That stupid Danke Schoen song has been in my head for two days since I made it to New York. So we finally went over to Central Park this afternoon and now it’s really stuck in there. I’m here hosting an event that is bringing in nine pastors and their wives from all over the country. The combined weekend attendance of those churches is over 50,000. We are trying to raise more support for church planting in the Northeast.
I’m the board of a church planting organization called the Orchard Group. We plant churches at a ratio of 50% in New York City, 40% in the Northeast, and 10% in major cities in the U.S. There are 22 million people in New York City, covering three states. Of those, 300,000 are professing evangelical Christians. One of our planters in Long Island reported today that they are running 800. They are probably the second largest church on Long Island, which is 120 miles by 20 miles in total area, but has a population the same as the state of Kentucky. We met with our planter in Philly who is in a new building and running over 1200. Exciting things are going on here.
And we met with a guy who is teaching school in Harlem while his wife is trying to break into theater and they are starting a church next year in upper Manhattan. Parkview is going to be in on this one. They are a very sharp couple.
We also met with a 5th generation Mormon guy whose dad is a bishop in the Mormon church and who is going to start a Christian church in the downtown area of Salt Lake City. We’re in on that too. Salt Lake City is only 3% Christian for obvious reasons. Who better to reach them than a guy who can speak their language?
I know I talk about 100 church plants by 2020 and that doesn’t necessarily mean a lot to you unless I tell you what’s happening. So that’s why I do this. And it’s why I’m trying to get other churches involved. This is tough ministry.
The president of Orchard lives in Manhattan in a 750 square foot apartment with his wife and two kids. They pay $4000 a month in rent! The people are from all over the world. 112 languages are spoken here. It’s not an easy place. But the people are already here! I believe that we need to be involved in planting churches and doing missions overseas, but we don’t have to go far to find them right here.
And in December I’m hosting an event for a bunch of pastors in Chicago to bring them into the three church plants we’re starting in our own city – as a result of partnerships we’ve made along the way. More on that later.
Just pray for this time, will you? Thousands, maybe millions of souls are at stake here in the long run. It’s very exciting.
We will see you this weekend for part three of “Are We There Yet?” as we unpack Proverbs 3 – Trust in the Lord…and he will direct your paths.
And I know what you’re thinking – no, I’m not going to the World Series tonight. But it should be an interesting evening if the Yankee’s win!
Tim
PT, My wife and I have been coming to PV since Thanksgivin 2 years ago, actually have been doin church every sunday since Thanksgivin 2 years ago thanks to you and PV. We joined a small group 6 mo ago and I just had the greatest experience. See, I broke my leg 5 weeks ago and cant walk on it for 12 weeks. My group just left my house today after showing up a few hours ago and raking 60 bags of leaves and cutting my grass. It is truly amazing that even though my leg is broke, God still has made me realize how fortunate and blessed I am for showing my love to him and learning more about his will for me. I didnt get help from my adult children, my siblings, my neighbors,friends, etc. But without a second thought 8 people who I never knew up till 6 mo ago show up and help us out. Thank God for his love and PV.
Posted by: Harold Hewitt | November 07, 2009 at 05:28 PM