While not a project of Living Bread, I decided to provide an update on our church plant in Lynchburg. In 2017 we (along with another couple) began a Bible study in our home. After about 10 months of meeting weekly, we decided to transition the Bible study into a local church. Most of the attendees were connected to other churches, and they remained in those churches.
In December the remainder of us gathered for the first Sunday of Advent and our first official corporate worship service at Restoration Hill (www.restorationhill.org). The church was very small and met in an equally small space which we were later able to expand. We did not raise money, nor did we have a launch team. We started organically much like the Living Bread church plants in Brazil and Thailand.
We did not want to duplicate the work of others so, since we were persuaded that it was effective for disciple making, we adopted a more historic approach to corporate worship. Without going into much detail, we reduced the corporate gathering to as simple an expression as possible and embraced historic practices like public reading of Scripture, regular observance of communion, and emphasized congregational singing. We also did away with programs and seek to empower people to implement their own ministries to engage the community and serve one another.
Growth was slow, and when we started to gain some momentum the pandemic hit. Numeric growth picked up again last fall, and we have more than doubled in attendance and membership. I am grateful that my work with Living Bread enables me to be involved in pastoral ministry so that a body of believers can benefit and grow from what I have learned through the years leading Living Bread. I appreciate everyone who contributes to support our family and want you to know that this work is also fruit of your investment in the kingdom.