This past Sunday I gave a brief ministry moment on church planting in Pantops, Virginia.
Three years ago, Don wrote on my annual review, “I see senior pastor or church planter in your future.”
Last April he and I were talking and the possibility came up for Gina and I to attend MNA Church Planter Assessment. After a long application process including 4 different personality and marriage profiles and gathering 6 references for each of us, we spent a week at the MNA Assessment Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The Assessment center looks for the calling, character, and competency for church planting in a ministry couple. A team of seven assessors come to agreement on a rating by the week’s end. We came home with what we jokingly call their “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” meaning they fully recommended us for church planting. It was humbling to receive.
For the last year, I have had lunch with other pastors in the area and talked off and on about the possibility of what a church plant in Pantops might look like. At first I thought we were just dreaming around the lunch table. Then we started drawing ideas on napkins and placemats. Then I found myself dreaming about it. After the Assessment, I approached Don and the Session and turned those napkins into a presentation which they smiled upon. Don put us before the church planting committee of our Presbytery and they not only agreed to give us a call to plant in Pantops, but they are looking to give at least the first $39,000 (roughly 11% of what is needed) toward the project. They are looking to give more!
At this point, my time at GCC will begin to transition. I am still the assistant pastor at Grace Community Church, and happily so! I am still available to each and every one of you as I have been every day for the past five years. In fact, it is this congregation that has moved us to seek to plant in this area. We live in a unique place. We’re a small town with a worldwide impact. We’re a neighborhood just outside our nation’s capital that acts as a vacation destination, but also as a city where people come to seek the good life.
What is the good life? People come here hoping to find it. Right now, so many have come who have no religious affiliation at all. At least that’s what the census data indicates. Nearly 3 out of every 4 people you meet here are “nones” - they have no religious affiliation. How can you find the good life if you don’t know the Giver of Life himself? (Cf. John 10:10). Right here, right now, we have an opportunity to give people the good life when we give them the good news of Jesus Christ, our Creator and Redeemer.
There is more to say, but at this point I will leave you with two things. First, if you want to get on our mailing list and have up to date prayer and giving information then please email me (tag.tuck@cvillegrace.org). Second, plan to come to Foundations on February 19th and hear a greater explanation of our vision and plans for this church plant.
In the meantime, if you have any questions please get in touch.
In Him,
Tag