Portrait of a Church Replant - Entries written by Harvest Bible Fellowship

MonMondayJunJune22nd2009 Senior Pastor Announcement

Posted Monday, June 22 2009 @ 2 PM byHarvest Bible Fellowship Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

We are thrilled to announce that Kurt Gebhards has accepted the call to be the Senior Pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel Hickory. Kurt and his wife, Julie, have a strong sense of God’s call to shepherd this flock. They look forward to being with you this fall. [Read Kurt's bio, ministry philosophy, and recommendations.]

As of August 1 (his official start date), Kurt will spend 6-8 weeks in Chicago with the Fellowship. This time will encompass a condensed training in all aspects of Harvest Bible Chapel ministry in preparation for Kurt’s pastoral role, and will also enable him to work intently on your behalf while he is here.

Kurt will visit Harvest Hickory sporadically in August and September and begin preaching on a regular basis in October, when we hope to re-launch the church. Pulpit leadership will be directed by Harvest Hickory elders in the interim.

Last weekend's visit was a real joy. Harvest Bible Fellowship commends the entire church for the united way you reached out to Kurt and showed him the great potential Harvest Hickory has in helping to fulfill the Great Commission.

The Fellowship would also like to thank Pastor Leon for his steady hand of leadership throughout this season, along with Scott, and the rest of the staff for their tremendous work over the last year. They have remained focused on the work of the Lord and serving the church through a difficult time. Pastor Leon in particular has been a faithful servant in bringing the Word and shepherding the flock. Thank you, Leon.

So let’s praise the Lord together for His provision of a new senior pastor! Let us also continue to walk with Christ and work for Christ throughout the summer months as we rejoice with a renewed spirit and anticipation for the ministry season this fall.

ThuThursdayMayMay21st2009 Prayer for Our Plants

Posted Thursday, May 21 2009 @ 9 AM byHarvest Bible Fellowship Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Believing firmly in the power of prayer...

This, the third pillar of Harvest, both undergirds and overarches the flow of leadership decisions and ministry trajectories—and equally applies to the protecting and prospering of our church plants.

As part of a month-long missions emphasis, Harvest Rolling Meadows and the extension campuses of Elgin, Niles, and Crystal Lake spent the evening of May 13 in focused prayer, beseeching the Lord of the harvest on behalf of Harvest churches around the globe.

Nearly every Harvest Bible Chapel was represented by a video short of each senior pastor, sharing a snapshot of their church and specific requests to lift to the throne. And on all four "Big Harvest" campuses, they were—by some 2500 brothers and sisters in Christ!

And you're invited to join us—"meet" these pastors, get a feel for the breadth and depth of God's favor over the church planting mission of Harvest, and support them in prayer.

View their video clips at the Covering His Church blog or by clicking on the photo below...and keep an expectant eye open for the great and mighty ways He will answer.

With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel...

FriFridayMayMay8th2009

God at Work @ Harvest

Posted Friday, May 08 2009 @ 5 PM byHarvest Bible Fellowship Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

We were grateful for those that made it from Hickory to Illinois for this year's University, Harvest Bible Fellowship's annual conference for pastors and ministry leaders. We were specially blessed with a residual joy—the kind that comes from seeing the Lord Jesus glorified in session after session, workshop after workshop...in the open hearts of attenders and in the humble hearts of those who served.

For those of you who weren't there, we had well over 500 leaders from various churches around the country taking part in two-and-a-half days of high-octane worship and teaching, and generous fellowshiping as one body of many parts.

Representing God's favor and abundant fruitfulness throughout Harvest Bible Fellowship, were thirty-one Senior Pastors of Harvest Bible Chapels throughout North America and overseas, along with seven soon-to-be-planting Senior Pastors.

We'd love to share with you this sweeping view of the remarkable work Lord has done through the first twenty years of ministry at Harvest. Check out this video that kicked off the conference (courtesy of Harvest Oakville) and celebrate His goodness with us!

FriFridayAprApril10th2009 St. Vincent: A Harvest Preview

Posted Friday, April 10 2009 @ 12 PM byHarvest Bible Fellowship Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles chain of the Caribbean...and the future home of a Harvest Bible Chapel.

Graduates of Moody Bible Institute and Michigan Theological Seminary, Al and Debbie Blake, will be planting together with Harvest Bible Fellowship in St. Vincent. Currently, Al serves as Assistant Pastor at Harvest Canton in Michigan.

Native to the island, Al and Debbie are no strangers to Carib culture. After serving in multiple ministry outposts (with Ambassadors for Christ in St. Vincent and England, as Youth Chairman for the St. Vincent Baptist Convention and Assistant Pastor at Campden Park Baptist Church in St. Vincent), God led Al and Debbie to embark on a training mission in the U.S.

Woven throughout their experiences is story after story of God's faithfulness and provision in orchestrating His plan, and in moving what seemed to be impossible barriers to this new work. Today, Al and Debbie prepare to re-enter their homeland to plant a vibrant, life-giving work on the island.

Al, gifted both in communicating God's Word and leading in worship, is developing a core team to impact St. Vincent for Christ and plant a church fully committed to the pillars of Harvest. Check out a recent trip, in which the core team was encouraged and locations surveyed for the new church plant...

click to view video

Al says, "We are excited to return to the island to proclaim the message of hope...humbly using the tools with which God has equipped us by helping to train and encourage other pastors and laypersons who labor selflessly to spread the aroma of Christ around the island."

Completing their church-plant training at Harvest Bible Fellowship this summer, Al and Debbie have been blessed and built into by on-site training at Harvest Davenport in Iowa, and Harvest Canton. Lord willing, the Blake family is scheduled to return to St. Vincent on November 3.

Our desire is to see Jesus exalted and lives transformed by the power of the gospel in St. Vincent. Please join us in prayer to see this island nation proclaim the salvation found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved!

Pray specifically: for the developing launch team, a worship leader, a location for this new church plant...where, Lord willing, worshippers will soon gather in Spirit and in Truth.

"And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself" (John 12:32).

ThuThursdayAprApril2nd2009 God at Work in 2008

Posted Thursday, April 02 2009 @ 5 PM byHarvest Bible Fellowship Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Hickory, as you prepare to join the Harvest family, we'd invite you to rejoice with us over the unprecedented favor and fruitfulness God has poured out on the churches of Harvest Bible Fellowship in 2008...

Click for a larger image

WedWednesdayMarMarch25th2009 From One Chapel to Another...

Posted Wednesday, March 25 2009 @ 1 PM byHarvest Bible Fellowship Tagged transition 0 comments Add comment

Hickory Community Chapel is a non-denominational church in Hickory, NC. Known as “The Chapel” in those parts, it has been in existence for over 30 years, with over 400 attenders and a strong missional emphasis. Yet internal struggles and the loss of a pastoral team brought increasing challenges and an extended season of uncertainty.

Their elder team found it difficult to achieve unity
in establishing a clear vision for the future
and committed an evening to prayer, with many fasting.

That night spent on their knees, seeking the Lord’s forgiveness and pleading for wisdom to lead their body forward, was the turning point. It brought a unity and greater sense of humility for what God could do through imperfect men, willing to follow Him fully.

Shortly thereafter, the adult Sunday school listened to a message from Acts given by Pastor James MacDonald, that spoke of Harvest’s vision for church planting and transitioning. One elder commented that the latter idea could be a promising option for their church. Agreeing this may be God’s sovereign hand giving needed direction for the future, Hickory elders initiated discussions with Harvest Bible Fellowship. After additional prayer, fasting, and discussion, the concept was brought before the body.

The Fellowship’s Kent Shaw and Bill Molinari visited the congregation to pray with and for this church, answer questions, and describe what the transition process would look like, should they become a Harvest Bible Chapel. The body also committed to a 24-hour prayer and fasting vigil, through which God’s presence and unity were manifested, with the elder team in one accord commending the church transition.

A congregational meeting and vote to adopt the Harvest Bible Fellowship constitution and bylaws came next—not a minor matter for an established congregational church. On the meeting day, leadership members commented that the number of attendees was greater than for any vote that they could remember.

As the floor opened for questions, there was just one—pertaining to the transition timeline. When prompted for another question, there was silence...the body was ready to vote, displaying a spirit of unity this diverse group had not seen in years.

The outcome? 92% of attending members voted for the transition to become Harvest Bible Chapel Hickory—growing from one “Chapel” to another!

As this exciting process and work of God unfolds, join us in prayer (and tune in here for updates) over the weeks and months ahead.

Though the enemy would wish to undo this unified strength in Christ, Harvest Bible Fellowship and the congregation of Hickory walk forward together with confidence, “for he who is in [us] is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

Portrait of a Church Replant

A blog account of Hickory Community Chapel's 2009 transition process to become Harvest Hickory.

Portrait of a Church Replant - Entries written by Harvest Bible Fellowship

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