Difficult travel creates need

By September next year, several LBC members will have a new church to call their home as they will be planting a new Berean church in North Lincoln. LBC Singles' Pastor Andy MacFarlane, who will lead the group as the senior pastor, said he hopes it will be "a lighthouse for North Lincoln and surrounding areas to encourage, equip and minister in the communities." Bryan Clark, senior pastor of LBC, said that as Lincoln continues to grow, the need to reach different communities will also grow. At this point, there is "a lot more community to reach than there are churches," he said. He also explained how north of Adams Street and west of 70th Street, few churches exist. As a result, many churchgoers in the area aren't involved in community churches, but commuting to a distant location. With the growth of the city, this creates some issues as far as outreach. In the past, going to church was easier because of less traffic and population, according to Clark. Now "there's no fast way to get to North Lincoln," he said. "The ability to travel from north to south has become dramatically more difficult." In other words, this church plant will give North Lincoln residents a more available option to attend church without being discouraged by travel. MacFarlane said the plan to reach North Lincoln will be through a church "focused on worship services and small groups." This will involve raising up LifeGroup leaders to maintain the importance of small groups. Although this is "different from starting from scratch," Clark said, "it's not unusual in this day and age to hive off" from an existing congregation to plant a new church. In this case, MacFarlane said, "We're just taking Lincoln Berean and going north." Clark explained the process as comparable to adopting a teenager. "You've got to be up and fired the first day." Whereas with adopting an infant, the parent will grow in understanding along with the infant as time progresses, he described. To prepare for the first day of adoption, MacFarlane said, "We want to have teams built, children's ministry and worship ready to go." September 2005 will give time to get ready, he said. By the end of summer 2004, MacFarlane expects to have five specific leadership positions filled. Those positions include Worship, Children's Ministry, Small Groups, Youth and Administrative Resources. In a rough timeline and schedule, in fall 2004 there will be a meeting for anybody interested in the plant, at which point the teambuilding will begin. "I hope to have teams ready to start for Sunday evening services in summer 2005," MacFarlane said. The first morning service is anticipated to begin the Sunday after Labor Day. MacFarlane said they set this goal because it is "ideal to plant a church in fall or at Easter. It's a high season for churches." September will offer nine months before the summer drop-off, as attendance is less than normal in the summertime. "Since we'll raise up leaders from Lincoln Berean," he said, it may be a challenge "asking them to leave something comfortable…something that is seemingly pretty secure. The key is finding right leaders to build teams." As this will contribute to depopulating Lincoln Berean, "the purpose has never been driven by space needs on this campus, but to reach North Lincoln," Clark said. He said, "We feel like right now, we can cover South Lincoln effectively." He even suggested the possibility of an East and West plant in the future, if needed. "That is why we are doing this during the campaign, he added. "We will have the space needs addressed, but that doesn't reach North Lincoln."