We have been blessed in Detroit through God’s faithfulness to his churches and our city. In the past few months, two new churches have launched and other new churches are reaching important goals of seeing people saved and transformed. The growing churches of Send Detroit are reaching milestones of discipleship, baptisms, leadership development and mission. There is a culture of multiplication where more and more new churches are being planted and new churches are also planting churches. It is an exciting time to witness what God is doing in our city.
From the most recent church planter quarterly reports, we have the following statistics to share.
These numbers represent 17 new church plants for the months of July - September 2024:
Average weekly worship attendance: 905
Gospel conversations: 360
Salvations: 53
Baptisms: 28
Intentional discipleship participants: 532
Cooperative Program giving: $8,209
Annie Armstrong giving: $601
Participants in missional leader residencies: 7
Participants in church planting residencies: 9
Mission Church Grand Opening
On December 15, Mission Church (New Hudson, MI), led by Pastor Nick Ford, celebrated a grand opening ceremony for their new facility in the heart of New Hudson. Many from the community and local government were present in a show of support and appreciation for this new church. Nick Ford has been actively working in the community with his core team since the summer of 2022. In this short time, they have been making a great difference in the community as they and lead the people of Mission Church to “be a force for the gospel and an integral part of the community.”
Praying for New Churches
Send Detroit began in 2013 with a vision to start 72 new churches in Metro Detroit. In the first 10 years of Send Detroit we saw 68 new churches launched as we prayed for God to send out laborers into His harvest. On September 10, 2024 at Mile City Church, we hosted a second Send Detroit Huddle to seek God’s vision for Detroit over the next 10 years. We came together for worship, prayer and intercession for our leaders, churches and the city. Now, our prayer is that God would show us where the next 150 new churches could be planted over the next decade. So far, we have been able to identify 62 communities where a new church could be started.
If you have a recommendation for a future church plant in Send Detroit please let us know! Use the link below to submit your ideas for new churches.
October Assessment Retreat
October 14-15, 2024, Merriman Road Baptist Church and the Send Network assessment team, hosted another well run assessment retreat in Detroit. We saw 9 candidates assessed (8 couples and one single candidate). Our director, Scott Blanchard, and coordinator, Ed Nacci, consistently maintain a high-quality assessment experience for our candidates. Our teams of assessors recommended that 7 candidates were “ready”, one “needed development”, and one was recommended to “re-direct.” For those candidates in the Send Detroit area, we celebrate the newly endorsed church planters, Rafael Bricci (Troy), and Andrew & Brooke York (Ann Arbor).
Send Detroit Christmas Dinner
On December 12, twenty Send Detroit church planting couples joined together for a special Christmas dinner at the historic Whitney mansion in downtown Detroit. We enjoyed the encouragement of great fellowship around tables and a wonderful dinner together.
Prayer Requests
Pray for God’s guidance and provision in the lives of the newly endorsed church planting missionaries, Raphael Bricci and Andrew York, as they begin to labor in the fields that the Lord has led them to. Pray for our other planters laboring also. Please continue in prayer with us that God would show us where and for whom the next 150 churches need to be started in Detroit. Pray also that God would raise up laborers needed for His harvest.
Catch the Vision Tour Dates
Please contact me if you are interested in joining me for a tour of what God is doing through church planting in Detroit. Our next scheduled dates for a Catch the Vision Tour are:
March 10-12, 2025
May 5-6, 2025
Yours in Christ,
Wayne Parker
Send Detroit Missionary
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