Friends,
A year ago, the leadership of Union Church earmarked Easter 2022 as a time of reassessment, looking into the health and progress of our ministry. One year as a church planting resident plus four years of solo pastoring seemed to warrant a fresh evaluation of resources, infrastructure and stamina.
After scrutinizing internal and external giving, personnel changes and leadership health, as well as an extended season of prayer and fasting, we have made the excruciating decision to close Union Church.
Three different times, locations and re-launch attempts (most of which, occurred inside the uncharted waters of Covid) contributed to an environment that kept us in perpetual church plant mode, stunting the critical mass needed for a self-sustaining church.
The original vision of Union Church was to plant a small, multi-ethnic network of house churches that had deep enough roots in the city to sustain the revolving door of college students that come and go though the Plains. Every four years, we would send out a new crop of disciples, equipped and trained to embody an alternative kingdom ethic, as they began families and careers throughout the South.
Paradoxically, it seems that it is actually the Bristers, who would be the ones who would be trained in Auburn for four years, so that we could be sent out. This summer, our family will be transitioning to a sister Acts 29 church in Athens, Alabama (Summit Crossing Community Church) where Chris will become the Director of Missional Communities in August.
For years now, our church has rallied behind the metaphor of the fishes and loaves from Mark 6. We understood we were a small, lightly-resourced church plant, but we believed whole-heartedly that the Lord could bless our meager offering and feed people far beyond what we could possibly manufacture on our own. While that spirit was genuine, that outcome never came to fruition.
However, as we studied the story of the woman who anoints Jesus’ body with an expensive ointment in Mark 14, we began to see a new framework for how Jesus might view the work of Union Church.
The unnamed woman is scolded by a group of men for her lack of efficiency and they bemoan the waste of such a precious resource that could have been reallocated for a more pragmatic use. Jesus, however, interprets her gesture as “a beautiful thing.”
While Union Church didn’t have the influence that we imagined or the momentum that we had hoped for, or even the fruit that we had prayed for, our church plant was not a waste. It was a simple act of obedience to the Spirit and an act of devotion to Jesus, who sees it as beautiful.
Our final worship gathering will take place at 5:30 pm on Sunday, May 29 at 1400 N. College St. where we will gather to celebrate and reflect on all that the Lord has done though Union Church. Friends, guests, current and former members are all invited to attend.
War Eagle,
Chris and Cara Jane