May 2022
A note from Ted
Midwest Alliance Director
THE MIDWEST MISSION
May 2022
In April, 25 people gathered in St Louis to bring together the current and future catalytic leaders in the Midwest to pray and strategize for Kingdom expansion through church planting in the PCA. Our desire? To see Biblically faithful, Christ-centered, Spirit-filled churches planted across the Midwest…churches that are effectively making disciples and having Kingdom impact in their neighborhoods and communities, and that are vibrant, worshipping communities of growing disciples who are engaged in mission. Our long term goal is to see 500 of these churches in the Midwest. If they averaged 200 attenders then that would mean over 100,000 followers of Jesus, 10% of whom we pray would be new believers.
We mobilize around core values of kingdom prayer, leadership development, intentional evangelism, growing abilities in diversity (reaching the other), and community engagement.
To that end, we heard reports from the field from Josh Crawford at Covenant Community Church in Richmond KY on how they are mobilizing their congregation for community involvement and hospitality, Thurman Williams, planting New City West End in St Louis with an emphasis on leadership development through internships and learning cohorts, and an update on The Detroit Project.
Accomplishing all of these things takes creativity and a lot of effort “below the surface.” Here’s a schematic that represents the path to church planting we’re pursuing in the Midwest…I encourage all of the churches in the Midwest to find a way to be involved at some level. That’s what makes a regional movement happen!
For a status report of where the region is currently, please click here.
Ted Powers
Director of the Midwest Alliance
Prayer Requests:
Please pray that Ted would provide wise and effective leadership for church planting in the Midwest region, resourcing the churches and presbyteries of the Midwest region and providing the “connective tissue” for things we do collectively as a body.
Give thanks for the great “Catalyst” gathering. It was a very encouraging and energizing time. Please pray that much fruit would come from it!
Praise God for a Church Planter Readiness Seminar held in Milwaukee in mid May. This early assessment event for those considering the possibility of church planting was sponsored by MNA, On Wisconsin, and the Midwest Alliance. Four couples in NxtGen Cohorts through On Wisconsin participated. The Midwest Alliance hosts several each year around the region in partnership with MNA and local church planting networks. Pray that this will be a key step in seeing new prospective planters in our pipeline.
Two new planters, one for Ann Arbor, MI and the other for Ft Wayne, IN have been identified. Please pray that the Lord will be with them as they raise funds and transition this summer.
Pray for Jerry and Catherine Riendeau as they raise funds and prepare to move to West Dearborn, MI to plant a church.
Pray for Joe and Kristi Cristman as they raise funds and prepare to plant a church in Lombard IL. God has already given them many great connections in the community including many who are unchurched.
Pray for David Wallover, former pastor in the Cleveland area, who is preparing to join the Midwest Alliance team as Director of Church Planter Development (sort of a church planter farm system!)
Pray for these new church plants/planters who are in the initial stages of gathering a core group. They’ve not yet begun public worship:
Mike McBride in Greenwood, IN a south suburb of Indianapolis in an area of 500,000 people with no PCA church.
Casey Cramer in Dayton, OH. This is a daughter church of S. Dayton PCA.
Billy Otten in Cincinnati, OH
Steve Van Noort in Sterling Heights (Detroit), MI, a diverse community with 15,000 Chaldeans.
Matt Ryman in Wayzata, MN, a western suburb of Minneapolis.
Please continue to pray that God would raise up planters for:
· Fargo, ND
· Lincoln NE,
· Kankakee IL,
· St Cloud MN,
· Louisville KY,
· Ft Wayne IN,
· Rolla, MO,
· Wyandotte, Ypsilanti, Northville, and Auburn Hills, all in the greater Detroit area.