Hi
everyone!
We write
to you in the midst of preparation for a long winter in the mountains. Our wood
chopping operation is in full swing (pun most definitely intended) and the snow
is starting to fly. We are putting the snow tires on the car and recently our
landlord swapped out our lawn mower for a snow blower, solidifying the reality
that while it has been a wonderful summer and fall, winter is now knocking on
our door. There is something refreshing about the rhythm of the seasons in our
rural way of life.
In other news, our chickens our free range now so we have 9 (down from 12) feathered friends walking and squawking around the property giving us fresh eggs for breakfast and few dozen to sell each week. Last week I left the coop door open and one of them got snatched up, probably by a wily fox or black bear – I felt both sad and very dumb – unfortunately, the latter is not too uncommon.
Suz
recently accepted a position in Steamboat Springs as the office manager
at LiftUp - a local
non-profit which has a thrift store, food bank and other services to help serve
the low-income and struggling folks of Routt County. She is also plugged into
Steamboat Dance Theatre, a non-profit that provides dance scholarships and
education. Their biggest fundraiser is an annual show held in February at the
high school. This year, she is choreographing one of the dances and performing
in another. It has been a great opportunity to build relationships with people
we otherwise wouldn’t have met.
I am
continuing to pastor North Routt Community Church here in Clark
full-time. It is still such a joy to serve this community. I have
continued to connect with the local pastors and work alongside them as we long
to see the Gospel spread through our county, which is around 90% unchurched. It
is a very difficult place to minister but God has been doing a lot of things in
the life of our little church and our broader community. I am also
trying to collaborate with several pastors to help launch a neighboring
movement. It is inspired by the book “The Art of Neighboring” and
together we plan to unite as churches and preach a sermon series on cultivating
relationships with our actual neighbors. I am excited about this because 90% of
our county will probably never walk into the doors of a church and we want to
encourage and equip our people to be the church in their neighborhoods as they
love and serve the folks God has placed them among.
I also
just had the privilege to speak (very briefly) at a church planting/ministry
conference in Colorado Springs called Multiply. It was an awesome experience,
filled with a ton of learning, encouragement and building of new and old
relationships.
There are
some wonderful things happening here at North Routt Community Church and I
wanted to give you a brief update on the church and where Suz and I are
at.
Growth Update
Leadership: In May,
we reformed our core leadership team. It is made up of 12 amazing and committed
folks and this group now has redefined purpose and expectations. We have
identified 5 major goals for the church that we think can realistically be
accomplished in 2-3 years; some are already done or far along in the process.
Each month we go through these goals with the team and discuss, collaborate,
and make decisions that help us move toward achieving them together. These
goals include: defining our mission, vision, & values, leadership
development, financial stability and independence, small
groups, and implementing a discipleship process.
Numerical: God
continues to bring people into our little gatherings and we maxed out at about
75 people one Sunday this past summer with an average attendance hovering
around 55 people. The exciting thing about this is that many new attenders are
year-round residents that are getting plugged in to the community and finding
ways to serve. This means that our core group of local folks continues to
grow, making church more consistent and less dependent on the seasons. By
comparison, the core group of folks that existed three years ago was about
10-15.
Community: Our
community continues to grow closer together as we try and create environments
for people to connect. Every month this summer we had a community BBQ at
Steamboat Lake for people to connect and invite their neighbors. We also have
three small groups where people are building relationships and growing in their
faith. Beyond our internal community growth, we have seen an excitement and
willingness to invest in our neighbors – getting to know them, blessing them,
and inviting them into our lives. This has been a value of ours that is making
its way into the culture as a church.
Financial: We have
gone from an almost non-existent church giving to $18,000 congregational giving
last year and we are on pace in 2015 to double that at $38,000. This is very
encouraging because our goal budget to cover internal costs, support a
full-time pastor and generously give away 15% percent outside our walls comes
out to about 70-75K. We strongly believe that we are close to becoming a
financially independent church within the next 12 months
Ways you can pray and
ways to support us:
God is doing some really
awesome things here and we are excited and feel privileged to be a part of it.
While we have seen a lot of fruit, there is still a lot to be done and we
continue to ask for your support as we continue to serve this place. Here are
some ways that you can support us…
Prayer: Please
be in prayer for us as we continue to seek God's direction for the church and
make decisions as a community in how to best grow and reach our small town that
desperately needs Jesus. Please pray for our surrounding county as a whole
– As I said earlier, 90% of the population is unchurched and 85% would be considered
“nones,” meaning they don’t adhere to or affiliate with any kind of faith
(according to a recent survey). Please pray for hearts to be softened,
relationships to be formed, and people to come to Jesus. Please pray against
discouragement or burn out as we walk through the ups and downs of ministry.
Above all, pray that God would be glorified and known through this little
church. I think He delights in His people gathering where there once wasn’t a
church body and we just want to be faithful to see that cultivated and
strengthened.
Financially: At this
point NRCC can support us about 55% of what we need to stay and minister here.
I really desire to stay and help serve and lead NRCC, which means I have to
come up with the remaining portion somehow. I have explored other options of
supporting myself (I have applied with a few local Steamboat companies) and I
am open to whatever is needed to continue to stay and serve in Clark. However,
I agree with our core team that the ideal situation would be to continue pastoring
at NRCC full-time. I am confident our goals are achievable with a full-time
pastor, and if I was to go bi-vocational I would have to cut my time and energy
in half. With NRCC being able to support 55% of our financial needs, we believe
that $20,000 dollars will allow us to continue to live and serve here for at
least another 12 months and by that time we believe NRCC will be able to
support a pastor full-time. We are coming to friends and family asking for
support for the next year as we continue to help develop a church in a town
that has been churchless for so long.
If you
feel led to support us financially there are a couple ways you can do so:
·
You can send a one-time check to: North Routt Community Church
PO BOX 875 Clark, CO 80428
Please
make the check out to “North Routt Community Church”
·
You can also donate online. Either use the Razoo “donation
widget” on the right side of the blog or go to www.razoo.com/story/Church-Planting-Residency
to donate there. You can also go there to see up to date funding information
and progress.
·
You can also pledge monthly either through direct deposit from
your account to the North Routt Community Church’s account (email me if you would like that information - email below)
Thank you
so much for your prayers and for partnering with us in any way you feel lead.
Dave and Suzanna
If you have any further questions please feel free to email me at dbloom2388@gmail.com
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