1–3 Summary
- April 30 – Mark 4:35–41
End of May – Covenant Membership Ceremony (begin practicing ordinances of baptism [Lord willing] and the Lord’s Supper)
Early June – Move worship to mornings at new location
Summer -
- Begin weekday community groups
- Determine order of worship logistics
- Increase outreach efforts for launch
September – Soft launch (practice worship liturgy set)
October 1st, 2017 – Public Launch of Redemption City Church