Why Liberty Village?
People sometimes ask how we decided to plant a church in Liberty Village. There are a few ways to answer that question.
I sometimes say that this community met the three criteria we had set: downtown, growing, and with no churches. I sometimes say that people kept asking, "Have you thought of Liberty Village?" Our church planting director asked me to choose a community, even if I changed my mind, and when I told him Liberty Village he said, "I never told you this, but when you first mentioned planting in Toronto, Liberty Village is the neighborhood that came to my mind as the place I hoped you would plant!"
But here is the real reason why I believe we're planting in Liberty Village.
A year ago in June I received an email from Cely, an administrator in one of our local churches. She had heard about our church planting efforts. Cely and her mother Fely, a senior, live right on the edge of Liberty Village. Fely's English is limited, but for years she had been handing out evangelistic material in the neighborhood. Together, they had been praying for the advance of the gospel in Liberty Village.
There are lots of ways to explain why we chose Liberty Village, but one of the best ways to state it is this: I believe we're in Liberty Village because of the prayers of these two women.
I'm so grateful for the prayers of Cely and Fely. They prayed this church into existence. We need more like them.
Two Practical Ways to Help
This is a busy time for us. We have a community BBQ this Saturday, a Farmers Market on Sunday, and we’re participating in the Liberty Village Art Crawl in September. Our Launch Community is meeting weekly, and we’re ramping up for a preview service, and our public launch on September 28. We’re working on a series of postcards that we’re sending out to the entire community for three weeks in September inviting them to our first official service.
There are two very practical things you can do to help.
- Would you pray for us? Psalm 127:1 is constantly on our minds: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” Please pray for the advance of the gospel in Liberty Village. Please pray that God would grant us boldness. Pray for Nathan as he gets established. I can’t emphasize this enough: we need your prayers!
- If you haven’t done so already, would you partner with us financially? We need partners who will support us financially for the next two to three years. Every dollar counts as we establish this ministry. The apostle Paul, a church planter, wrote, “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit” (Philippians 4:17). This is amazing: if you financially support the planting of a church, you will receive credit for the lives that are changed through the power of the gospel. Incredible!
We are so grateful for your support. We couldn’t do this without you.
Let Us Know How We Can Pray for You
“Partnership” is not one-sided. We pray for our partners. If there is anything we can do to encourage you, or anything that we can keep in our prayers, we’d love to hear from you! Just drop us a line.
Until next month, Darryl on behalf of the Liberty Grace Church team