“We love Pine Hills Church; we just wish it were closer to Kendallville.” Comments such as these, along with a conviction that Pine Hills Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, needs to be moving toward purposeful multiplication, have given birth to a new church planting initiative in Kendallville, Indiana. Meeting at North Side Elementary School at 302 E. Harding Street in Kendallville, this church plant is all about bringing people to Jesus, building Christians into disciples, and sending the disciples into ministry. “We aren’t coming to Kendallville to save the city,” says Marc Buwalda, church planter. “But there are needs in this community that aren’t being met, and God is calling us to meet them.”
To set the tone for the new church, the Pine Hills Kendallville launch team spent one Sunday in advance of the launch date serving in the community. Through this “Be the Church Sunday” event, in partnership with Bridgeway Evangelical Church, volunteers sang songs at nursing homes, gave food to hungry people, filled empty tanks with gasoline, and even paid for laundry detergent and washing cycles at the local laundry mat. “This was a great step for our launch team,” says Marc, “laying the groundwork for the kind of church we want to be—blessing the community in all kinds of ways.”
If the first Sunday is indication, Pine Hills Kendallville is on track to do just that. Launching on Sunday, November 8, Pine Hills Kendallville shot out of the gate with an amazing 308 people in attendance, including 58 children. Even better, three people made first-time commitments to Christ, with another 11 recommitting their lives to Him. “This is a great start,” says Marc, “but we can’t stop here. Bringing people to Jesus is just one part of our mission.” Mike Drury, Pine Hills lead pastor, agrees. “We don’t want Pine Hills Kendallville to be treated like a project,” he says. “Reproducing is embedded in our DNA here at Pine Hills Church. And so we’ll reproduce again. And again.”
In addition to planning for discipleship opportunities, Pine Hills Kendallville itself is already talking about how it can launch another church down the road, too. “No matter how big or small we are,” says Marc, “we want to build into our DNA from the very beginning that we need to be sending people into the community to minister and serve.” To learn more about the Pine Hills Kendallville initiative, or to offer your support, visit pinehillschurch.org/kendallville, or give Marc a call at 260.437.9047.
