IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT RE: ELEMENT CHURCH

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT RE: ELEMENT CHURCH

Unfortunately, due to the amount of snow we received in Millvale last night, we have to cancel our service tomorrow, February 7th, as well as our Super Bowl party on Sunday night at Mr. Small's.

 There are several contributing factors including power & heating at Mr. Small's, the roads in Millvale and the possibility that they may still not be clear in the morning, and parking...since there is nowhere to put the snow in order to open up spaces!

Therefore, Element Church is planning on attending the 11 AM service  at Allison Park Church together tomorrow morning!  We will plan on meeting in the lobby area around 10:45 AM near the Nursery windows, and then going in to find seats together.

After church, several of us are planning on going out to get something to eat together at the Chinese Buffet in Allison Park (Rt. 8), so if you're able, why not hang out for lunch with us! 

As always, canceling a service does offer us a challenge, because many of the expenses of the church are still present.  So, let me encourage you to continue to give to Element Church this week!  (By the way...last week's offering was AMAZING -- the highest since our preview services!  Thanks for your generosity, and for your obedience to God with your giving!)  We have several ways that you can continue to give, even though we won't be meeting at Mr. Small's this week:

1. Give in the offering at Allison Park Church, but put it in an envelope and mark it for Element Church.  Also, if you write a check, you can still make it out to Element Church, just like you would if we met at Mr. Small's.
2. You can hand it to me directly, either at church or at the restaurant if you're only able to meet us for lunch, and I will make certain it gets turned in.
3. You can give online this weekend by going to the MCM Website.  Click on the "GIVE" tab at the top of the page, and anything that comes in over the weekend will be given to Element Church.  If you want to give online later in the week, let me know, and I will tell them to be looking for a donation for Element Church at that time.
4. Lastly, you can always mail a check to Element Church at this address:  P.O. Box 5863, Pittsburgh, PA  15209.

As always, thanks for your commitment & dedication to being and becoming a GREAT CHURCH in Millvale!  I love worshipping with you guys every week, and I hope to see you tomorrow.  If not, know this... 

 NEXT WEEK @ ELEMENT CHURCH 

IS GOING TO BE AWESOME, 

SO BRING SOMEONE!!!

Countdown to LAUNCH!!!

Element Church held it's final monthly preview service on Sunday, July 19th, and what a great day it was!

The day before the service, we had about 220 people from Allison Park Church, The Crave (the young adult group from Christian Life Assembly in Camp Hill, PA), and Element Church who served our community in so many ways for MPACT Millvale Day. It has been so rewarding to hear reports from many different sources about lives that were touched in our community. THANK YOU to everyone who came to care for our neighbors, and to let Millvale know that God cares about them, and that so does Element Church! You guys are the BEST!

What was even more rewarding, was the influx of guests we received at our July monthly preview service at Element Church. One new friend from Millvale named John seemed to really connect with us. After the service, he jumped right in to help out with our tear-down team. I encouraged him to come and join our Street Team on Thursdays, and to make sure to invite any friends and family that he had. John informed me that he was new to the area, and that he didn't really have any friends here, but that he really liked the idea of being a part of us. John began that day very alone in the world, but left that afternoon knowing that he was part of our family!

I think that's one of the things that excites me about serving in Millvale. I don't mean that I enjoy the pain that so many people experience in their daily lives, but rather the God we have the opportunity to introduce them to who meets them in the midst of that pain. For so many people, their view of God has been one that has left them with feelings of emptiness or unfair judgement by a "celestial cop" who is looking for them to mess up. We have the opportunity to introduce them to a God who loves them unconditionally, and who has gone to incredible lengths to reach out to them! Don't you love that???

As far as the service itself, I am continually blessed to think about the team that God has assembled to serve at Element Church. They are the most committed and dedicated servant-minded individuals I know! Every time we meet, they do all they can to prepare a venue for people to come near to God, and they do it with such excellence!

As I finish this post, I am so grateful for the journey that has brought us to this point. A journey that began with a handful of people who believed in serving an area of Pittsburgh that so many people overlook. A journey that began with those people hoping to do something that would leave a mark on a town. A journey that would begin with serving like Jesus would, by going to serve whoever was in need. And lastly, a journey that would look to the future and instead of seeing a that was, would believe in a town that would be forever changed by Jesus. Get ready, Millvale...Element Church is here to stay!

The preview services are over, and that means one thing...IT'S GO TIME!

ELEMENT CHURCH'S GRAND OPENING

AUGUST 16, 2009

DON'T MISS IT!!!

MPACT Millvale Day

This weekend was AMAZING! I am so incredibly grateful to all of the groups from Allison Park Church, The Crave, and everyone from Element Church who were a part of the day of service in Millvale. Thank you all for serving our community!

So much was accomplished, including cleaning up some empty lots, general clean-up of the town, a firemen & police BBQ, free car wash, sprucing up the community park, affixing decals over the community drainage systems, and much more!

Enjoy the following video featuring some photos taken throughout the day!

MPACT Millvale Video from Element Church on Vimeo.

Got Purpose???

Still trying to figure out what's next in life? Looking for God's direction? Want to join the adventure of learning how to grow deeper in God, and how to use that knowledge in practical ministry opportunities? Interested in pouring your life out to see churches planted, and lives changed for God during what could be the most exciting year of your life?

Well, this might be your day!

The MCM Ministry School at Allison Park Church is accepting applications for next year.

Pastor Jeff has detailed exactly what the ministry school is on his blog, but I'll tell you what it has meant to me, as a guy who is planting a church in Pittsburgh: VALUABLE TEAM MEMBERS!

Students from the ministry school have been so helpful in serving the people of Millvale, and will continue to be a valuable source of help in serving our town. They have served us by building relationships with kids in our children's outreaches, distributing information about events, and by praying hard-core for our efforts.

To be honest, I have loved seeing what the ministry school has done in supporting Element Church. The students have been so helpful in helping us to make an impact on Millvale, and I look forward to seeing more ways we can work together in the future.

Want to help me plant a unique church in Pittsburgh? Give a year of your life to the mission of reaching souls in Pittsburgh, get trained at the ministry school, and let's build a great church together!

The Birth of a Church

Wow...what a week!  Sunday was the culmination of a flurry of activity in Millvale, by both the launch team, and by APEX, the young adult group from Allison Park Church.

APEX spent most of Thursday serving Millvale, and I can't say enough thanks for all that they did to help with our efforts in serving this community!  The day started with them hosting a party for some of the residents at the Personal Care Home on Evergreen Road.  Then after lunch, they made way to the future site of the Millvale Library to help with some demolition work on their new building.  (I really love the vision the leader of the library, Brian has for this project.  Millvale Matters & Element Church will stay involved in helping them as they move forward!)  

After working all afternoon at the library, APEX spread the word about our first service by hanging door hangers on 1,000 homes in Millvale.  Thanks to Dave Santistevan & APEX, for all of your efforts to show Milvale that they are important to our God!

While APEX was distributing all of the door hangers, the Element Church launch team was holding our final weekly meeting before our first monthly Sunday service.  Friday and Saturday consisted of worship band rehearsals, and last-minute planning meetings to make certain we were ready for every detail of our Sunday service.  

Then came Sunday...

The band met at the church at 7:30 AM to get set up, while the rest of the team arrived at about 8:30 AM.  It was so great to see the way everyone worked together to be ready for our guests.  Older members of our team worked side-by-side with the young, to create a welcoming environment.  EVERYONE did such an incredible job!

At 10:30 am, after a brief opening video, the band exploded onto the stage in worship, and Element Church was live!  I don't know how long it had been since a church occupied that building in the past, but what I do know is that in that instant, God flooded the room with His presence!  

I must say that one of the most rewarding things was seeing all of our teams working so well together to make yesterday a success.  Everyone from our greeters, to security, to the band, to the tech team, to our incredible KidsRock staff worked so hard to be ready for our guests.  Major props to Katie and all of Mr. Small's staff for their assistance, as well.

I will post more of the photos and some videos from yesterday on here later, but I wanted to at least get something out there to show what happened.  

Lastly, all of this would not have been possible without the support of our friends from Allison Park Church and our pastor, Jeff Leake.  It was the vision God gave Jeff to reach Pittsburgh through the vision of planting and helping to support churches throughout our region that gave us this great opportunity.  What a "Kingdom-minded" man of God!  I am so blessed to call you my friend.

In summary, the events of the past week require me to ask a question:

"What happens when people take seriously the call to serve our world by doing whatever it takes to love God, and love our neighbor?"  

The answer is simple. God shows His face in the faces of those we serve, and this week, it looked a lot like the people of Millvale.

I love Element Church and this community, and I love sharing Jesus with them.

Praying for Thailand & The MCM Team!

I just wanted to call all of you who follow this blog to pray for some great friends who have been overwhelmingly supportive of the launch of Element Church.

The MCM Ministry School is based out of Allison Park Church, and their mission and goal is to train up missionaries to serve in churches in the US and beyond.  The students of the school receive training daily at Allison Park Church, and use that training practically by reaching out to the city of Pittsburgh in ministry.  They have been so supportive of helping us to plant Element Church, and have passed out fliers, served at outreaches, and have been amazing prayer partners to us.

Now they need us!  The ministry school will be joining the Mission SOS outreach to Thailand over the next two weeks, and I would like to ask all of you to pray for them while they are on the trip.  Pray for safety as they travel, and as they are in Thailand.  Pray that many souls will be saved as a result of the crusade they will be a part of.  Pray that God heal many who come to the crusades, and that people, including the MCM team, will be forever changed!

You can read more about the trip on Pastor Jeff's blog.  Enough talking...let's pray!

Video by Brian Lippert

My friend, Brian Lippert, is one funny dude, and a great videographer. He made this video for Super Bowl Sunday and asked me to appear in it. Funny stuff!

Video Monday

Recently, I've either edited or been in several videos. Here's the first of several videos I will post on this blog!

This is Allison Park Church's 2008 Ministry Report Video for their Annual Vision Meeting!

Parent's Night Out - Event Review

Last week Millvale Matters hosted an event called, "Parents Night Out." Sara Calcara led the event, and did a great job! The MCM Ministry School from Allison Park Church helped us as well, by distributing over 700 fliers in the Millvale area, earlier in the week.

All of the kids had a great time, and we had the opportunity to meet some great families from Millvale.

A couple of other notable things:
1) I am incredibly grateful to the members of Millvale Matters. We didn't have enough money in our outreach budget to provide for this event. After sharing that news, the team felt strongly enough about blessing our community, that we took a collection that yielded more than enough for the event. I'm so proud to be working together with people who unselfishly give for the sake of others!

2) Thank you to EVERYONE who made the event possible! We had more than enough volunteers, and you all did such a great job. From the MCM Ministry School, to the APC Puppet Team, to our regular volunteers...THANK YOU for working with excellence! I hope we can do it again next year!

Great Weekend!

I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this weekend's Breakthrough Weekend at Allison Park Church. Pastor Jeff and the team of staff members, and so many others who work so hard for this have put together a truly life-changing weekend. It was overwhelming to hear the testimonies of so many people, as well as seeing about 30 people from the church participate in water baptism after the services.

Check out some of the details from the weekend on Pastor Jeff's blog!

Funny Video

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to be a part of one of the "Christmas Conspiracy" videos. I know what you're thinking: "They finally figured out you're an academy award winning actor, and they begged you to act for them at Allison Park Church."

Now, while I'm flattered you thought that, the reality is that Todd Spencer was sick, and they needed someone to fill in.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun getting to be a part of the video shoot (Brian Lippert...you're the man!), even if it did include me "stepping" in some animal doo-doo.

All that to say, enjoy the video, and if you're up to the challenge, why not check out the www.foodforthepoor.org/giftcatalog website and consider sharing with someone who has much less than you do this Christmas!

Generations

Check it out...Element Church (Millvale church plant) is featured in Allison Park Church's 2009 Missions video. Watch it here!

Harvest Cry Weekend

Harvest Cry - THIS WEEK @ Allison Park Church!

This Thursday begins several days of incredible ministry at Allison Park Church. Thursday night kicks off at 7 PM with Christian music artist, Jeff Deyo. Friday AM features the MCM Ministry School experience, as well as the service with Johannes Amritzer at 7 PM, as well.

If you'd like more information about the Ministry School Experience, or to sign-up, check out this article on Pastor Jeff's Blog.

MISSION: Millvale

October 1st began the next chapter in our lives, as the Jones family began the process of following our call to Millvale, PA.

Over the last month, the greeting of, "What's new?" has been quickly echoed from my lips by the response, "Everything."

Most people don't like change. There are some things that it just seems like they should always continue just the way they are, and it's feels right knowing that something will be constant. For us, these last five years have been all about change, and the unbelievable instability that can ensue when life takes it's many turns. Through the good and bad times, God has always been faithful. The changes we have been through have brought a new resolve to our lives, and a complete dependence upon the God we serve.

As far as our family life, we are finally getting settled at home, and I thought it finally appropriate to begin blogging regularly again. (There were some other responsibilities I felt I needed to honor, before I could devote more time to the blog.)

It has been great getting to know our new church family, Pastor Jeff & Melodie Leake, the great ministry team at Allison Park Church, the Millvale area, and the people who make up our new home town. Jodi has started her new job at the U$X Credit Union, and has been training in Cranberry, PA. After her training is complete this week, she will start working at the center-city branch, and she is very excited about that. (I think there's a Starbuck's in her building, so that might have something to do with it.)

The girls are doing great, and are loving their new schools. They are also adjusting very well in church. JoLyn is getting very involved at JV 220, and Jacki loves Crosstown Kids at Allison Park Church. Jacki is also getting ready to play Upward Basketball, and can't wait to learn how to dunk...I don't have the heart to break the news that, "our brand of Nike sneakers don't fly" to her yet.

As far as the new church plant, it has been an incredible experience to join a team of people who are so committed to reaching Millvale with the Gospel. Long before we ever were even thought of, God put this town on the hearts and minds of so many. There are new people every week who come to welcome me at church, and who say they have been praying for Millvale for such a long time. The ministry/outreach team (called Millvale Matters) that has been serving the community for months now, are so committed to seeing the lost saved. It is truly a privilege to serve along side of them in the mission field of Millvale!

I will write more of the Millvale church, and the vision and direction I see God raising up in this town. It is very exciting to be a part of God's plan, with His people.

Looking forward to building and being a GREAT CHURCH in Millvale!

Change Is In The Air...

Last Sunday, as many of you might have already heard, we announced to our congregation at First A/G that the Jones family will be following the call of God to plant a church in Pittsburgh. For many obvious reasons, we are saddened to leave so many dear friends in Hermitage. We have shared many great experiences, and we have been blessed to have had the opportunity to live our lives together. On September 28th, we will worship in our last service in Hermitage, but until then I refuse to act as if anything is different at First Assembly. I am committed to making this the best month of student ministry our students have ever experienced, and we look forward to creating many more great memories with the time we have left here!

As far as what is to come in the future for our family, in October we will be joining the staff at Allison Park Church. While serving there during the next year, we will be joining with an outreach ministry called, "Millvale Matters." Millvale Matters has been meeting together and has been active in hosting outreach events in the Millvale section of Pittsburgh. (CLICK HERE to see some of their more recent outreach events!) In September of 2009, we will join with them in pastoring and launching a brand new church in Millvale.

It is incredibly exciting to be entering this new phase of ministry, but overwhelming at the same time. Jodi and I and our girls feel that God has been preparing us for this moment for all of our lives. We will certainly miss seeing our friends at First Assembly on a regular basis, but we are looking forward to embracing the adventure that God has placed before us.

I will write in more detail regarding our move in the weeks to come, so stay tuned!