March 2023
Dear Lead The Way team,
Thank you for your sacrifice, consistency in giving, and prayerful engagement with what the Lord is doing among us at Peoples Church. We want to encourage you with a few updates and prayer points as we continue to move forward in the process of our New Build.
Two leading pastors in Cincinnati have told us that they’re praying with us, and that “a win for Peoples is a win for the whole Church of Cincinnati.” In addition to that, a group of over 100 local ministries are praying with us and for us on a regular basis. This is encouragement and motivation to us. We are not alone in this journey.
Prayer Request: Thank the Lord that we are a part of his larger body in Cincinnati. Pray a blessing over all the other churches and ministries of our city as well.
Timeline: Our zoning application, which was submitted to the city November 15, is still under review, and we continue to cultivate relationships and conversations around that process. We hope to receive a response from the City of Cincinnati sometime this summer. This approval will allow us to acquire building permits and gain the essential traction we need with foundations and public funds. Most of them, naturally, are waiting for our zoning approval before committing funding.
Prayer Request: Continue to pray for God’s right timing and not ours. Pray for favor and that the city would approve our application for a Planned Development Site.
Transition: Our Transition Team is continuing to work diligently to secure a transition location where we can gather as a church during construction. Our goal and plan is still to maintain all of our current activities and gatherings in a location proximal to the Uptown neighborhoods.
Prayer Request: Pray for the members of the Transition Team who are guiding this process: Ernie Doering, Cindy Robertson, Audrey Holtzman, Rich Chamlis. Pray for wisdom and health, for them and their families. Also, praise the Lord that we are not paying rent to a transition location currently as we wait for the city zoning approval.
Your LTW giving is directly funding all of the up-front costs of the project, from development of architectural plans to consultancies for legal, construction, philanthropy, and zoning, as well as upcoming costs of transition. THANK YOU!
Prayer Request: That the Lord would multiply what we give and bless those like you who are giving sacrificially unto Him.
Weekly Prayer: Our decon board and pastoral senior leadership team have a prayer meeting during the lunch hour every Wednesday 12:30-1:00 PM. We invite you to set this time aside to pray from wherever you are at that time as well. The Lord responds when we seek him as a united body.
As I pray about all of this and pray for you, I’m reminded of a passage of scripture that the Lord brought me to one year ago. It’s Isaiah 37:30-32. It basically says this, “Eat from your fields both this year and next what grows naturally, but after that…plow, plant and harvest! Plow, plant and harvest!!”
When I first heard Him impress this onto my heart so strongly, it was like Him saying, “I’ve got this. You don’t need to force anything or try to make things happen in your own strength, or feel impatient or anxious about anything. The process will have bumps and delays along the way and at times will seem uncertain. But you trust me; watch what I do, and when the right time has come, I will put everything into place exactly as you need it, and then we will work with all our might to plow, plant and harvest.”
So, all of that to say…He is telling us that He has this, and we can rely on Him together with all our hearts.
What a joy to be on this faith journey, in Him, with you.
Love you all, and I am lifting you up in prayer, as I know you pray for Jan and me also.
- Chris and Jan