09/27/07 :: Pennsylvania churches gather for joint workday
Philadelphia, PA >> On Saturday, August 11, 38 people from Grace Community Church (Souderton, PA) traveled to northeast Philadelphia to join with over 20 people from Grace Bible Church for a workday at GBC’s facility. Ed O’Mara, pastoral intern at Grace Community Church, sent this report.
Grace Bible Church (GBC) is a church re-plant led by Ian McConnell, whom God has been using to ignite a passion in the church. In this process, Ian reached out to Sovereign Grace Ministries, and through this new relationship the idea for a joint workday was birthed.
The team co-labored on several tasks, and spent a significant amount of time removing trees and brush from the rear of the parking lot. Previous to the work day, local youth would gather behind the church and throw empty bottles and cans into the lot, eliminating this as a viable parking area. After the Sunday following the workday, Ian told us:
As I glanced over the back parking lot there was something very different, very wonderfully different—there was no sea of glass from broken bottles, there was no can collection, there were absolutely no signs that the usual Saturday night party had been held on the back hill of our church parking lot....Your kind and gracious serving last week accomplished exactly what we had hoped. More of your brothers and sisters from GBC and more of those whom God is drawing to the gospel in northeast Philly have a place to park their cars so they can encounter the grace of God through the Lord Jesus Christ this morning.What a joy it was to see God at work through brothers and sisters united by the gospel!