Leadership Connexion Summer 2022 Q2

More documents

Recommendations

Info

CHURCH PLANTING | TOM REES | 717.795.5921 | tom@penndel.org CHANGE CHURCH Covocational Church Planting ELIJAH AND ASHLEE HOLLIS have had a burning passion for ministry since they were young. For those who rub shoulders with them, their energy and vision are contagious. Through creativity, serving, and connection, they planted CHANGE CHURCH in the heart of Philadelphia with their children, Zion Dainger and Aunee Colette. Elijah and Ashlee are what we call, “covo church planters.” Leaders who thrive not only in the church but also in the marketplace. In his book, “Covocational Church Planting: Aligning Your Marketplace Calling and the Mission of God,” Brad Brisco writes, “A ‘covo’ planter is one who knows God has called them to be a teacher, or a mechanic, a web designer, or a doctor and they desire to weave that calling into the plan to plant a church. They realize those two callings are not isolated from one Elijah and Ashlee Hollis with Zion and Aunee another, but instead are actually interlinked and equal.” Ashlee is the President and Founder of Helm Creative Studio, a certified women-owned business and creative agency that is redefining what it means to lead one’s story in business and entrepreneurship. At Helm, Elijah builds out the stories as a videographer, director, writer, producer, voice-over artist and musician. Helm just moved into The Story Factory, a 27,000 sq. ft. building in the Olde Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. One of the best parts of this is that it provides a great space for CHANGE CHURCH, where they host church on Sundays. The facility will also be utilized for community outreaches and organizations, including relationships with local law enforcement, and an afterschool program to give students a place to get off the streets and learn creative arts, tutoring and to have a place for them to form their own community with people who care about them. CRANBERRY COMMUNITY CHURCH Bivocational Church Planting Born and raised in Georgia, JOSEPH GIBSON recognized God calling him into ministry in his late teens. He spent six years on active duty in the U.S. Air Force before attending Bible College at Southeastern University in Lakeland, FL. While attending school, Joseph joined the staff of The Way Community Church and served the congregation as an associate pastor and executive pastor. As graduation approached, Joseph and his wife, Emily, made the decision to move to Pennsylvania. After the move, Joseph and Emily began praying about if and where God might be calling them to plant a church. Joseph and Emily Gibson with John Ryan, Davey, and Hailey After driving through a community in the Northwest Section of PennDel with Presbyter Allan Thorpe, they soon felt God leading them to the Franklin/Cranberry/Oil City area in Venango County. Joseph started working in the area as a “bivo church planter.” A bivocational church planter is someone who starts a church and gains part of his personal income from an outside source. By working for the post office, this afforded a great opportunity for Joseph to get to know the community where they were called to minister. It wasn’t always easy balancing a full-time job, new church plant and a young family but God helped them and blessed their growing family. When they made the move in 2015, they had one son, John Ryan. Since then, Davey and Hailey joined the family. The following fall, CRANBERRY COMMUNITY CHURCH (CCC) held its first service in the Cranberry Mall. When Joseph and Emily launched the church, they said, “We realize the importance of establishing our identity from the very beginning as both a Great Commandment and a Great Commission church.” That vision has become a reality! Since then, Joseph and Emily have seen the lives of many people in the community transformed through a true encounter with the love of God. They believe that . . . “every chair has a story, and your story belongs here.” We pray that every story needing to feel at home with them would find its way to CHANGE. They have become a vibrant, life-giving, Spirit-filled church and in the past year, the church was able to bring Joseph on full-time, purchase and renovate a building in Seneca, and go sovereign. Joseph says, “We believe the Holy Spirit is doing something special in this area, and our hearts’ cry at CCC is to see revival in our hearts and in our community.” 18
FORGED BY HIS FIRE Several years ago, I began watching “Forged in Fire” on the History Channel. This show features world-class bladesmiths competing against each other to create some of history’s most iconic edged weapons. In one of the rounds, the judges put each weapon through a series of tests to gauge properties such as sharpness, durability and ease of use. For these tests, the weapons are used to chop/slash/stab objects that include ropes, ice blocks, animal bones/carcasses, and metal plumbing pipes. This is like CHOPPED for Men’s Ministries! Forging is the process where metal is placed under extreme pressure to create great strength. The three main processes used in forging are: • FORGING HAMMERS can have a driving force of up to 50,000 pounds and pound the metal into shape. • FORGING PRESSES can have a driving force of up to 50,000 tons and squeeze the metal into shape vertically. • FORGING UPSETTERS use ring rollers to turn a hollow round piece of metal under extreme pressure against a rotating roll, thereby squeezing out a one-piece ring. This year’s theme for the Men’s Conference is FORGED BY HIS FIRE. This year let me encourage you to not only attend, but bring someone you know who is facing challenges. Each speaker will share how their lives were forged in adversity but God was faithful to help them move forward with boldness, courage, determination and purpose. We are believing that through God’s Spirit, men will be able to withstand adversity and be FORGED BY HIS SPIRIT. FORGING FACTS Forging dates back 6,000 years to Mesopotamia. Forging can create parts that are stronger than any other metalworking process. Forging is almost always used where reliability and human safety are critical. Over 18,000 forgings are contained in a Boeing 747. MEN'S MINISTRY | TOM REES | 717.795.5921 | tom@penndel.org Sometimes in life we find ourselves hammered, pressed and upset. Through it all, the pressure we face can be used by the Lord to create great strength! FOR MORE INFO: forgedbyhisfire.men LEADERSHIPconnexion | <strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2022</strong> 19
Page 1 and 2: PennDel Ministry Network | Summer 2
Page 3 and 4: Growing Young: DISCIPLING THE NEXT
Page 5 and 6: PENNDEL SCHOOL OF MINISTRY ANNOUNCE
Page 7 and 8: UKRAINE: From Grieving to Action Ja
Page 9 and 10: Elly on Discipleship Discipleship i
Page 11 and 12: At the Altar Raising the next gener
Page 13 and 14: Congratulations to the Ordination C
Page 15 and 16: YPR2022 : PennDel Youth Network You
Page 17: I’d Rather See A Sermon Poet: Edg
Page 21 and 22: What our gals are saying about Wome
Page 23 and 24: PennDel Royal Rangers What standard

Leadership Connexion Summer 2022 Q2

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?