Originally sent to distribution list on 12.16.24. Posting here for convenience.
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Hello friends, and Merry Christmas to you!
Thank you for your interest in our church planting journey. For those of you recently joining us, we welcome you to our community! We treasure your prayers and support, believing each of you play a valuable role in our church planting journey.
Last month was our second of three interest meetings we’ll hold this year. On Sunday night November 17 we met at our sending church (Fairview Baptist), and ate our way through 19 crockpots of chili! We sang and prayed together, and heard a few updates on planting progress. What is more, we had 39 couples, several singles, and more kids than adults! Here is a link to the bulletin from our evening.
Next up is a Christmas dinner tonight, December 16th. This will mark our third of three gatherings this year. We’ll meet in a venue owned by one of our core team members for an evening of fellowship, singing, and because it’s Christmas—a book exchange!
These interest meetings are geared to foster fellowship and capture momentum. With each gathering we see new faces. Pray that unity will continue to grow and relationships will deepen. Starting in January we’ll begin holding some intentional times of training for those interested in joining the core team. But until then, it’s good to simply be together in like-minded fellowship.
In other news…
NAMB Training Has Concluded
All SendNC church planters join a three month training cohort with planters from across our state. The content is specifically designed to develop competencies needed for church planting such as fundraising, team building and community engagement. On December 4 our eleven-man cohort gathered with our three trainers at Imago Dei Church in Raleigh for graduation and our last in person session. Thank you for praying for me as I endured intense, but gratifying course work to make this one of the more profitable seasons of the year.
Year-end Giving
As the year comes to a close we want to thank those who have given to our ministry. At the same time, we want to invite others to make a small contribution if able. Please consider making a tax-deductible gift to either Fairview Baptist, or via our NAMB giving platform. Our stewardship team is working to craft an annual budget once our fiscal year begins. Every dollar counts as we prepare for the road ahead. Even now your contributions go to cover interest meeting supplies and rental fees like the service below.
Christmas Eve Service
Over the last few months the Lord has provided an opportunity for us to serve the town of Angier at their “Trunk-or-treat” in October and “Christmas on the Square” a few weeks back. Relationships are forming through these projects. As a result, this Christmas we have a chance to worship among the community we serve. We will hold a Christmas Eve service at 5:00pm at the historic Angier Depot located in the heart of downtown (19 W. Depot Street). We made the financial commitment to rent this facility out of the importance of worshiping in our target community and inviting them to join us. Pray the Lord will honor our efforts.
Prayer Requests
- Facility Needs. Pray for favor as we continue to search for a permanent space to gather once we launch next year. Our desire is to secure space soon to best prepare and promote Sunday services open to the community.
- Supporting Churches. Pray for a growing number of churches to come alongside us with financial support. We expect our 2025 budget to be near $300K. It’s our prayer that one third of those funds will come from generous local churches.
- Document Formation. Pray for wisdom as I begin to craft key documentation with the help of Fairview and supporting church leadership. Bylaws, policies and our prospectus will be key documents among the many created.
Resource of the Month
At the close of each newsletter, I promote a resource to help us prepare to plant. This month is Dave Harvey’s book The Plurality Principle: How to Build and Maintain a Thriving Church Leadership Team. Find your copy here.
Blessings to you, Coram Deo.
And from the Thornton family to yours — Merry Christmas!