Haven’t blogged in a little bit. In a way, its sort of reflective of the past few weeks. Things have been great - it’s just a lot of our time and effort have been behind-the-scenes kinda work. We ended December on a really high note. We had a great first four months of planting 7 Mile Road and ended the year with a small, but good Christmas Celebration. We then took a break for the first two weeks of January. We let our college folks go home on break and let the rest of our team enjoy the holidays with family and friends.
These two weeks afforded me some time to plan ahead and shore-up our team. I got to hang out with each individual and couple that has been with us for the last few months. During these times, I got to hear what our people were excited about and what they were concerned about. The feedback from these meetings were encouraging and edifying. There are things that are great, and obviously there are places we need to grow and mature. But by mid-January over a dozen people had committed to locking in at 7 Mile Road and make this their home for the year. On top of that, we’ve got a few more folks who are really interested in seeing this vision through and are going to help in every way they can as they seek the Lord’s leading about 7 Mile Road. I am so grateful to God for every person (seriously, every person) that He has brought to the team in this season.
And now that we’ve taken a few weeks to build up our infrastructure, it’s time to point our shoulders once again to mission and the city that God has called us to. Like my friend Matt used to say in Boston, we’re taking a deep breath and getting ready to charge the next hill.
Here’s some of what that next hill looks like for us:
Sunday Gatherings
We will gather on Sundays for fellowship, worship, study, discussion, and prayer. We are looking to secure a temporary space for our gatherings. Our hope is that these meetings will continue to allow us to shape the DNA of 7 Mile Road while growing as a community and being on mission to Philadelphia.
Prayer
We will continue to meet weekly for a night of prayer seeking God for our city and our church and others across the country.
SoulCare
Our long-term plan for 7 Mile Road is to gather in a large setting corporately for Sunday worship, and to gather in smaller settings in homes throughout the week. These home-meetings or SoulCare groups will be the place where gospel-centered discipleship, accountability, and community are deeply experienced. Over the next few months, we will launch an initial SoulCare group that meets regularly with a few members from the Launch Team with the hope of multiplying these groups over
time.
Explore
Monthly, we hope to provide a non-hostile, friendly environment where folks who have questions, skepticism, and issues with the Christian faith can explore Christianity. Our hope is provide friends that we have been building relationships with an avenue in which they can express their doubts and be engaged by loving Christians. The nights will not be a debate, but rather a dialogue between friends who commit to loving one another before and after the night. (We need a better name than “Explore”)
And Everything Else…
Besides all that, we’ve got the never-ending call to ministry and mission. So that includes grabbing coffee with a co-worker, watching a movie with a buddy from school, inviting people over to watch the Super Bowl, growing as a community and loving one another, meeting new people, finding ways to serve the marginalized, and a million other things.
Deep breath. Here we go…
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