A Church Planting Vision for Muncie and Delaware County

Pastor Bob O'Bannon

As Christians, we believe we are the light of the world — not because we think we’re something special, or because we’re better than other people. It’s because this is what Jesus says is true of his people — in Mat. 5:14, he says to his disciples, “You are the light of the world.” Where Christians are, there is light. Where Christians are not, there is darkness.

I think we’d all admit that there is a significant amount of darkness in our world. So if the world needs light, and the church is the light, then it would follow that in communities where the church is on the increase, there will be an increased amount of light shining into the darkness. And where there is light, there is direction, purity, wholeness, truth, hope.

Various statistics seem to be indicating the church is not increasing, but decreasing in its influence in the United States, even in the Midwest, which is regarded as being generally conservative. According to Ted Powers, the Midwest church planting coordinator for our denomination (Presbyterian Church in America-PCA), there is no place in the Midwest where more than 15 percent of the population attends church. Powers says it requires one church for every 50,000 people in order to have “presence” in a community; one church for every 5,000 people in order to have “influence” in a community; and one church for every 500 people in order to “saturate” a community (which Mormons have in some areas of Utah and Muslims have in the Detroit area).

Right now, the PCA has one church for every 350,000 people in the Midwest, which means we do not even have “presence” in this area of the country. We’re not even a blip on the radar.

Of course there are other healthy, Gospel-preaching churches in the Midwest, and I don’t mean to suggest that the PCA is the only church that can shine Gospel light into a community, but any way you slice it, there is a need for more churches in our area of the world.

If you doubt whether this is true, and wonder why more churches are needed when there seems to be so many already in every community, I recommend two articles: one by Mike McDaniel, director of Summit Network, and the other by Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer PCA in New York City.

As McDaniel says, we in the church often “overestimate our influence and underestimate the need.” We get comfortable and complacent. The darkness around us causes us no concern. Our friends might be Christians, but we overlook the fact that, in most cases, the people living across the street and on both sides of your house are not. We’re shocked and alarmed by the “moral deterioration” of the nation, yet we have no urgency to increase the presence of the church in our cities.

Here is my vision for Muncie and Delaware County — let’s “saturate” this area with Gospel-preaching churches. Imagine how Delaware County would change if there were one healthy, Bible-based, Jesus-centered, grace-oriented church for every 500 people in this community. Imagine the marriages that would be saved; imagine the meth labs that would disappear and the strip clubs that would close down; imagine the prosperity that could come to this place if God’s people were to actively seek it (Jer. 29:4-6); imagine the people who would be called out of darkness and into the wonderful light of the Gospel.

New Life currently has plans to plant our first daughter church in downtown Muncie in the next couple of years, but it will require many more daughter and granddaughter churches to fulfill this vision. It’s a lifetime of work. Will you join us in supporting this effort?

3 Things I Love About Our New Sanctuary

Pastor Bob O'Bannon

This Sunday (Aug. 10) is a very big day in the life of New Life Presbyterian Church. On this morning, we will conduct our very first worship service in a brand new sanctuary that was begun all the way back in November 2012. There are at least three things I love about this new facility, which I share with you now:

1) It will allow for one morning worship service. There are a few advantages to this. First, a single worship service on Sunday mornings allows us as a congregation of about 340 people to worship as a unified community and not in separate groups. Since the fall of 2010, our church has been offering three Sunday morning services (two in the summers). Not only does this tend to foster a feeling of having three different congregations, where in some cases people don’t even know they attend the same church, it also makes it difficult for the entire congregation to witness special events in the life of the congregation, such as baptisms, testimonies and farewells. The second big advantage to having just one morning service is that it reduces stress on volunteers who by necessity have had to serve long hours on Sunday mornings. Many of us will now have more free time on Sunday afternoons because we won’t be napping as long! Best of all, one Sunday morning service will allow us to hear the sweet voices of all New Life worshipers lifting up their voices together to praise our risen Savior and King.

2) It is a beautiful facility. People have many different opinions about the way things look. As one who can be pretty picky about aesthetics myself, I am thrilled to say that I find the new sanctuary to be a beautiful building. I like the shape and feel of the room; I like that the colors are bold and yet blend well with one another; I like the shape of the cross that is prominently displayed in the center of the platform; I even like the smell of the place. The AV technology is state of the art. The narthex is gorgeous as well, with its high ceiling and cheerful skylights. Our God is a God of beauty. He created colors, textures and shapes. I believe He cares about the way things look, and personally I love the way our new sanctuary looks.

3) It is a testimony to the faithfulness of God. New Life came from very humble beginnings back in the early 1990s when it was planted by Pastor Mike Kelly and met in a local elementary school. After Mike’s departure, it was Pastor Tim Stigers who then led the church through its first building project, when our current sanctuary was constructed. I don’t know what those pastors and the original core group envisioned the church would look like in 2014, but here we are, getting ready to move into a second sanctuary that will seat about 450 people. God has been faithful. He has provided all that this congregation has needed. He has surprised us with his generosity. He has blessed us beyond what we deserve. This sanctuary is a testimony to the fact that God loves his people and the gates of hell will never prevail against his church.