| Church DevelopmentGrace Community At Fish Hawk Charters
By Dr. Montfort C. Duncan Jr.,
Executive Director, Church Development
 May
5, 2002 was a special day of celebration for Grace Community United
Methodist Church at Fish Hawk in the Tampa District.
This new community of faith received its first
pastor, the Rev. Dr. Rob Harding, in June 1999 and conducted its first
community survey that summer. Its first home Bible study was held
later that fall, and it celebrated its first public worship service
Feb. 6, 2000 with 130 people in attendance.
On May 5 Grace Community chartered with 270 in
attendance and 153 charter members. Of the 138 adults to join, 68 did
so on profession of faith. Lives are changing in positive ways as
people come into contact with the love and power of Christ at Grace
Community.
As members of this new church strive to fulfill
God’s purpose for them and reach their community for Christ, they
have developed the following in the last two years: a Sunday morning
experience that offers a contemporary service, four children’s
church classes during worship and four Sunday school classes prior to
worship—one for youth, one for adults and two for children; a dozen
small group Bible study or fellowship opportunities; and a
purpose-driven structure that enables God to continually raise up new
leadership and them to stay focused on their purpose of making
disciples.
As they strive to keep moving forward in
reaching new people, they are working hard to create a first-unit
facility that will help them better reach their community today, while
also allowing for future growth. They are deeply grateful for the
amazing support of the Florida Annual Conference and the Tampa
District.
You have made this ministry possible through
your support of the New Church Start apportionment. Lives are being
changed and new churches are being started through the faithfulness of
our existing churches! |
