For all those who are members of Grace Church…

We are making some administration improvements!

By now you should have received an email regarding signing in to some “Gospel Software” program. Don’t fret, it’s from us and it offers the opportunity to create and update your own contact details, etc for you and your family on our church members directory.

Please fill it out ASAP. It will form part of the “Members Only Area” on our website, which will be (finally) launched soon!

If you didn’t receive an email it is because I (Nathan) don’t have yours on file, so please email me with it and we will create a user name for you on the directory.

Continuing our “Praying for Our Partners” series with Grace Community Church, of Ashburn, Virginia, USA.

See also: Part 1 and Part 2 – for further background.

I recently asked Bob Donohue and the pastors of Grace Community Church a few questions to give us some insight into how we can best pray for them as a church there in Ashburn.

Nathan:
“Can you describe for us the general state of people towards church and towards the gospel in Ashburn?”

Bob:
“An average number of families in Ashburn belong to Christian churches. There are also relatively large Mormon, Muslim and Hindu populations here, too. Much family time for Christians and non-Christians alike is spent taking children to organized sports. Non-Christians who live in Ashburn lack for nothing materially; thus, they are not quick to see a void in their lives.”

Nathan:
“Can you tell us about a significant area in the life of Grace Community Church where you’ve seen God at work, for which we can rejoice in and give thanks for?”

“Bob:
I think the church is most grateful for God’s grace found in the rich fellowship found within our caregroups, in the friendliness of the people who greet guests on Sunday mornings [Nathan: Which I can vouch for! When I visited the church to preach in April 2008 I was welcomed at the door and looked after brilliantly!] and the efficacy of the sound, biblical preaching and counsel. We are also especially grateful to God for our ministry to young adults, which is a very significant and growing group.”

Nathan:
“Can you share with us three specific prayer requests for Grace Community Church?”

Bob:
“Firstly, we need prayer for evangelism and outreach. There’s a lot of materialism and self-sufficiency in Ashburn and we serve in many ways, but we’re ever on the lookout to do more for the community.

Thirdly, we could use discernment and provision in financial areas and in our future hopes for land/building.”

Nathan:
“Guys, thanks for taking the time out to provide us with the information about Grace Community Church, and for providing us with fuel for prayer. We delighted to be able to partner with you in the work of the gospel!”

We will be praying for Grace Community Church during our church prayer meeting on Sunday evening (7pm) 26th April 2009.

The audio for the Sovereign Grace Pastor Conference 2009 is now available on-line if you are interested.

You can listen to, or download the messages (& notes for seminars) from here.

Continuing our “Praying for Our Partners” series with Grace Community Church, of Ashburn, Virginia, USA.

A bit about the church.
In the summer of 2001, 38 adults and their children were commissioned and sent out from Sovereign Grace Church of Fairfax to begin a new work in Ashburn, Virginia. For the sending congregation, this had been a dream for more than a decade as they watched neighboring Loudoun County swell in population and longed for a New Testament Church to be established there.

The first public service was held in September 2001 at Cedar Lane Elementary School. Since then they’ve outgrown the Cafeteria and Auditorium, and moved to Briar Woods High School. By the grace of God, they’ve multiplied from just two Caregroups to fourteen.

The church now stands at about 250 adults (almost half of whom are aged between 18-30) and approximately 110 children and 40 teenagers. The average gathering on any given Sunday morning is around 385 people.

The pastoral team has proportionally expanded as the Lord has so graciously added to the church. There are now 5 pastors at Grace Community Church:

From left-to-right:

Brian Gash is a pastor and administrator and has served since 2005. He is responsible for administration of all office and ministry teams. He also oversees children’s ministry and the youth group and supports the Family Life ministry by counseling, overseeing caregroups, and helping to lead members classes.

Kirk Whitworth has been a pastor since June 2008. He preaches, currently oversees the worship team, and oversees the Protos ministry for young adults, including caregroups for engaged and young married couples.

Bob Donohue, the Senior Pastor, has served since the inception of the church in September 2001. He is responsible to lead the pastoral team in discerning and setting forth God’s direction for the church, as well as preaching, leadership development, and oversight of the Sunday meeting.

Zach Jones has been on staff as a pastoral intern since 2004. He is currently enrolled in Pastors College. His prime responsibilities have been overseeing the youth ministry and the worship team, which he will likely resume when he graduates from PC.

Tito Mercado, the Family Life pastor, has served since 2002. He oversees caregroups, counseling, marriages, parenting, and membership. He also oversees the church finances.

Next time… how we can support and pray for Grace Community Church.

See also: Grace Community Church (Part 1) – for further background.

Next up in our “Praying for Our Partners” series is Grace Community Church, of Ashburn, Virginia, USA.

A bit about Ashburn & Virginia
Mid-Atlantic east coast state, Virginia – nicknamed ‘The Old Dominion’ – is the 10th state of the USA, covering 40,767 square miles and has a state population of over 6 million people.

Ashburn is in the northern part of the state, 30 miles west of Washington, DC in Loudoun County, between Washington Dulles International Airport and Leesburg and is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area.

Ashburn is a completely new town, with a sea of houses having sprung up in the last 15 years. The surrounding countryside is fairly flat and grassy, with some rolling hills and an abundance of hardwood and evergreen tress.

The area experiences the full range of all four seasons. Summers can be hot and humid, and winters have an average temperature of -1°C. They get plenty of snow, maybe 40cm in the winter!

Ashburn has a population that numbers approximately 70,000 people, the majority “professional” couples and families, under the age of 60. Relatively few people from the Washington Metropolitan Area are native to the area. Most people come from states with flagging economies to enjoy high-tech, wite collar jobs or jobs with the US government.

Ashburn is home to the Washington Redskins football team, the National Crash Analysis Center and the Old Dominion Brewing Company and AOL.

Virginia is the birth place of no less than 8 US presidents, and the home of the world’s largest office building – the Pentagon, in Arlington, VA.

Famous sons and daughters of Virginia include Edgar Allan Poe, Patsy Cline, Ella Fitzgerald, Warren Beatty and Sandra Bullock.

Next Post: Specifics on Grace Community Church.

As you know, Grace Church is part of a wider family of churches, led by CJ Mahaney (pictured right), known as Sovereign Grace Ministries.

As you should also know, we enjoy the privilege of gathering together twice per month on Sunday evenings to pray for our church, and our gospel mission in this fair city of Bristol. We also want to grow in praying for other churches and other nations.

So, continuing on Sunday 26th April 2009, we going to be taking some time out during our prayer meeting to highlight and pray for one of our “sister” Sovereign Grace Churches.

It’s a great way for us to connect to our wider mission and partnership being part of Sovereign Grace, and its great for us to support other churches, praying for God’s grace, strength, favour and kindness upon those we will probably never meet this side of heaven.

The week before the prayer meeting, we’re going to be highlighting one church here on the blog, providing some background information about the church – where they are, bit of church history, a who’s who, etc… and then we’ll be handing out some pointers during the prayer meeting to help us pray effectively!

All this week we will be focusing on, and praying for: Grace Community Church in Asburn, Virginia.

Previous churches we have prayed for:
CrossWay Fellowship Church, Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3