By James Mitchell - Church Planter
If you’ve ever been excited to watch a shuttle or rocket launch, you know sometimes there is a delay. That is just what we’ve experienced. In mid-September, my wife and I both tested positive for COVID. Our quarantine covered the date of our launch. It was hard, but we knew we had to decide to delay. What we have learned through the process is nothing short of amazing.
Our team is ready, still growing, and eager to lead. On the date which should have been our launch, September 26, our worship team, recovery ministry team, and greeters wanted to go ahead and meet, even though their pastor was home. By the afternoon, we had a team brimming with confidence in their roles, contacts from first-time visitors that Sunday, a hunger to see God “add to our number,” and a passion for people far from God.
It’s time to lean into our strengths and work on the weak areas. We have already begun the process of acknowledging what we do well and showcasing it. The flip side is seeing where we are weak and finding out ways to right the ship. Our student ministry is thriving, with many of the teenagers who attend Wednesdays coming from homes where parents do not attend church yet. We have chosen to use the word “yet” deliberately.
We hope that Christ at work in the lives of these young people will be the catalyst to bring entire families to saving faith in Jesus.
Lastly, our family has seen we are genuinely not alone in this desire to reach Marlow and Northern Stephens County. I am delighted, proud, and excited about the future of the Harvest Church because it’s not a Mitchell family project. It is God at work in the lives of believers, new and seasoned, with a passion for reaching the “nones and dones,” as we put it. ‘Nones’ are people who traditionally have had nothing to do with church. ‘Dones’ are people who have given up on attending church or decided to ‘never go back.’