Some of you know Ryan Braught personally, and others know him through this writing here on Emergent Brethren. About once a week, he sends out a prayer request list to several people. In his latest, he names that his church plant is just about to celebrate its first birthday. I think this is a significant event! Please join me and others in praying for Ryan and the new church that Christ has called him to plant.
This is his latest prayer request list:
Hey all,
It’s really hard to believe that Summer is right around the corner and that we are fast approaching our year anniversary as a Church Plant. We have come far but we also have a ways to go. But God has been good and faithful to us and a lot of it can be attributed to each of you and your faithful prayers on behalf of the Veritas community. Thanks so much for your prayers and your support for us. They are very much appreciated. Here are some prayer requests and praises regarding Veritas and our future.
1. Newspaper Article: The other week while at a Church Planting conference I was interviewed for an article in the Lancaster Newspaper. In the article it was mentioned that there was going to be a follow up piece on Veritas and other innovative communities (like my friend Erik and his Definition Collective). Well the article was in the paper on Saturday. Here is the link for you to read (if you haven’t already read it)…. http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/256630
2. Church of the Brethren Church Planting Conference: This past week I was in Richmond, IN at our COB Church Planting conference at Bethany Seminary. It was a good week. The leadership of Rose Madrid-Swetman and Jim Henderson was amazing. Rose was amazing and shared about her missional community in Seattle and reminded me why Veritas exists. Praise God for the voice of “outsiders†who can speak into my life and remind me why we planted Veritas in the first place. My workshop went well and was given good feedback and it was good to share the vision of Veritas with many people. Pray that those in attendance at the conference may seek to plant a church, support church planting, or be involved in church planting in the future. It was a great group of people to spend time with in prayer, worship, fellowship, and study.
3. Missional Opportunities: Pray for us as we enter the summer that we could use this summer as an opportunity to step up our missional presence in the community. Pray that we could reach out to neighbors, and the community as individuals and as a community. Pray for us as we seek to discern ways of serving and blessing the community. (Servolution week, etc…) Pray that God would allow us to see growth in Veritas (not the primary reason for seeking to bless people but as a by-product).
4. Space: Pray for continued discernment with this issue. We have 4 options at this point. 1. Stay at English Presbyterian Church for a while. 2. Lease a space in the city of Lancaster on Liberty Street. 3. Purchase a Church Building that has come up for sale in our area at a very reasonable and affordable price. 4. Lease or Buy another property that we don’t know about yet. So pray for us as we seek to discern our next steps as a community.
5. Finances: Pray for us as we will be sending out Fundraising Letters in the very near future. Pray for those who receive the letters. Pray for openness to supporting the mission of Veritas. Also pray for congregations that I will be seeking to talk with about financial support. Pray for open doors and a willingness to partner with us.
6. Growth: Pray for growth to take place in various areas (spiritual, numerical, missional, relational). Pray that we would realize that we are called to plant and water but God gives the growth. Pray that we would be faithful to the call God has on us and that we wouldn’t worry about the end result, other than just being faithful.
These next 2 things are necessarily prayer requests…
1. If you know of someone who might connect with what we are about at Veritas, please let them know about us. If you have people who have no faith community to be a part of, share with them about Veritas. If you know people in your faith community who might have a calling on their lives to be a part of a church plant, and you would be willing to release them for a time, let us know.
2. If you know of someone or a church who might be interested in learning more about the vision of Veritas and possibly supporting us financially, please let us know. I would be more than willing to meet with them and share with them the vision of Veritas and how they might be able to support us.
Thanks again for your prayers and support for Veritas.
God bless,
Ryan
You can learn more about Veritas at their website.
Jeff