Ministry: 2019 Reflection (Part II)

One week before our official launch, Ecclesia held its first service at John Witherspoon Middle School. The day began at eight in the morning with the unloading of our trailer, unpacking of boxes, and setting up of banners, tables, speakers, and all the things needed to launch a church. Altogether, we utilized three spaces at JWMS: a foyer, a classroom, and an auditorium. The foyer became a lobby that hosted a welcome table littered with branded mugs and apparel, a coffee station with a single origin from Penstock Roasters, and a children’s ministry check-in counter. The classroom, which was adjacent to the foyer, housed our children’s ministry. The auditorium transformed into a sanctuary with the setting up of a wooden end-table that had become our altar.

But it did not feel like we were building a church inside of a middle school. Sure, we all arrived at a middle school in the morning and left a middle school in the afternoon. But in-between our coming and going—once everything was setup and ready for service—JWMS faded into the background as this place became the brick and mortar of a church. It wasn’t that we covered up the work of JWMS students that lined the walls of the foyer, or that we plastered every square inch of the space with Ecclesia logos (although, we did have quite a few banners…). Rather, it was both the identity of those present and our general disposition to the purpose of and relationship to the physical structure in which we met. We had almost settled into being a church always on the move; we hadn’t yet been defined by a singular space. So, we were adaptable and persistent and courageous. JWMS became Ecclesia Church in the launch team’s expression of these characteristics, in their devotion and sacrifice, in their sleepy setup of the stuff of the church.

And just like that, this middle school in central New Jersey became a place in which God was worshipped on Sunday mornings, for Ecclesia Church officially launched there on April 14th, 2019. We welcomed around one-hundred people on Launch Sunday, filling the sanctuary of this brand-new church with worship through song, scripture reading, preaching, and communion. The service opened with the singing of “King of My Heart” and a reading from Psalm 118. Ian and Courtney then welcomed the congregation and outlined the shape of our liturgy before we sang “This I Believe,” “Whole Heart,” and “All the Poor and Powerless.” Ian preached on servant leadership as it is written about in Philippians 2:5-11. Finally, we sang “What a Beautiful Name” as we broke bread and drank wine (grape juice, actually). The service closed with a benediction and an invitation to the launch party, which immediately proceeded the service.

I was overcome with a deep sense of hope as I led worship on Launch Sunday. Gabrielle and I had joined Ecclesia just eight months prior; but as I was one of only two paid staff persons, I felt that I owed my utmost commitment to this thing that was fully and faithfully (and finally) happening. By joining Ian on staff, I had proclaimed my belief in Ecclesia’s vision, my faith in the assurance of things hoped for, and my conviction of things not seen. As such, what a blessing it was to participate in and witness this church’s metamorphosis from an idea to a reality.

Now that we had a place to call home, Ecclesia began to see a steady uptick in our population and involvement. Prior to Launch Sunday, the launch team had grown to about thirty; at the time of this writing, we are now a church of about seventy-five. We have a growing team that is willing to help with setup and teardown, worship and liturgy, children’s ministry, and Community Group hosting. We are able to distribute the weight of a developing church’s duties and responsibilities to a core of volunteer leaders and interns. All of this played a major role in my transition from part-time to full-time ministry. But I don’t want to get ahead of myself!

Celebration and growth define Ecclesia at its launch and in the time immediately thereafter. We rejoiced in God’s faithfulness, and asked God to help us with all of the work we had yet to do. Ecclesia wanted to grow inwardly through formation, outwardly as evangelists, and upwardly in worship. As we worked towards these goals, we compensated for our lack of establishment and experience with a gift of being able to name and emphasize the good in our church family and culture.

In my next post, I’ll *finally* get to the close of my time as a part-time pastor-in-residence and my transition to full-time ministry as the Associate Pastor of Worship & Operations. Thanks for reading!

If you would like to learn more about my work with Ecclesia Church, please visit our website.

Blessings, Tom Dearduff