A Particular Church

This is old news to most of you who know us in real life, but since I occasionally use this blog to chronicle our ministry life, I certainly couldn't let this quietly slip by.

Three years ago, Danny was called to serve as the church-planting pastor of New Beginnings Bible Fellowship Church. At the time, this group of around 35 believers was meeting and worshiping in a newly-leased office suite in Woodbury Heights, NJ (to read more about the history of New Beginnings, see this post).

Today, by the grace of God, this Body has grown to an average attendance of 115 on Sunday mornings and is ready to take on a fully, self-supporting role. To that end, at the BFC's annual conference in April, our church was recognized and received into our denomination as a "particular church" (as opposed to a "mission church").

We had a group of 40 church members travel two and a half hours to the Pocono Mountains where the conference is held. It was a poignant evening as we celebrated what the Lord has done, not only with our church but also through a fellow mission church that was also received into the denomination that night.







Then, on May 15, we held a chartering and installation service at New Beginnings where a group of 175 people--consisting of BFC pastors, church members, friends, and family--gathered to praise the Lord for His faithfulness to us in the past, as well as to encourage us as we look toward the future. Our church hosted a lovely reception after the service at a local catering hall and it was so much fun catching up with old friends and meeting some new ones, too!











It's amazing to look back and see all that God has accomplished in three short years--not just in the life of our church but in our personal lives, as well. I don't have the words to adequately describe all that we've learned, witnessed, and experienced, but I will say that it's been an awesome adventure. Danny & I had no idea what we were in for three years ago when he accepted the call to New Beginnings; we left the stability of a staff position at an established church--living minutes from family and friends I had known all my life--to move to NEW JERSEY (ha!) due to an unmistakable calling we felt the Lord clearly leading us to. I am immensely proud of my husband for his integrity and conviction as he leads this church but especially for his devotion to our family, first, as we seek to glorify God through our marriage and in our parenting.

Thank you, New Beginnings, for loving, encouraging, and most of all, serving the Lord alongside of us. The last three years have been incredible but we know the best is yet to come!