The trial of our church adoption and multi-site ministry concept is now in full swing. We’ve been fully engaged in a trial partnership with Grace Bible Church of Aurora, and recently we’ve also begun working in a more limited way with the First Baptist Church of Shabbona.
The trial of our church adoption and multi-site ministry concept is now in full swing. We’ve been fully engaged in a trial partnership with Grace Bible Church of Aurora, and recently we’ve also begun working in a more limited way with the First Baptist Church of Shabbona. Just this past week, many of you were part of our Memorial Day picnic that also included both the Grace and First Baptist church families. Nearly 430 people came out for an afternoon of remembering those who gave their lives for our country and to enjoy spending time with old and new friends. It was a lot of fun being together.
While it’s often difficult to recognize how God is working in the moment, it’s always interesting to look back and see the path after it’s been laid out – to see how God was sovereignly and amazingly placing pieces together as He was guiding, directing and caring for us. And this is true not only in our personal lives, but in the life of our church, as well.
Most times, it seems, these changes come as a surprise. As we began the trial phase of our adoption of Grace Bible Church, we expected that one of the components that wouldn’t change would be the person occupying the role of teaching pastor. However, just before the trial phase got underway, God began leading Mark Krauss and his family toward a new ministry calling. Surprise number one!
A few weeks later God brought across our path a young man by the name of Travis Fleming. Travis loves the Lord and is a gifted communicator, preacher and lover of the church. We began to wonder if God might be doing the “impossible” and putting together ministry pieces in a rather unique way. Over the course of several weeks, Grace and Village decided to bring Travis and his family on staff for a short-term ministry assignment. Surprise number two!
On May 17 Mark Krauss concluded his role as teaching pastor. At that time - a month sooner than we had originally anticipated, we set into motion a trial of our envisioned teaching team concept, which brings the respective teaching pastors together as a single teaching team, to develop sermons jointly.) Tim began working with Travis on a five-week sermon series, and Travis launched that series on May 24. We were very encouraged with the first week of the implementation of this concept and are excited to see where it may lead. Surprise number three!
It may turn out that Travis won’t become be the long-term teaching pastor at Grace – but then again, perhaps he will! We’ll see where God leads. Either way, he’s part of our team at least for the next month, and we’re excited to have him and his family serving alongside us.
Travis and his wife, Melissa met at Moody Bible Institute and have been in church ministry now for 10 years. Travis is a native of Illinois and enjoys reading, basketball, Chicago sports and spending time with his kids. His passion is to spread the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all people through Jesus Christ. Melissa is a native of southern Florida. She has a music degree from Moody, with an emphasis in voice. She’s served in pregnancy information centers and sings in a musical group that seeks to inspire people to get closer to the Savior. She’s a stay-at-home mom and loves the Miami Dolphins.
We’re grateful for the Flemings and their willingness to serve. We look forward to an going relationship with them, as God continues to open doors.