A different way of Missions. A different way of Church Planting.
The narrative of ministry in New England is not one of despair, but of overwhelming opportunity.
God is doing big things through small churches.
We want you to be a part of it.
There are many good places that a church can put their mission budget towards, and ministries they can partner with. But as you consider the Great Commission mandate in Matthew 28, where is the most strategic place you could direct your missional efforts and resources?
We want to encourage you to answer that question by committing to the spread of the gospel among “unreached people groups.” What determines a UPG? An Unreached People Group is most often classified as a group of people that are 2% or less evangelical Christian. Internationally these would be places located in the 10/40 window.
“There are people in your church God is calling to Missions. But, they don’t feel called to go overseas. So where do they go? What if your church had a plan and a place for them?”
But what about our own country? Are there any UPG’s in the US? Well, it may be difficult to believe, but there actually are. In the United States all six states of New England have been classified as a UPG. Statistically speaking, this means that you have a better chance of meeting a Christian and hearing the gospel in the country of India, than you do in the states of New England.
What’s particularly concerning to us is that in the past almost twenty years, among a population of over 250,000 people in the south coast region of Massachusetts, the North American Mission Board has been able to only plant one church in our area. While there are many factors that have contributed to this reality, one of the main reasons is that the cities of New Bedford/Fall River are poor-working class cities. This creates unique challenges and hardships for new churches. It is because of these hardships that less than 1% of church planting in the US is being done among the poor-working class populations.
Where generational poverty exists, crime will be high, drug & alcohol addiction extensive, abuse & neglect present, and mental health issues widespread.
But make no mistake, there is something special and beautiful about our cities. There is a rich sense of community, family and loyalty. It just might look different than yours.
We want to ask you to help us change this narrative. The mission field of New England, and more specifically the area of New Bedford/Fall River, is bursting with gospel opportunity. The Lord has been at work in New England for a long time, and He has caused much growth to occur. People are open to the gospel. Opportunities for evangelism, discipleship, church planting, and church revitalization abound.
However, we are in short supply of laborers to bring in the harvest. Establishing healthy churches in forgotten places takes lots of Christians all working together. When we plant and revitalize churches, we do so with teams that consist of Pastors, Elders, Gospel Workers, Interns, and most importantly… Church Members.
This model of establishing churches is by far the most healthy and sustainable way of developing a new kingdom work. But it’s also the most challenging model because it requires many Christians.
It’s this challenge that has led to the development of Neighborhood Churches, a ministry of Grace Harbor Church | New Bedford. Just like God has called men and women to take the gospel to the nations as they have been doing since Pentecost, we believe that this is still the primary means that God wants to use to reach the lost in our own streets.
“So many churches are like overstocked ponds. They have lots of mature believers, swimming around in circles thinking they are small fish in a big pond. But when they are transferred to a small pond, they suddenly realize they have lots to offer and that God desires to use them.”
We are aware how crazy and grand this sounds. We’ve been told by many that it’s a “Pipe Dream,” rather than a missional pipeline.
What is it we are trying to accomplish exactly? We are attempting to redefine the average church’s understanding of Missions, while at the same time helping small churches in forgotten places multiply to reach the lost.
It’s been our experience that in many ways there is a fundamental misunderstanding of the Great Commission. We believe that every single church can help raise up, train, and send out missionaries with a little bit of help.
This is exactly what Neighborhood Churches wants to do with your church. In partnership together, we want to develop a pipeline for your church to identify, train, and send missionaries to New England. We also want to help your church play it’s part in the Great Commission mandate by providing the necessary tools and opportunities for your church to assist in planting new churches. For too long we have resorted to sending checks for the sake of keeping our hands clean. God has called all of us to be active in His mission.
Can your church raise up a missionary? Can your church plant another church? We believe these things are possible for your church in partnership with Neighborhood Churches.
For far too long our concept of missions has been reduced to “sending a check,” or reserved for “sending elite Christians.”
We believe that normal believers who strive for daily faithfulness can make an enormous missional impact.
“Neighborhood by neighborhood is how we reach the lost in our cities. We move into the neighborhood, we walk it’s streets, play at it’s parks, and value all that it has to offer… while at the same time working towards what Christ would have it to become.”
The end goal is to see neighborhood churches being established and led by indigenous people from our city. But for that dream to become a reality we need your help.
Our heart is to see the people who live in our cities have access to gospel-exalting neighborhood churches that reflect the communities that they are in, one day being led by indigenousness leaders.
We are committed to establishing gospel-exalting churches in neighborhoods and communities that are overlooked, forgotten, and are the least likely to have new churches planted in them.
It’s for these reasons that we would like to ask your church to prayerfully consider “Cooperating” with Neighborhood Churches in a meaningful way by initiating a robust Kingdom-minded partnership.
Our invitation to you is to come and see the gospel need and opportunities that are abundant in our cities. Then to give not only mission dollars, but mission energies to making disciples among the unreached. And then lastly, to consider laboring alongside of us for years and generations to come.
We can do more together than we can apart.
