May 1, 2014

Baltimore pastors seeking fresh ways to engage the whole mission force in living life on mission

BALTIMORE, Md -- May, 2014: With hundreds of identified districts, Baltimore is called "a city of neighborhoods" where the metro area has grown to over 2.7 mill being the 20th largest in the U.S. Rich in history, Baltimore is where Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner", a poem recounting the British attacking during the 1812 war which became the official national anthem of the United States. God is doing an incredible work in the city where many local pastors and church planters have landed establishing new congregations reaching out to people that made Baltimore metro area their home. A diverse city, over 50 pastors and church planters came together on 1 May, 2014 for a time of prayer and fellowship seeking together fresh ways of engaging the whole mission force in living their life on mission. It was said that if we were to make an impact we need to mobilize the whole mission force, our people in our churches to live their life on mission making disciples where they live work and play. We need to de-professionalize missions if we were to see our communities and our cities transformed. The gospel is still the power of God unto salvation but the message needs to be heard from real people with genuine interest in the wellbeing of their friends, neighbors and communities. Hosted by The Gallery Church of Baltimore, the gathering proved to be a needed reminder that together we can do more that by ourselves. Many pastors serve the city alongside Ellis Prince, the host of the gathering and Ron Larson who's leading the church planting effort in Baltimore though Send Baltimore, the city's expression of the North American Mission Board's Send North America Strategy. Kevin Marsico, a local church planter pastor and NAMB's Northeast regional leader welcomed the pastors and updated the progress of church planting efforts in the region. For additional information about how you and your church can get involved in the city contact Ron Larson at rlarson@namb.net 
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Mark Hobafcovich serves as mobilization and networking specialist at NAMB. Contact: mhobafcovich@namb.net; @JohnMarkGkobal