OPC Church Plant -- Louisville

[louis_jp]

Friends,

We are attempting to plant an OPC church in Louisville, Ky. We laid some groundwork on this effort last fall but didn't get far enough, and the effort was suspended. We now we have some new people and are beginning again. We are feeling very positive about things this time around, but we still need all the help we can get.

Please pray for this effort!

Also, join our Facebook group and show your support:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php...rofile#!/pages/OPC-Louisville/110579995644391

If you're in a position to, get the word out!

All of this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Louis

 

[PuritanCovenanter]

I have a question. Why not attend Rev. Phillips Church. I would. He is a faithful man. http://www.midlaneparkarp.org/

The Pastors Blog. http://www.midlaneparkarp.org/

Why start something new when there is a work already there? Just wondering.

 

[louis_jp]

I am attending his church. It is an excellent church, and Tim is the best pastor I've known. But there are 1.2 million people in the Louisville metro area and less than 100 souls in Reformed Presbyterian churches (not counting PCUSA). We are trying to reach more people, who may not go to Midlane Park for any number of reasons.

 

[raekwon]

I have a question. Why not attend Rev. Phillips Church. I would. He is a faithful man. Home - MIDLANE PARK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

The Pastors Blog. Home - MIDLANE PARK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Why start something new when there is a work already there? Just wondering.

More faithful churches are better than fewer faithful churches, right?

 

[PuritanCovenanter]

I have a question. Why not attend Rev. Phillips Church. I would. He is a faithful man. Home - MIDLANE PARK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

The Pastors Blog. Home - MIDLANE PARK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH



Why start something new when there is a work already there? Just wondering.

More faithful churches are better than fewer faithful churches, right?

Not necessarily. Just my humble opinion, I know of a good Reformed Baptist Church that follows the RPW and has good preaching as well as Pastor Tim's Church. I know people who travel an hour to go to their churches. The ones that exist should be strengthened and recognize the authority there already.

 

[raekwon]

I have a question. Why not attend Rev. Phillips Church. I would. He is a faithful man. Home - MIDLANE PARK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

The Pastors Blog. Home - MIDLANE PARK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH



Why start something new when there is a work already there? Just wondering.

More faithful churches are better than fewer faithful churches, right?

Not necessarily. Just my humble opinion, I know of a good Reformed Baptist Church that follows the RPW and has good preaching as well as Pastor Tim's Church. I know people who travel an hour to go to their churches. The ones that exist should be strengthened and recognize the authority there already.

I guess I don't necessarily see the planting of new churches in a city that already has churches as a weakening of existing ones or a rejection of existing authority. Of course, there's likely some "sheep-shifting" that goes on whenever a new church shows up, but if God decides to birth a new community and/or calls a man to lead it, then we should rejoice.

 

[JBaldwin]

Louisville is a good sized city. The more the merrier

 

[Scottish Lass]

Randy, I pray it's not a zero-sum game and that those that wouldn't attend our church or with Bob and Marie over at RBC or at one of the PCAs in town will find a home with the OPC plant. Tim's hope is that the folks that want to work with the plant will worship with us until they're ready for Sunday morning worship. Right now, the group is at the information/planning a Bible study stage, if I recall correctly. Some folks aren't going to be happy with our tiny, older congregation that sings psalms and older hymns, for example. As long as Christ is preached and glorified, there's room.

---------- Post added at 11:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:26 PM ----------

Louisville is a good sized city. The more the merrier

Roughly one million, depending on how you define the metro area.

 

[Houchens]

Randy, I pray it's not a zero-sum game and that those that wouldn't attend our church or with Bob and Marie over at RBC or at one of the PCAs in town will find a home with the OPC plant. Tim's hope is that the folks that want to work with the plant will worship with us until they're ready for Sunday morning worship. Right now, the group is at the information/planning a Bible study stage, if I recall correctly. Some folks aren't going to be happy with our tiny, older congregation that sings psalms and older hymns, for example. As long as Christ is preached and glorified, there's room.

---------- Post added at 11:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:26 PM ----------

Louisville is a good sized city. The more the merrier

Roughly one million, depending on how you define the metro area.

Thanks Anna! You guys know how much we love & appreciate you both, as well as the Church!

---------- Post added at 11:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:39 PM ----------

Praying!

 

[Glenn Ferrell]

Louis: Which presbytery are you working with?

---------- Post added at 10:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:29 PM ----------

Some folks aren't going to be happy with our tiny, older congregation that sings psalms and older hymns, for example. As long as Christ is preached and glorified, there's room.

Anna: I would think any OP congregation would also sing psalms and older hymns, and probably be small, as most of that denomination are.

 

[MarieP]

I have a question. Why not attend Rev. Phillips Church. I would. He is a faithful man. Home - MIDLANE PARK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

The Pastors Blog. Home - MIDLANE PARK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH



Why start something new when there is a work already there? Just wondering.

More faithful churches are better than fewer faithful churches, right?

Not necessarily. Just my humble opinion, I know of a good Reformed Baptist Church that follows the RPW and has good preaching as well as Pastor Tim's Church. I know people who travel an hour to go to their churches. The ones that exist should be strengthened and recognize the authority there already.

I can see both of your all's points. This is an interesting conversation! The Lord knows I want to see my hometown reached, and I would say that, if the Gospel is being preached, whether they be credo or paedo, then may God bless their efforts!

Of course, as a confessional Baptist, part of me says, but let more become Baptist (as I'm sure my Presbyterian brethren would say regarding their own convictions). There's a tension there- I want to rejoice in what God is doing in all His true churches (and that includes those that aren't Reformed). But I also recognize that we grow in our understandings of things and there is a reason why brethren must have their own separate congregations.

 

[Whitefield]

Don't forget there is dry land north of the river.

 

[Backwoods Presbyterian]

Why OPC? Why not plant a sister (or daughter as the case may be) ARP church in Louisville?

 

[Houchens]

Praying!

 

[louis_jp]

I was working under the (perhaps naive) assumption that one could grow existing churches and plant new ones at the same time. I was intending to work toward just that purpose. I was also under the understanding that the relevant existing churches had been contacted and were okay with it.

If this is not the case, or if anyone is concerned that this proposed plant would conflict with their own outreach efforts in the Louisville area, then please PM me so we can discuss this privately and work toward a common goal.

In the meantime, I respectfully ask the moderators if it is possible to close this thread, as it is working at cross-purposes with the original post and appears to be causing some dissension.

 

[Scottish Lass]

Why OPC? Why not plant a sister (or daughter as the case may be) ARP church in Louisville?

Since we average roughly thirty at an average worship service, there's no way anyone in our denomination is going to put money into that, nor should they. I'm sure the OPC looked around and asked where they didn't have a congregation that might sustain one, and Louisville fits the bill, especially if they look to the north or south of the city--downtown and the east end have Reformed options, as we've mentioned above.

 

[Marrow Man]

Let me throw in my here.

First, Louis came to me pretty much from the outset explaining that he wanted to be a part of this plant. He (along with one other potential member of the plant, who is also PB) has gone through membership classes at our church. He has applied for membership, and would already be a member if it were not for a scheduling problem in meeting with the session. He asked me before this process if working with the OPC plant was a problem. We discussed the issue more than once, and for right now this is a Bible study (which does not interfere with anything our church does) he is involved in. The OPC plant would not even begin meeting for worship for a couple of years, most likely. In the interim, he needs a place to worship. And he has expressed to me the need and desire he has for ecclesiastical oversight. Louis has done everything upfront and out in the open in this.

Of course, I do have concerns. One is this: where are all these people currently worshipping? What are they doing on the Lord's Day? Two are worshipping with us, and two or three more have visited with us. Where are the rest? Are what are they going to do on the Lord's Day until the plant begins meeting on the Lord's Day? Of course, I don't know every story of every person, but this makes me scratch my head. Speaking from purely anecdotal experiences of my own (of the church planting nature), church plants tend to attract certain types who are not pleased with any church whatsoever. There is nothing out there that pleases them. They think a church plant will be different because they are getting in on the ground floor, but in a couple of years that has changed somewhat, and this doesn't please them any more, and they leave. Please understand that I only speaking from personal experience, and what I am describing is a small minority of those who become part of these plants. We tend to remember the squeaky wheels and such, and not the vast majority of fine folks who become part of these (needed and necessary) church planting efforts. So please do not think I am imputing this to all church plants (and certainly not Louis or Melissa)! But I do know there are a few very quirky Reformed types out there who are not pleased with anything that does not fall into a very narrow paradigm. So they go to this church, that church, every thing's not perfect, and they become very much like Screwtape's "tasters and connoisseurs of churches." We welcome all comers, of course, but there malcontents out there, of both the Reformed and non-Reformed types. Believe me, I've seen it, and the Missus can back me up on this (remember Oakland, sweetie? ). Let me also add that Louis has been very instrumental in bringing in visitors to our church, and has expressed great interest in working with me for outreach with our church.

On the positive side, I would agree with the sentiment of "the more the merrier." How sad is this: in Louisville, with roughly 1 million folks in the metro (and certainly more than half that in the city), we have almost no Reformed churches. We have two PCA churches, but one of those has pretty much gone FV. One ARP church. One Reformed Baptist church. That's it. There are some Baptist churches with Reform-minded pastors (thanks to the seminary) or that are Reformed in their soteriology, and that's good, but we are talking almost no Reformed churches otherwise. So there is a need. Louisville is a heavily Roman Catholic city (one of the original diocese in this country, post Revolutionary War, was in nearby Bardstown, KY), and that's part of the reason. We also have the seventh largest megachurch in the country in Louisville, and that doesn't help. I suspect that if/when this plant develops, it will be in a different part of the city from the other Reformed bodies. But there are plenty of people here, we just need to reach them. I just hope they are worshipping somewhere decent on the Lord's Day. So if you are reading this and you are in Louisville, we meet at 11 am Sunday mornings.