Hope Fellowship - 4 month update

I wanted to provide a 4 month update on Hope Fellowship. Although we are still in "soft launch" phase, the Lord has been very gracious. Jim Elam and Ted Smith are serving as elders. Although Ted Smith will continue to teach the bulk of the lessons in 2012, he has created a teaching team of four men who will share the teaching responsibilities in the new year. A small group from Dallas Christian College has been faithful to help lead us in worship (the exceptions being travel and holidays). We continue to meet at the World Impact center on Sunday afternoons at 3pm. We are averaging 23 people in attendance with 35% of those in attendance being people from the Fair Park community. We continue to do prayer walks on Friday mornings and we have one home group meeting on Wednesday nights.

Signs of life:
1.) Average of 23 people in Sunday worship (35% from the community)
2.) Walking with people who without us would have no church community
3.) Several of the youth have participated in the service (reading scripture)
4.) Community folks are beginning to consider Hope Fellowship their church
5.) Our church plant team remains committed to our goals and objectives

Although still in our "soft launch" phase, our youth leaders have been driving youth to the church for worship and we have seen a good group in attendance when rides are available and consistent. The folks at Champions of Hope (a local mentoring ministry in south Dallas) have encouraged youth and parents who live in south Dallas to check out Hope Fellowship. We have been making an effort to use Young Life as a way to meet students and build relationships. Our outreach at the Rosemont Apartments in November was a good time of meeting people in the neighborhood. Se we continue to get the word out but face two significant challenges.

Major Challenges:
1.) Meeting at 3pm on Sunday afternoon
2.) Meeting at the World Impact Center a good mile from the community

Our location and the time of our service are huge road blocks to our progress. We are up against televised sports (other Sunday afternoon activities) and we are too far off the beaten path for people from the community to get to us without a shuttle system. Ideally, we want to be in the neighborhood. We want to walk out to the facility and see people not abandoned warehouses and/or lofts. Of course, we want more than a place to gather for worship. Ideally, a location that will serve as a ministry center out of which we minister to the community 7 days a week is our desire. As a diverse church finding a blended style of worship that will connect with everyone is another significant hurdle.

Minor Challenges:
3.) Finding a worship style and leaders that can connect with the community
4.) Working with people with no real sense of church as community

I mentioned before and will say again that a small group of folks from Dallas Christian College have been faithful to lead us in worship most Sundays. We are extremely grateful for them. However, we are all limited to some extent by our talents and culture. We are all seeking ways we can incorporate various worship styles in our gatherings. Although our people are always very gracious with the best we can do in terms of worship style, it is our heart to create a worship experience that truly connects with our community and diverse congregation.

Prayer Requests: (That the Lord will provide)

• A meeting location closer to Fair Park
• More (and diverse) worship leaders
• Bless our teaching team as we preach the Word weekly
• Guide us on our prayer walks (Friday mornings)
• Open hearts as we reach out into the community
• Continue to send workers into south Dallas
• Ability to build genuine relationships with those we serve

For God's Glory in the City,
Ted Smith | Lead Pastor

Juan Pablo and Sol Herrera serve the Hispanic community. They planted Iglesia del Maestro five years ago in south Dallas. They have recently launched a second campus in Vickery. Learn More

Hope Fellowship launched on August 28, 2011. Learn More