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Renew Polk - Summer Update


Summers can be hard for church planters. Numbers typically wane in summer. Fewer volunteers are available to help with set-up and Children’s Ministry. Church planters and their families can struggle to get away for vacation because the demands on them are even greater. They often come out of the summer months tired and discouraged. Then, before they can even catch their breath, a new ministry year is upon them. In my experience, the beginning of school is the most trying time for planters. Yet, God is faithful. He continues to work in our weakness to accomplish beautiful things. You’ll see this in the updates from our church plants in this newsletter. Please take the time to read the reports from our planters and to pray specifically for renewed vision and energy as they gather themselves and their churches for the ministry year ahead.



On Sunday September 8, we will hold our annual Worship and Prayer gathering at Trinity Presbyterian church from 5:00-6:30pm. (Childcare will be available for infants through pre-k, please RSVP to krissa@trinitylakeland.org) Please plan to join us that evening for lots of singing and praying for the gospel to continue to bear fruit in our country. It will be a great opportunity for you to personally encourage the planters and learn how you could practically be involved in the work of church planting. The focus of the evening will be towards two goals: 1) that Renew Polk would grow into a genuinely lay-lead movement; and 2) that our church planting efforts would be reflecting the diversity of our community. I hope you will join us.

Drew Bennett, Renew Polk Director


Renew Polk Website

Greater Hope Church

Mulberry - Launched December 2017
Stan & Stacy McMahan (Asher, Kathryne, Madeline & Alexander)


We’re grateful for what’s going on in Mulberry! God is continuing to bring new people and raise up leaders. We’ve added new Community Groups recently and are working on at least a couple more (we have 4 of the needed 6). Community Kids (upper elementary) and Community Students (middle and high school) have started meeting, too. Our first men’s and women’s retreats were great—good times for building friendships and discussing how the gospel can make Greater Hope a church that changes our community. We’re continuing to pray for the growing group that attends on Sunday mornings, at our Community Groups, and in Bible studies—for conversions, discipleship, and a desire to truly belong to the church. 
 
This Summer, I’d like to get some needed rest with my family and invest in the new believers and leaders God is raising up in our church. For Greater Hope Church, I’d like our summer series in Titus to get people thinking and praying about how they can be fruitful for Christ at church, in their personal lives, and in our city. 

Good Shepherd Church

Southeast Lakeland - Launched January 2018
Jeremy & Sara Kemp (Corban, Gray & McKendall)


We've enjoyed the slower pace of the summer at Good Shepherd Church. It not only allows us the chance to rest and recuperate from the busy season of ministry since our first birthday as a church in January, but also to intentionally use the summer towards our primary focus right now: Gathering. Summer in Lakeland means vacations, pool parties, and lots of time for rest and recreation.  We plan to take advantage of this culture and schedule parties and activities throughout the summer that allow our people to grow in friendship with each other and invite others into those friendships.  Please pray for my personal evangelism efforts this summer as I invite my neighbors into a Bible study at my home.  Also pray for our church, that we would rest in Jesus, grow as friends, and be so amazed at his grace that we couldn’t help but share it with others.  Pray that these efforts would result in 4 new families being welcomed in by the fall.

Grace Community Church

North Lakeland - Launched September 2018
Josh & Liz Floyd (Maddie, Sarah Beth, James & David )


Things are going well at Grace Community Church on the northside of Lakeland. We launched just over 7 months ago and there is still a very sweet spirit in the church plant. We meet in the Sleepy Hill Elementary School cafeteria and we have been averaging 54 people in weekly attendance from Jan-Mar in 2018. And over the past 6 weeks our average attendance has risen to 64 people (in large part because of Easter and Mother's Day). We recently had our first New Member class which was well attended (25 adults) and we had our best attended outreach event (Easter EGGstravanganza 80-90 people on Palm Sunday after church). We are seeing new faces each Sunday and we are very encouraged with the steady numerical growth.
 
One goal for me personally is that I would continue to delight in the Lord. I know that the joy of the Lord is my strength (Neh 8:10). But I can functionally live like a completed sermon, more people coming to the church or someone liking me is my strength. Church planting continues to expose my idols of people-pleasing and wanting to be in control. I am continually having to repent of these and finding my true identity and satisfaction in Christ alone. Please keep me in your prayers that my true delight and joy would be in Jesus alone.
 
One goal for the church plant would be that internal giving would increase. Although our numbers are increasing, our financial giving is not increasing. We are excited that we are attracting baby Christians, maybe Christians and unbelievers but they are not tithing or giving financially. We are wanting to be around $10k a month of internal giving and we are around $5k a month. Please pray that as I preach on generosity, as we have our first church wide vision casting / budget meeting in the next month or so and as we continue to talk about tithing in our new member classes that the Lord would first bring people to himself and secondly stir their hearts to give generously.

The King's Church

Lakeland (Dixieland) - Launched September 2018
Ian & Molly Thomas (Caleb & Maddie)


We’ve continued to see God move above and beyond what we could imagine or expect at The King’s Church this spring! We’ve seen many new faces connect with our church family who have found space to wrestle with the claims of Jesus in the context of a family committed to one another and the gospel. We enjoyed our first Easter corporate worship gathering and saw close to 150 people join us as we celebrated the hope of the resurrection! We’ve also had a chance to suffer well together this spring as we said goodbye to a dear sister in Christ (Karen, the wife of one of our pastors) who went home to be with Jesus at the end of March. God used Karen’s life to draw us closer to himself and to one another. We also continue to see God move in and through orphan care, as many of our families are serving as foster parents or are in the process of adopting. 

We covet your prayers as we transition into our first summer as a church plant and as we continue to set-up and tear-down at Dixieland Elementary School. Pray that we would continue to connect with new folks who are in the Dixieland area, and that disciples would be made in and through our church. We also appreciate your prayers for those serving on the front lines of caring for the fatherless and the motherless, as we are hoping to see 4 children adopted into families in our church and for 4 more licensed foster families in the coming months.

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Renew Polk · 301 N. Florida Ave · Lakeland, FL 33801 · USA

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