Equipping home missions for gospel ministry
Dear Friend,
Seven. That’s the number of locations where Living Hope worshiped the living Savior before settling into our permanent worship facility. We worshiped in some of those locations only a couple of times and in others for a couple of years. COVID-19 disrupted many of our best-laid plans for planting a church in Chattanooga, Tenn. Thankfully we were able to adapt by utilizing the “Church in a Box” system.
“Church in a Box” is more like a “church in a trailer.” All of our audio-visual equipment, portable altar furnishings, Sunday school supplies, and staging, were rolled out of our trailer each Sunday and set up for worship. After worship and Bible study we’d then pack everything back up for next week.
About three and a half years after our grand opening, in 2021, God blessed us with a facility of our own. But even now we’re still using most of the equipment from our “Church in a Box” and have repurposed it for our permanent worship space. Last year, another new mission church started in our region (Christ the Rock in Canton, Ga.). Living Hope was able to gift them our trailer and some large portable storage containers that we no longer needed. It’s been great to see our “Church in a Box” system still being fully utilized between our two churches nearly six years after the initial purchase.
We were able to purchase our “Church in a Box” through a grant from the WELS Home Missions Equipment Fund. That single grant, which covered the whole purchase for Living Hope, has now made it possible for two mission congregations to hold worship services, and all of the equipment is still in use today. What a blessing!
Thank you for supporting WELS Home Missions with your prayers and offerings! If you’re looking for another great way to support our 100 Missions in 10 Years initiative, consider a gift to the Equipment Fund so other WELS church plants can have all they need to get started and, God-willing, serve their communities for many years to come. I think utilizing a “Church in a Box” system is one of the best ways we can be stewards of the resources with which God blesses our synod. Every dollar spent on a system like this is vital for new missions like Living Hope as they get started with planting a church.
Living Hope may have a permanent facility now but we’ve chosen to keep our mission spirit from those early days of being a mobile ministry. Instead of talking about our church facility as a fortress, we like to talk about it as a forward operating base. Our church isn’t a place where we seek refuge from the world but rather a place where the good news of Jesus refuels and equips us to go out and reach others with the message of “hope for every day” found in Christ.
Seven locations, one message. No matter where we worship, this is the same: “In [God’s] great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade” (1 Peter 1:3-4). Let’s work together as we mobilize to reach people with this living hope!
In Christ,
Pastor Eric Melso
Home Missionary, Living Hope, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Prayer: Lord God, we praise you for your grace that sought us while we were still sinners and cleansed us from our sins through faith in the saving work of Jesus. We rejoice to hear of people discovering this grace in new places served by our home mission congregations, such as Chatanooga, Tenn. Bless Pastor Eric Melso and the members at Living Hope as they use their gifts to serve their community. We also ask you, Lord, to guide all our WELS home missions efforts, including our goal of opening 100 new missions and enhancing 75 existing missions in ten years. Amen.
