Pastoral Reflection 9.6.15
City on a Hill is Five!
CoaH is five and like most five year olds we’re a lot of fun but definitely don’t have everything figured out. We have made some mistakes, learned a lot, and have seen God move in some great ways over the last five years.
It was mid 2010 when a group of seventeen adults covenanted together to form City on a Hill Church. A few weeks later that group, along with a few dozen other core people, launched a Sunday morning worship gathering in the Driscoll Elementary School in Washington Square.
Even early on, community and service were important at CoaH. We had never set up a gym before and didn’t have a routine like we do now. All of the covenant members committed to help with set up and tear down for the first eight weeks of gatherings. Every Sunday our members were the first to arrive and the last to leave. Once we developed a process, these members became the first “setup coordinators.” While the members were incredibly faithful to come each week they were all glad to join their community groups to help set up on a rotation. Today, each CG continues the practice of periodically helping on setup and teardown as a way to serve together for the good of the church.
Throughout our five years as a church, our community groups have been central to everything we are as a church. These groups have been a context for countless hours of prayer, discipleship, sharing Christ, and sharing life. Lifelong friendships, renewed marriages, new Christians, deeper walks with Christ, encouragement and much more have come out of our community groups.
As we now see hundreds of people worshiping Jesus, walking in community, serving our city, and making the name of Christ known, it is hard to miss how God has moved among our body. Yet, at the same time, God has helped us to be outwardly focused on his kingdom. We have been able to plant or partner with half a dozen church plants in the Boston area and give over $100,000 to church planting and global missions.
I don’t share all of this to point to how great we are but how great our God is. Five years ago there was only a core group with a vision for Jesus’ name to be big in Brookline. Today, we see God has moved to bring that vision to fruition in so many ways. If we will continue to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, cling to the truth of His Word, pray with a true dependence on God, and seek to love each other and our city, I can only imagine what God will do in the next five years and beyond. I’m looking forward to seeing what God has next for City on a Hill.
Love you all,
Pastor Bland