Church Plant Launches in Mechanicsburg, PA, USA
An update from Jeremy Hetrick, Lead Pastor of Redeeming Grace Church, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, USA...
On Sunday, August 27, 2023, Ben Kreps and Living Hope Church in Middletown, Pennsylvania (PA), commissioned and sent out my family and I, along with approximately 100 other adults and children to launch Redeeming Grace Church in Mechanicsburg, PA. It was a joyous yet teary occasion as members and friends who, for years have done life together at Living Hope, said their good-byes for the sake of Jesus Christ and the gospel mission in the Mechanicsburg region. While we still live within about a half hour, we all recognized the cost of going on this church plant and being on mission for Jesus.
We (Redeeming Grace Church) held our inaugural meeting the following week at Elmwood Academy in Mechanicsburg on Sunday, September 3rd, with 190 in attendance. Now, after two months of meetings, we have seen many new guests from various cultural backgrounds and walks of life, and our attendance has hovered around 140.
Over the course of our summer pre-launch meetings, we had several new families join our church plant journey. Because of this, we held a new members class (Explore) in October, which was attended by 14 individuals. It is simply a joy to see how God is bringing people to RGC and to see their desire to be a part of what God is doing here.
As I type this update, I am so grateful to God for a number of reasons…
First, it is hard to explain the privilege that it is to represent Jesus Christ and the gospel mission in this church plant. We began RGC with a study of the Gospel of Mark, and already, Jesus is revealing how precious He is and how amazing His gospel is for us. And we get the opportunity to share this amazing news with others?!!! Additionally, as a church, we get to express a warmth and joy in interacting with our guests that reflects gospel grace. And what a blessing it has been to talk with our guests to find out that this is their experience!
Second, I am grateful to God for the sacrifices that Living Hope Church has made to enable this church plant to occur. What a picture of the gospel at work! Please join us as we pray often for an outpouring of God’s provision and faithfulness to Living Hope so that they are strengthened, and they can plant more churches!
Third, I am grateful to God for our Sovereign Grace family. Space does not permit me to share the totality of the blessings and support we have received from all of you. Thank you for your financial support through the church planting grant, the process for knowing how to plant a church (including the cohort), and the relational support from pastors and churches in both the Lower Great Lakes Region and the Northeast Region.
Most significantly, thank you Sovereign Grace for the investment made in us over the years to ensure we are founded on the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you, C.J., and all of the leaders who have gone before us in establishing our group of churches on the foundation of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. May we never lose our grip on the gospel, and may we plant more churches to be gospel lighthouses in the days ahead for God’s glory!
If you would like to pray for us, please pray that:
God would continually enlighten the eyes of our hearts by His Spirit so that we can see Jesus more clearly with eyes of faith and treasure Him and His gospel above all other things.
God would continue to keep drawing us closer as a church and we would have a strong corporate witness among the community and region. May our church be marked by love and gospel humility for God’s glory!
God would provide open doors for the gospel in our community, and we would be clear in our communication of it (Col. 4:2-4).
God would bless the efforts we are making in the discipleship of men. My prayer is that we would grow in being gospel men of conviction.
God would provide clarity and success in the identification, training, and raising up of other men for future leadership at all levels, including church planters!
God would grant to RGC the vision, faith, and success to be a church planting church in 5-10 years in partnership with Sovereign Grace!
Soli Deo Gloria!
