Northern Michigan District
NewStart News
| Looking for the NewStart Church Planting Brochure .pdf files? Click HERE. |
Summer 2005
Welcome to the first issue of the NewStart News, an electronic effort to keep pastors and laymen informed about the ongoing progress of church planting in the Northern Michigan District. The vision is to plant eight Nazarene NewStart works with each one eventually growing into an independent, self-sustaining outreach within their respective communities. There are a lot of people out there who don't know Jesus. It's our job to introduce them.
More than one NewStart is already underway. Houghton Lake, Petoskey, Marquette, (any more?). This newsletter will describe each work in turn, beginning with Petoskey.
Petoskey Newstart
Nazarene
"Let
us go somewhere else--to the nearby villages--so I can preach there also.
That is why
I have come.”
Words
of Jesus Christ, Mark 1:38
 |
The path to Northern Michigan is a familiar one for Rev. John and Lucy Carr. Before moving on to churches in Richfield and Macomb Township, Carrs had a good long stay at Alanson Nazarene, just next door to their currrent Harbor Springs location. "Downstate," the Carrs most recently had a 2-charge appointment. While at Macomb Township, they undertook a new work nearby and planted what is now Bethel Nazarene in Armada. When the core group became a congregation that numbered about 80, John and Lucy were offered the opportunity to focus on church planting in the great North of Michigan. Prayer, time, prayer, prayer and more prayer --and they began packing. |
| From November through March, the NewStart church met at Concord Academy, a nearby charter school that was willing to rent their music room. It was pricey but the need was always met, and the room had excellent acoustics. One of Alanson's piano musicians made a commitment to play for this fledging group and she did -- and is still. |
| The "core" group that gathered that first Sunday afternoon in November numbered about 14. Week to week, the numbers climbed. It was slow but sure progress and people began to get to know each other. |
| Rev. Carr was not above taking to the streets to meet people, shake hands and invite them to church. He had little cards printed that spelled out where the church was meeting and when, etc. This time and place was "Open House Petoskey," a time the Christmas season gets an official kick-off and folks go from shop to shop sampling all kinds of goodies. It's a very well-attended community event --but you have to dress warmly! |  |
| An adult Bible study began meeting on Thursday nights. |  |
 |
A single children's ministry class became three --with snacks, of course! |
 |
Palm Sunday
brought us two guests: |
 |
| After the NewStart
church had a few months of fellowship under its collective belt,
Rev. Carr asked the congregation to pray about putting together what
he calls a "Vision Team." This is not a Board in the sense that Nazarenes
are accustomed to, but rather 4 or 5 people with a heart to see this
work succeed and willing to help find God's Way to that end. It was
the Vision Team that considered what to do about the pricey rent
at the charter school. They prayed, an opportunity came up and Petoskey's
NewStart began meeting at the local Seventh Day Adventist Church.
The Adventists meet for worship on Saturday leaving their building
empty and available on Sunday. The rent is half of what the charter
school had been charging. It was a perfect match! |
| Being in the House of God is a huge improvement over folding chairs in a music room. The Adventists don't even mind when we use their hymnals! |  |
 |
We've got a little "Congregational Creep" going on, and that's a good thing! |
| Petoskey NewStart Nazarene is a diversified bunch. Looking at the photos, you see every age represented. At right and in the middle is Mrs. Irma Parrow, one of the core group. Irma heads up our Prayer Chain and is adamantly faithful about keeping people informed. She makes all those calls no matter how long it takes her. |  |
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| Worship ends, then "blends" into coffee and cookies for fellowship. These are opportunities for people to begin knowing one another. We were all strangers at one time, but we're on our way to becoming the Family of God. |
Petoskey NewStart Church of the Nazarene
Church Family - taken Father's Day, 2005
For more information about
Petoskey NewStart Nazarene, call Rev. John Carr at 231-526-0296.
