On behalf of the leaders and congregations in the Alliance of Renewal Churches (ARC), we are excited to announce that Bridgewood Community Church in Blaine, MN has joined the ARC.

Senior Pastor Brendon Fairley is a member of the ARC National Leadership Team and a graduate from The Master’s Institute Seminary. He writes, “We at Bridgewood Community Church are very excited to be officially partnered with the Alliance of Renewal Churches. We are blessed to know that we are joined in relationship with a network of churches that are dedicated to living and moving in the love Christ. One of the greatest blessings of the ARC is its' intentional desire to share life together through the love God. For us here at Bridgewood, partnering with the ARC was a no brainer because we are both for the Kingdom. What a blessing to have the opportunity to share life with people after the heart of God.”

Welcome aboard the ARC, Bridgewood!

The ARC is excited to announce that Beachside Church, a church plant in Palm Coast, Florida has joined the ARC. Pastor Chris Magnel is leading the team that has planted the church and shares the following:

“A few months ago, a number of us in Palm Coast heard the call to go out and do something new. Inspired by John 21:4-6 (New Living Translation) which describes Jesus standing on the beach and calling out to His disciples, telling them to cast their nets in a different place, we heard God calling us to cast nets in new places in Palm Coast. Like the disciples hauling in a huge catch, we hope to see fruit, transformation and new life in this move of the Spirit. This new endeavor is called Beachside Community Church, and we look forward to our official launch on April 5th.

We have a ton of great churches in Palm Coast. Yet, like any town, we have far more people disconnected from the Body of Christ than those who are connected. With around 85,000 residents, there are at least 55,000 people waiting to be connected to Christ. It’s our call to go to them. We can’t wait around in our buildings hoping that a slick marketing campaign is all that’s needed to “bring them in.” That certainly doesn’t seem to be how Jesus or the disciples did it.

So we’re going to go out into the community, build relationships, and see what the Spirit has in store for us. Going out will be a learning process that we’re just beginning at this point. I’m not sure there is a program or path that compares to trusting in God and letting Him lead the process.

So why has Beachside chosen to join the ARC? First of all, it’s the relationships. For me, as Lead Pastor, I owe a lot in my own faith development to a few of the places I hung out at during seminary, and the people I got to know. As a first year student at Luther Seminary, my time at places like North Heights and Hosanna! were foundational to my own discipleship. Along with hanging out at those places, and then interning at Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines, I saw that there are pieces of our faith that felt lacking in certain parts of mainline Christianity. That’s not meant as a ‘better/worse’ statement, but more of an expression of gratitude at the people and communities God put in my life.

After being ordained into an LCMC church in 2001, a small group of us formed what would be the Evangelical-Renewal District in LCMC. As the ARC came into existence, there has been a huge overlap in the people and churches affiliated with both, and I’m excited we’ll have that at Beachside. There are a ton of people I love and respect in the ARC and I look forward to deeper partnerships. In addition to relationships, the ARC is a home for us in terms of the ways its people talk about, and live out, their faith. It’s a fit and a home.

The next few months will be exciting. We have a great planting team here in Palm Coast. We’ll be meeting in a local charter school right in the heart of town, but not close to any existing churches. It’s amazing to consider that God is starting this church for people we don’t yet know, and I personally look forward to meeting them and walking this journey together.

We ask for your prayers. Go to our website, www.beach.church, check out what’s going on, and pray for us specifically. Pray for protection, as we know the enemy is going to strike out at us, and pray for provision in every way. Pray that God guards our hearts and keeps our focus on His agenda. And for those who have walked the church-planting road, I would love to connect with you, and learn from your mistakes and successes. Any relationships that I, or our planting team, can build will be awesome. Thanks for bringing us into your fellowship in the ARC. Blessings to you all in Christ.”

Welcome Pastor Chris and Beachside to the ARC! You can contact Chris at: chris@beach.church

We are very excited and humbled to announce that a pastor and his church from Cuba have joined the Alliance of Renewal Churches (ARC) network. Pastor Richard Lemus Diaz first reached out to ARC Director Mike Bradley over seven months ago, seeking relationship with a network that embraced the evangelical, sacramental, and charismatic streams of the faith, as well as desiring a relationship with a spiritual father or mentor. After months of communicating back and forth, Pastor Richard requested membership in the ARC. We’ve asked Richard to share a bit about himself, his family, and his church with you. He writes to us the following:

“Dear ARC members, my name is Richard Lemus Díaz. I am 31 years old and have been married with my wife, Lariza for almost 9 years. We live and minister in Cuba, a country that needs to experience the love and the power of God. I thank God He saved my family from Santeria, my grandmother was a spiritist medium and my mother was a fortuneteller. But the Lord arrived to my family and saved all of us.

I felt God's call to pastoral ministry early in my life and at 15 years of age I began to serve as a missionary in the mountains of Cienfuegos. After Lariza and I got married, we went to the seminary in Havana and we served in pastoral ministry in several churches located in Havana, Trinidad, and now in our own city—Cienfuegos, in the center of Cuba.

When we returned to Cienfuegos we had nobody, so we planted a church from scratch, walking on our city's streets, preaching the Gospel of Jesus. It was a hard work but now there is a church here with people who have given their lives to God. We named our church Gate of Heaven because our desire is that people experience the same thing Jacob experienced when he arrived at that place. He arrived alone, poor, defeated, hopeless and confused. But in that place he had an encounter that changed his destiny. He was exposed to the Almighty's glory.

A gate of heaven is a point of contact between God and men, a place of supernatural events, a portal that allows Heaven's atmosphere to pour into the earth. That is our desire as church, to experience God's glory in our generation.

That's why we are so thankful to God that He allowed us to find the ARC. We know we have joined people and leaders of God who desire this same atmosphere and work together to honor and celebrate the person who creates this atmosphere—the Holy Spirit. We believe when people like this are connected in love relationships and serve and worship God together, great things happen. We thank the ARC's National Leadership Team very much for allowing my wife, me, and our congregation to be part of this.”

Welcome Pastor Richard and Lariza, and Gate of Heaven church to the ARC!

Zach Thompson was installed as the new lead pastor at Rejoice! Lutheran Church in August, and I was privileged to be there for the installation along with ARC leader, Dan Clites (who is the founding pastor of Rejoice!). Zach recently joined the ARC and as the Director for the ARC, I am very excited about the future God has in store for Zach and Rejoice. I asked Zach to tell us a bit about himself. He writes:

“My name is Zach Thompson. I am a fourth generation pastor who felt God's call to ministry while working at Bible Camp summers during college. I have a passion for preaching and teaching the good news of Jesus in a relevant and practical way, and helping people identify their gifts and a place to use them to God's glory. My wife Lexi is a special education and reading teacher, and we have a 9 year old son named Soren, and a 6 year old daughter named Elise.

After serving as Associate Pastor at Shepherd of the Valley Church in Afton, MN for the past 10 years, I have accepted a call to be Lead Pastor at Rejoice! Church in Dundas/Northfield, MN. I am excited for the opportunity to serve at a church that is passionate about reaching people for Jesus and sending people out to be marketplace ministers. My hope for Rejoice is that it continues to be a effective kingdom building and kingdom training center that makes a difference for Jesus in the Northfield area and beyond.

I have chosen to join the ARC because of its spirit-led leadership and mission. I am drawn to ARC's celebration of the power of the Holy Spirit. I look forward to networking with other ARC leaders. And I look forward to working together to make Jesus famous and to invite people into a saving relationship with him!”

Welcome aboard the ARC, Zach. We look forward to ministering alongside you and Rejoice!

The Alliance of Renewal Churches is happy to welcome Radiant Church of Garden Grove, CA to membership in the ARC! Welcome to Pastor Jeremey King and all the leaders and members of Radiant. We’re excited to add you to the band of brothers and sisters on mission together in the ARC. It is evident Radiant Church is already living out the core values of the ARC, particularly are value for ministry to and with Forgotten Ones. Following is a bit of Radiant’s story.

Radiant held its very first service in the home of a mission partner on January 31, 2010. Three short years later lives continue to be changed and God is being glorified through the work of this vibrant church. Radiant is a church that is built on the premise of serving rather than being served, hence the name “Mission Partners” rather than “members.” Our mission statement is that we exist to authentically be the church and to reach out through the love of Christ. We are a community of believers committed to:

• LISTENING to God through scripture and prayer
• TALKING of God in our circles of influence
• LOVING like God as we love the “unlovable”
• SERVING like God as we meet the needs of those in need

The men and women of the church are doing life together in a wide variety of areas including home groups, orphanage support, women’s shelter help, low income family shelter workdays, Compassion International, Samaritan’s Purse, hospital visitation, and many more. In addition Radiant continues to support and edify our local “sister” churches. Once a year around Christmas, members of the church trek down to Ensenada Mexico to deliver presents to the children at Reino De Los Ninos orphanage. Mission partners donate the gifts and they are delivered to the children in time for Christmas. For many of the kids, this is the only gift they will receive, so the smiles on their faces, as pictured, are priceless.

About once a month the men of Radiant put on their aprons, and make a trip down to Precious Life Shelter in Los Alamitos to BBQ for the women and children there. Not only is this a way to serve some great food and fellowship, it also models “Godly men” for these single mothers. Last Thanksgiving about 20 volunteers from the church served Thanksgiving dinner to the residents of Thomas House Temporary Shelter in Garden Grove. Radiant also plans to adopt an apartment at the shelter and be responsible for painting, maintenance and general upkeep.

The above examples are just the “tip of the iceberg” of the current ministries at Radiant. This year we have joined the Alliance of Renewal Churches and are excited to be a part of this connected network of men and woman building an atmosphere of Kingdom, renewal, mission, and transformation. The ARC has already been very influential in the lives of many Radiant mission partners, and we look forward to the years to come.

Welcome aboard the ARC, Pastor Jeremey, and Radiant Mission Partners!

The ARC is happy to announce Northgate Church as our newest congregational member. Welcome to Pastor Steve Perkins and his team. I asked Steve to tell us a bit about Northgate. He writes:

“The beginning of Northgate Church is truly a God-story. From the beginning of a prayer meeting on June 20, 2010 which inspired a church plant, to the launch of Northgate Church in August of 2010 with an average of 475 people in attendance that first month, we’ve truly witnessed a miracle. Northgate Church began with nothing, but with the passion and the gracious support of our people, Northgate has been able to grow and meet the needs of thousands of people in our area. Today, two and half years later, we’re averaging 750 people in attendance on Sundays, plus 80 youth, grades 6-12 on Wednesday evenings. It is exhilarating to work alongside God as he touches hearts and brings people closer to him. At this past Christmas, we opened our doors to nearly 1400 people, and we’re expecting even more for Easter.

Northgate Church presently rents space from PACT Charter School in Ramsey, though we are breaking ground on our facility at the end of March, 2013. We plan to occupy our building by Thanksgiving of this year.

In the meantime, we are faithfully serving this community with everything we’ve got. Every week we meet multiple visiting families—both churched and unchurched. Many persons are making first-time commitments to Christ (180 in the last year!) Last Sunday there were four. And, we have a hard-working, team-driven staff of about a dozen people, including four pastors.

Northgate functions as a somewhat independent “Lutheran” church with three different affiliations, including the ARC. Our interest in the ARC is primarily about relationship and DNA. We appreciate the culture of the ARC, especially in regard to the things of the Spirit, and the relationship formed with different, like-minded churches, leaders, and institutions.”

Thanks for the introduction, Steve, and welcome aboard the ARC, Northgate!