Hi All,
This ministry update is dedicated to the Mantua Creek church plant. Before reading further, please take a moment to download and scroll through our updated prospectus:
As I said in my August ministry update, “God has opened and closed doors consistent with continuing Mantua Creek and taking it into its next season. This is where I’ve settled personally: For the next 5-10 years, God has called me to plant an EPC church in Gloucester Country near Mantua Creek and Rowan University that prioritizes reaching deconverting and deconstructing Gen Xers and Millennials, and their children.”
Since then, my direction has not changed; in fact, in October, I attended the EPC Church Planter’s Retreat in Colorado Springs. It was a refreshing experience, and I came back encouraged and with a renewed sense of call.
One of the most tangible encouragements from the week was a meeting I had with Tom Ricks, the EPC’s National Director of Church Planting. On hearing the details of our situation, Tom offered to invest 7K of the EPC national’s “red zone” funds if I could raise 38 of the 45K needed for 2024 by January 1rst (again, see the prospectus above). He said that EPC national doesn’t normally give to individual church plants but that our situation showed great promise and he hoped it would be an incentive for others to invest. He noted that although I’ve worked full-time with Care Net over the past three years of the church plant’s existence, and although we’re at capacity in the current house we’re meeting in, we’ve doubled in size in the last two years, had a 100% retention rate, and—most importantly—2/3 of the folks who now attend weekly and are growing were not going to church regularly or at all 3 years ago. If you didn’t see them a few weeks ago, check out these fresh stories of impact from our group.
Since my meeting with Tom, I’ve been diligently inviting others to invest in what we are doing, again, with the goal of raising 38K by 1.1.2024 so that we can receive the 7K from EPC national.
As of today—with just one month left, we have raised approximately 19K. In other words, we are just 19k from our goal! [Note: these numbers were updated 12.21.23.]
Would you consider a one-time gift or partnering with us on a monthly basis? If so, you can let me know at gregausten7@gmail.com. All gifts are tax-deductible and can be made electronically through our parent church, Ashland Church in Vorhees, NJ at this secure link.
Thanks so much for your prayers, consideration of investing with us, and being a regular reader of this blog.
I am blessed to have you on this journey with me and please enjoy (sorry, I couldn’t resist!) a recent pic of me and two of my grandkids, Caedmon and Iris.
Greg
