Friends and family,
City on a Hill Church (CoaH) in Brighton is almost five months old and we are excited for all that is to come for the year 2020! Below are some ways you can pray for us in the coming month:
1. Community Group Leader Sync
Each week we have nine Community Groups that meet on different days throughout Brighton. And with approximately 90 people on any given Sunday, many of our Community Groups are very full! It is important for Emily and I to continually check in with our Community Group leaders to see how they are personally growing in their walk with the Lord, ways we can pray for them and those in their group, to celebrate praises and encouraging steps happening in their groups, and to address any challenges or concerns they may be experiencing. We do all of this through Community Group Leader Syncs. While we try to meet with all of our Community Group leaders face to face once a month and speak to them over the phone once a week, a CG Leader Sync is a great way for our leaders to be in one room together to remind each other of the gospel, celebrate together, and discuss vision for the future. Here are the names of our CG leaders so you can pray for them by name: Aaron and Emily, Mandy, Matt and Jordan, Dan and Kelly, Brian and Chelsea, & Haley and Bradley.
Please pray for our leaders to:
-Be encouraged in the work they are doing every week by loving those in their group and feeding them the Word of God
-Have an overwhelming amount of grace, truth, love, and endurance to care for each person that attends their weekly gathering
-Remember the gospel for their own hearts as well as the hearts of those that attend their Community Group
-Train and equip those in their group to reach our city with the good news of Jesus
2. Monthly Church-wide Family Meal
We had over 75 people at our last church-wide family meal with almost 100% of our congregation staying after service to spend an extended lunch with one another! What an unexpected but great ministry these church-wide family lunches have become each month. It can be easy for attendees to stay within their circle of friends developed by Community Groups but these lunches remind us of the greater family found within the body of Christ as the church and allow us the opportunity to spend time with one another as a whole. Guests are also using these lunches to get plugged in, to meet others within the church, and to learn more about who CoaH Brighton is.
Please pray for:
-Continued funds to host church-wide lunches each month ($400-$500 for every meal)
-Deeper relationships to grow within our entire church, especially between all of the different Community Groups
-Guests to feel included and welcomed into our church family
3. Hickory Grove Volunteer Team
Emily and I are excited to have another Hickory Grove volunteer team of college students join us at the very end of February! Volunteer teams are vital to any church plant for a multitude of reasons:
1. Their presence reminds us that we are supported, loved, and cared for by other churches, that we have not be forgotten! They are a physical reminder that others believe in the work we are doing here in Boston.
2. Volunteers provide much needed help to accomplish projects we would otherwise not be able to do due to lack of time and hands.
3. Their willingness to serve provides a short break for our Community Groups in weekly tasks like setting up for church every Sunday.
4. They help us build goodwill and a reputation of service, dedication, and love in the community.
This past Friday, Emily and I had the opportunity to meet with the new Director of Brighton Main Streets, a local non-profit organization that seeks the good of the community, to discuss continuing our partnership with them in 2020. Each volunteer team of 2020 will help us grow this partnership as we continue to share the good news of Jesus both in our personal interactions with those in our community as well as through seeking the prosperity of the area we live in (Jeremiah 29:7). Pray that we would seek the welfare of the city and that each volunteer that comes to Boston leaves changed and with a renewed understanding of the need for Jesus to be made known wherever they are.