We Are Planting a Church in Philadelphia...Wait! What?

In a lot of ways I can't believe we are doing it.  There is excitement, fear, anticipation and peace all jumbled together.  More than anything, this is a humbling experience.  Christy and I fall short in so many ways. We are not worthy to be called children of God, let alone to be a part of His mission for reaching the lost.  But the church is God's plan, we are his children, and at every turn there is grace.

For those of you who don't know (and most probably don't), we have been praying and researching the prospect of church planting for almost a year.  At first, it was a curiosity, prompted by the Holy Spirit.  I was taking a class on the book of Acts and felt that first prompting to check things out, but I ignored it.  Then in another class the professor posed this question: "Is Jesus worth it?"  For me, the answer to that question is an emphatic YES.  He IS worth it!  Despite the level of comfort my family has grown accustom to, Jesus is worth any level of perceived discomfort we may face by following and serving Him.

As Christy and I talked and prayed about the idea of church planting we knew one thing right away - we were being called to the darkest places, spiritually.  Having lived up and down the East Coast in the past, I was aware of the spiritual climate and had a burden for that region of our nation.  It soon became clear that Philly was the place.

There are approximately 6 million people living in the Philly Metro area and of those only 5.9% consider themselves to be evangelical Christians.  In most areas of the city there are  very few, if any, evangelical churches.  As you can see the level of spiritual darkness is very high, but the presence of real lighthouses is extremely low.

So, we are doing it.  We are planting a church in Philadelphia, PA.  This blog will chronicle that journey.  It will be a place to share blessings, burdens and everything in between.  For those of you partnering with us, we invite you to subscribe to the blog by entering your email below.  This will keep you up to date on what God is doing and how you can pray for us.  If you want to know how to partner with us, you can do so in 3 ways: PRAY. GIVE.  GO.  To get more information on what partnering looks like, you can fill out the "contact us" form to the right.  God bless you all!

For HIS Glory,
Eric and Christy McMahon