10/18/06 :: Frederick, MD, church plant opens doors to public
Frederick, MD >> The newly planted Sovereign Grace Church of Frederick, Maryland, launched public meetings last month after more than a year of praying, working, and planning. Tawn O’Connor, who with her family joined the church-planting team sent from Covenant Life Church (Gaithersburg, MD), talks about the meeting, the big picnic that followed, and the joys of church planting.
Saturday, September 10, was a beautiful day for the first public meeting of Sovereign Grace Church of Frederick (SGCF). Clear air, warm sun, and a sense of joyful anticipation suffused the morning’s activities as the parking-lot crew set out signs with the new church’s logo, children’s ministry workers prepared their classrooms, the worship team rehearsed, and the set-up crew lined up rows of folding chairs. The cafeteria of Middletown Middle School was transformed into a place of worship in less than two hours, thanks to Covenant Life Church’s generous gift of a Portable Church system [a kit that provides for audio-visual needs].
The sunny afternoon provided perfect picnic weather for the 322 members, children, and guests who enjoyed fried chicken and barbecue catered by the Cozy Inn at the Middletown Park after the meeting.
In his introduction, senior pastor Chris Silard noted that the church members have been praying, working, and planning for the new church for more than a year. However, he said, “We aren’t here to celebrate ourselves. Please don’t think our excitement is just opening-day enthusiasm. We are celebrating the vital truth that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners and draw them to himself.”
Visitors appeared to outnumber the members when guests were asked to stand (possibly because many members were serving in children’s ministry).
Some opening-day highlights:
- SGCF is the newest Sovereign Grace church.
- 322 people (including children) were present
- At least 83 adult visitors came, plus their children
- Prayers were answered for a beautiful day for the picnic
- Five care groups are meeting in five local communities: New Market, Frederick, Point of Rocks, Middletown, and Jefferson
- 51 follow-up calls were made the first week
On a Personal Note
I was a 20-year-old college student when I became part of a group (not a part of Sovereign Grace) that planted a church in the early 1970s. We made all the mistakes that occur due to enthusiastic, sincere, but sometimes misguided application of Scripture, combined with the hubris of youth. Yet I still have dear and tested friendships with many people from that group, and I know God did something eternal that glorified him in spite of our weaknesses.
Today I am a 54-year-old housewife and mother looking back over a lifetime of church participation and involvement, and I am not jaded, bored, or disillusioned. The gospel is the same, and Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (It also helps to know that Chris, our dear pastor, has the gray hairs, humility, and pastoral character that will help him avoid the sins that blew apart my other fellowship.) As I sat in the converted cafeteria and surveyed the acoustical tile ceilings, beige floor tiles, and cinderblock walls—almost identical to the church-basement surroundings that I remember from my youth—I thought, “This never gets old.” Thirty years after that first church-planting experience, it’s still new and fresh and exciting. How grateful I am for God’s faithfulness!
Thus far, it’s been no hardship to give up the cushioned stadium seating and beautiful facilities of Covenant Life Church. We’ve always commuted, so our dear friends there are no further away. The Portable Church system reminds me that we are church planting in the 21st century. But those metal folding chairs are exactly the same as the ones I remember from 1973. (I love that.) And the school provides a benefit that even Covenant Life doesn’t have: snack machines in the lobby!
Most of all, the joyful, vigorous, and continual preaching of the cross fills me with gratefulness for God’s amazing, redeeming, inexhaustible love.
Want to know more? Check out these links to get more of the story:
May 24, 2006: Worth it all
May 8, 2006: Church-planting team holds first meeting
March 30, 2006: Hometown church-planting, part 2
February 8, 2006: Hometown church-planting, part 1