In October 2008, Antioch Community Church had it’s first public worship services in Minneapolis. To many attendees, that was their first time hearing of us. But the roots of what would become Antioch had been planted years before. For those of us who were in the Core Team, the first service was a result of over a year of prayer, research, networking, decision making, and preparation. For Pastor Andy and the leaders in our EFCA District, the dream of a church plant in NE Minneapolis had started years before that. And long before any of us were aware of the gospel need in this community, the Lord was laying the foundations for us to serve here.
We are humbled and blessed to now be looking back at ten years of Antioch Community Church. Ten years of the Lord’s faithful, sustaining presence. Ten years of being used to spread the good news of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit to the lost and hurting.
We had a lot of grand dreams in those early years. Some we have reached; some we have had to give up. But we can definitely say that the Lord has been faithful, and He has bigger dreams for us than we ever could have come up with ourselves. So where will we be in 2028? Truly only God knows! We just pray to continue the mission in His will and by His power, and trust that he will give us the details as we need them.
On Sunday October 14th we celebrated this milestone with a message from Pastor Steve Treichler of Hope Community Church, the church that sent us out. Like a proud dad, he encouraged us in how far we’ve come and exhorted us to make the next ten years even better. We are so thankful to partner with Hope and many other gospel churches for the good of this city. Here’s to another decade of seeing God work!