update: february 17th

A quick update on a few things:
• thanks so much to those that came out to our house on February 6th. It was great to see you in our new ‘hood here in Central Phoenix. Gina and I loved catching up with you and sharing a little of our day|twelve journey to this point. Also, thank you for the time of prayer at the end of the day…it was meaningful to us. And, thanks for the blankets, jackets and sweaters. I delivered those to a Methodist church downtown that serves the working poor and homeless. It was cool to help fill up the church closet with your gifts, knowing that those items will serve this community well.
• I have been looking at locations in the Central Phoenix area and a couple are beginning to surface. I cannot wait to begin planning our first service in the area. Speaking of service, we are considering an Easter service as sort of a sneak peak. Stay tuned…
• We’ve also been praying about what ministry partnerships there are in this area. There is a Crisis Pregnancy Center just about a mile from our house that could serve as a local ministry outreach for us. There are so many possibilities (homelessness/at risk youth/etc) in our area and we definitely want to serve our community from the beginning!
• I have been praying through putting together a leadership team that will serve mainly as spiritual covering and accountability. But, this group will also have input and give direction into church leadership decisions. I’ve been meeting with many people and have been blessed to have others speaking into my life and to the life of this church. But, it is time to begin to formalize the leadership structure a little more and to narrow the focus.
• We have just started to talk about putting together a focus group from people in our community who we can get to know and ask them some questions about this community and what it “needs” in a church. I hope to have people (Christian and non-Christian) from every walk of life in this discussion. I am excited to see what comes of this.
• Etc…..the list could go on….
Finally, this past weekend we were having a conversation with a couple of my neighbors and I told them that we were going to be starting a church in this area. One couple in particular was very excited and said that they’d been looking for a church in the area “for years.” That’s one reason we are here!
Engaging the battle,
Brian and Gina

P.S. – please keep us in your prayers. I know the enemy will attack ferociously in the days and weeks to come.