Garden City Church. Two years ago, it was all a dream. A dream for the church to be multiplied throughout the city of Prince George, BC. A realization that acknowledges God longs to restore what is broken. God longs to heal what is sick. God longs to reconcile what is fractured. And God is moving throughout Prince George.
We were sitting at a Crossroads, literally and figuratively. I was meeting with Curtis Reimer (Pastor of College Heights Baptist Church) – a pastor/mentor/friend – at CrossRoads Tap & Kitchen and God put a crossroad before both of us that we were not expecting. God brought our paths together for a specific reason. At the time I was serving as a pastor and adjunct professor in Alberta. I was visiting family and friends in Prince George for the weekend. Our conversation began by catching up from the few years it had been since we had seen each other last. It led to dreams and aspirations for the future. I shared with Curtis my enjoyment of pastoring a church and teaching at a college yet believed that one day God would re-ignite in me a longing for church planting. Curtis paused and stared deeply into my eyes and asked, “Have you ever thought about planting a church in Prince George?” Instantly, a heaviness for the city and for friends and strangers who do not know Jesus washed over me and I replied with “Yes!”
Our conversation ended with a commitment to prayer for the following months. I personally shared it with my family, my Spiritual Director and other key mentors in my life and after months of prayer, we decided to share this conversation with the elders of College Heights Baptist Church. Our family decided to step forward in a commitment to church planting and we developed a church planting proposal for the elders of CHBC and the BC Baptist Association. It was well received and launched us into the next step of the journey. Affirmation after affirmation came and we continued to step forward in faith.
Stepping forward in faith was a cost greater than we could have imagined. For me and my family there was a relational cost of leaving friends and family. There was a financial cost as we leave reliable pay checks. There was a cost of security as we stepped into the unknown. There was a cost of comfort as we took on something we have never done before. There was a cost of vulnerability as we left our established support systems. There were countless other costs we are still processing.
For the sending church – College Heights Baptist Church – there would also be costs. There was the cost of stepping out to do something that had never been done. There was a cost of looking beyond themselves instead of strengthening within. There was a cost of time and energy for the leaders committed to create a sending church culture. There was a financial cost of supporting a new church plant. There was a relational cost of sending some of their members.
However, we came to the consensus of belief that Jesus is worth risking everything for. A life of discipleship must be one where we do not fear risk and can courageously follow Jesus into the unknown and uncertain. As God calls us, we recognize, it is into a dynamic and adventurous life of faith. David Platt’s words in his book Radical speak to this: “Do we really believe He (Jesus) is worth abandoning everything for? Do you and I really believe that Jesus is so good, so satisfying, and so rewarding that we will leave all we have and all we own and all we are in order to find our fullness in Him? Do you and I believe Him enough to obey him and to follow him wherever he leads…?” We do believe Jesus is worth abandoning everything for – wherever He leads. God was clearly leading us to step forward in church planting.
In May 2023, CHBC Elder Chair, Chris Bowler presented this to the congregation in regards to stepping forward in church planting: “In truth, this idea has been in place long before the past year. When CHBC was planted 50 years ago by Fort George Baptist, the idea was always to plant again once the doors were full. Over the decades, the idea was revisited by various boards and elder councils, but something always seemed to impede making this a reality. But we believe that we’re in a time of flourishing and welcoming so many new people into our church family. The time feels right to us to take this step of faith.” The congregation agreed and it committed to supporting the church plant and to take on the responsibility of becoming a sending church.
As I began to meet with the elders of CHBC to plan and cast a vision of church planting. They committed themselves to training to become a sending church and I committed to understand everything I could about church planting. We were both new to this journey so we sought after wise leaders who could help us in the process.
On February 17, 2024 Garden City Church would have its first interest meeting. Over 50 adults and 19 children attended the event and the majority of them have already committed to be part of the launch team. In this meeting it was communicated that we are planting a new church so that:
- new leaders are empowered to create a movement.
- new people are engaged with the gospel.
- new church cultures are established to reach the city.
The vision for Garden City Church is “GROWING TOGETHER FOR THE RENEWAL OF THE CITY”
- GROWING – Practicing the Way of Jesus as Apprentices who order our lives around 3 goals: to be with Jesus, to become like Jesus, and to do what Jesus did.
- TOGETHER – Building missional communities to intentionally connect people and families and institutions to the life-changing presence of God.
- FOR RENEWAL – Playing our part to build more than a great church but a great city. A city where people are introduced to Jesus and fulfil their call of extending God’s kingdom.
Currently the team is being trained in Gospel Literacy, Spiritual Formation, Missional Community, and Leadership Development as we prepare for a launch date of September 15, 2024. Who God has brought to the team, and continues to bring to the team has been remarkable. We are a mix of established followers of Jesus, brand-new followers of Jesus, and people who have not yet made the decision to follow Jesus. We are a diverse group of people from many vocations: health care, youth gang prevention, spiritual directors, trades, pharmacist, correctional officer, chaplaincy, stay-at-home moms, sales, project manager, educators, students, and many more. All trying to figure out what it means to be followers of Jesus and influence our city from the vocations God has called us to. It has been beautiful to see more Kingdom outposts of the gospel multiplied throughout a city that desperately needs to know Jesus.
Please pray for us as we continue to take next steps in faith. Pray for my wife Rebecca, our two daughters: Aletheia and Alleluia. Pray for the team. Pray for the city.