Parkside Church Lake County
Is Parkside Church behind this project?
Yes! Alistair announced from the pulpit on Sunday night Oct. 31st that this is a priority and that the church is behind this project. Scott and Mandy are not launching out on their own. They are working to gather a core group to start the project.
Is this a campus or a plant?
This is considered a church plant. The Green campus is a campus in that the ministry is somewhat duplicated and the preaching is done by Alistair (played on screen on Sunday morning). Where a campus looks more like an identical twin (yet smaller) the Church plant in Lake County is like a daughter. Same DNA as Parkside (vision, values, doctrine etc..) but will look different. For example, Scott Kennedy will be the lead pastor and will preach live. However, ministries will look different as we are just getting started.
Where will the church plant be located?
Great question. Right now we are in a process of exploring possible locations. At the moment any location is worthy of consideration (older churches, schools, buildings etc…). It will be in the Lake County region. The hope is that the church will draw from Northern Geauga County and Eastern Cuyahoga County as well. With that said, Lake County will be the primary focus.
When will it start?
We are looking toward starting the church in mid-2012. It may be mid to late summer. We are trying to avoid a winter start up due to weather considerations. A brief survey of church planting resources estimate 12-18 months from the time the plant project begins until a formal “launch.”
What will the church be called?
Right now it is probably best to think of it as, Parkside Church Lake County. We are not limiting it to a city like Mentor, Mayfield, or Chesterland. We will come up with the name later.Are there any other pastors going out to be a part of the Lake County church plant?
Scott is the only pastor going out of Parkside church to start the Lake County church plant.
I would like to participate, what should I do?
Pray. If you sense God is calling you to be a part of this church plant commit your heart and mind to the Lord. This is going to require a great deal of work. Prayerfully prepare yourself to be an instrument in the Lord’s hands.
Tell. If you sense God is nudging you in the direction of this plant, share it with your friends and family. Get their input. If you are married then pray and discuss this with your spouse for a season of time. Same with your kids (if you have them). Ask others to pray with you and for you. If you are single, make sure your friends and immediate family know about your intentions so they can pray.
Contact. Get in touch with Scott ASAP at skennedy@parksidechurch.com or 440-708-2114. Scott would love to explore this with you over coffee, lunch, dinner etc…
Ways to pray specifically
Pray for workers to become a part of a core team
This church plant will require a lot of people pulling on the same net to gather in the people that God wants to reach. Every person has at least one spiritual gift and a skill set in how God has put them together. Pray for God to bring the people with their diverse gifts and skills that they may be put in place to maximize their gifts and skills for God’s glory. Every person matters! God can use you. Pray that God will begin to show people this. Pray for unity and flexibility. Pray for people to be pursuing Christ in their private lives because this will test their spiritual muscle.
Pray for a door to open in terms of location
We are looking for an auditorium and a facility that would be able to accommodate children. We are also looking for something with plenty of parking and adequate accessibility from roadways. If you know someone in the schools, commercial real estate, city council, ministry etc… up in Lake County let us know as pray. Connections with people can help as we look to find what God’s best is for the plant. Pray for conversations with other people in ministry up in Lake County. Pray for other ministries in Lake County that are reaching out with the gospel. We want to be good neighbors with others who have been engaged in the work for a long time (before we have arrived). We should pray for fruit in the ministries across the region so that God would increase the harvest in their ministries also.
Pray for unbelievers to be converted
What is so exciting about a church plant is the freedom that exists in new people coming around to check out what is going on. We are praying that the core team and others who will come along will be actively praying for their unbelieving friends, neighbors, family, co-workers, class mates etc…. We are praying for God to bust open a pretty radical harvest of new converts. While not every person we pray for will be converted we are praying for a spirit of outreach among the core group of attenders. We are praying that the spirit of outreach would become contagious within the group.
