Urban Mission Opportunity
I received this info in an e-newsletter and think it’s worth sharing in it’s entirety:
Paul Ave Baptist Church is located on the Southside of Jacksonville, FL in an industrial area near the intersections of University Blvd and Phillips Hwy. This church is located in the heart of Larsen, a very “economically and socially challenged” community and is led by Pastor Rickie Pittman.
This church went through the process of Church Revitalization about four years ago. This program consists of a one year commitment of several stronger churches “coming alongside” a weaker church and investing funds and ministry helps in seeking to either recover or strengthen the neighborhood church in ministering to their community.
This process resulted in Paul Avenue Baptist Church being turned into a “missional church” setting.
This new paradigm centers much of the energy and resources of the church back into the community.
They are currently in the process of changing their name to “Larsen Community Church” to reflect this change in their mission and purpose.
One of the ways Pastor Rickie is attempting to build relationships with the local residents of his community is by starting a “home rehab” ministry. The church rents a house in the community and offers free rent to the occupants of the house currently being rehabilitated.
On Thursday nights the church has an “activity night” for the children in the neighborhood. Pastor Rickie is currently playing football with a number of the young boys in the neighborhood attempting to build personal relationships with these boys and win them to Christ thorough this bridge into their lives.
Future plans call for “partnering” with the local elementary school adjacent to the church and assisting the teachers with school supplies for the children. This will afford an opportunity of not only building another bridge to the children in the community but also to the teachers and staff of this school.
Additional “community focused” ideas are discussed and explored on a regular basis.
Pastor Rickie is in need of some young couples or singles that would be willing to “go on short term mission” from their local church into a urban church setting to assist him in turning this neighborhood around for Christ.
What a wonderful opportunity this would afford any interested persons to practice “hands on ministry” and experience BEING THE CHURCH in addition to just going to church!!
For further information contact David Garrett at the Jacksonville Baptist Association, dgarrett@jaxbaptist.org or 904.727.6800.