Jay Covert is a US Missionary multiplier in East St. Louis, Illinois. Three years ago, Jay arrived in East St. Louis with a lot of faith and little else. East St. Louis is a challenging place and most observers didn’t have much hope that Jay could be successful. This morning I received the following note from Jay.

“Hey UO Pastoral Friends,

We planted the UO Church in East Saint Louis on July 9, 2006 in a small one room store front building. For 2 years we averaged upper 30’s to mid 40’s in attendance then we were given the task and challenge to renovate and revitalize the Washington Park Church and replant a new work there all the while renovate an abandon building in ESL for our 3rd sanctuary expansion.

I had no reservation on launching the second work, I have been looking forward to this for a long time expecting for a great harvest but if today is an indication of what happens when a small church installs, releases and mothers a daughter church plant then wow!!! In just two shorts weeks we have grown triple in numbers then meeting on Sunday mornings 116 weeks in one place!

Pastor Tommy Smith @ Washington Park had 48 folks in service today, today we moved into our new sanctuary in East Saint Louis and it was pretty much a normal service BUT we had 69 folks in attendance. Praise God! We grew almost triple with 117 folks in attendance in two locations verses holding on to folks in just one location.

God is awesome and we believe the increase and harvest in these two cities is being released. Church Planting is vital if we are going to reach and change our communities all across Illinois. If a small inner city church in a very poverished city can do it then just think what your church can do with the resources God has given you………….”

Thanks for sharing this great news Jay! It proves once again that God is bigger than any challenge we face. I heard a great illustration the other day. A scarecrow indicates the presence of much fruit. Jay ignored the “scarecrow” and is finding a lot of fruit. America has thousands of harvest fields guarded by “scarecrows” of crime, poverty and economic challenge. It’s time for us to run past the “scarecrows” to the harvest. That’s where we’ll find Jesus.

I just got a “good news” call from Jay Covert…US Missionary to East St. Louis. Jay went there a few years ago to start a new church. Doing ministry in East St. Louis is not for the feint of heart…ESL is a tough place, economically depressed, spiritually challenged, rampant crime and just general deterioration would be just a few ways to describe “normal” in ESL.

But just like the current AG media campaign claims…nothing’s too hard for God! God loves the people of East St. Louis, so he sent Jay to tell them. About 4 years ago, Jay started from zero. He had no people, little money and what looked like an impossible task.

So yesterday when Jay called to say that he had just opened the second church in East St. Louis, it was really good news…no, it was great news, unexpected news, miraculous news. The truth is, over the past 4 years a quiet miracle has been emerging in East St. Louis and it looks like the transformation has only just begun. Here’s a video we shot 2 years ago that gives you an idea of who Jay is and what he is up to. (Follow the link and then click on “Urban Outreach” to watch the video.)

Here’s the thing…America has thousands of “hard” places that nobody wants to go to. Last time I checked, God still calls people to hard places. Listen carefully…He might be calling you! If He does, the AG Church Multiplication Network stands ready to help! Give us a call and we’ll explore how we can partner with you.  Just call 417-862-2781 and ask for the Church Multiplication Network.

Some weeks have more going on than others and this past week was among the busiest of my life. Here’s what I’ve been up to along with some reflections…

Hanging out with Scott Bruegman and Red Rocks Church
Red Rocks is a phenomenal story for a lot of reasons. The short version of the story is that it is a three year old church plant now connecting with over 1000 attendees every weekend. They just moved into a new location that embeds them into the middle of a shopping area in Lakewood called Bel Mar. A vast majority of their congregants are in their 20’s and 30’s. On the surface, Red Rocks may sound a little like “church lite”- a good show attracting the already convinced to experience a watered down gospel presentation resulting in weak disciples who simply add Jesus as an “accessory” to their already busy lives.

However, a look under the Red Rocks “hood” reveals a ministry with much more depth than first meets the eye. Red Rocks was not built on slick marketing campaigns. Their visual imaging is very well done, but “smoke and mirrors” is not what brings people to the church and to the Lord. Scott and Lori spent three years building redemptive relationships in the community BEFORE they ever had a public meeting. The Bruegman’s and their launch team helped a bunch of folks get to know Jesus and become His disciples as the foundation for the church. The opening day attendance of 110 was composed of a lot of new believers and quite of few pre-Christian folks…very few of the original attendees came from other existing churches in the Denver community. The leadership team at Red Rocks has continued to cultivate an atmosphere that is conducive to authentic disicpleship and strong biblical teaching. So Red Rocks has emerged out of the patient activity of making disciples one at a time and now the cumulative activity means that hundreds of disciples are being made one at a time.

Anyway, I got to spend some time with Scott and his leadership team. I came away inspired, encouraged and enriched. I’d love to see Red Rocks-like stories spring up all over the nation….

Rocky Mountain BootCamp
If you know me well, you know that I spent 16 years serving in the Rocky Mountain District…first as a church planter in Utah and then working out of the District Office in Colorado Springs as the Director of Church Planting and Development. I’m a really big fan of the Rocky Mountain West and I miss the mountains every day…(they keep telling me about the Ozark Mountains, but I’ve never seen them yet!) While I served in the district leadership position I helped start the “tradition” of the annual Rocky Mountain Bootcamp and so far the RMDC has hosted a bootcamp every year (except one) since 2000. Grace Community Church graciously provided their building for this edition of the BootCamp and it was a great one. I go to every BootCamp and I’m seeing a very encouraging trend among the planters…an increasing desire to plant churches that value the Mission of God over a cultural definition of success. As I listened to the planters and watched their reactions to statements I made, it is clear to me that this is a group of church starters who understand that the church is being built by Jesus and they are co-laboring with him. I’m praying that we will be empowered by God to help start thousands of new vigorous churches made up of disciples being transformed by God who in turn are used by God to bring about spiritual transformation in the communities into which they are called.

A side benefit of being in Colorado was visiting briefly with my newly married daughter Lindsy and her husband Craig in Colorado Springs.  Lindsy is a first grade teacher. Based on my expected flight schedule, I believed it was possible for me to come by her school and see her in action toward the end of the day on Tuesday. So Lindsy told her class that she had a big surprise for them at the end of the day. However, as the realities of time and traffic began to take their toll, it became increasingly clear that I might not make it. I frantically called Lindsy to let her know of that possibility, but of course she was unable to answer her phone. Incredibly, I found myself outside her school with just minutes to spare, desperately seeking for a parking space amongst the crowd of cars containing parents eager to pick up their children. A space opened up, I sprinted into the main entrance of the school and immediately began telling people that I was looking for Mrs. Harris’ first grade class and that I was her father. I must not look like too much of a crazy person because several teachers graciously pointed me in the right direction and with literally one minute to spare before the final bell, I jogged into her classroom. The kids cheered, Lindsy looked relieved and dismissed the class as the bell rang instructing them to give me a high five as they left the room. They did and all was well. Lindsy said she had already decided that if I did not make it, she was going to do a lesson the next day on dealing with disappointment. Thankfully, she didn’t have to!

Finding the right people
Mixed into all of the activities of this past week was my ongoing process of looking for key leaders to provide oversight to crucial aspects of the emerging Church Multiplication Network. Bottom line is that I’ve been interviewing a bunch of different leaders over the past two months to find God’s man or woman to join the CMN team so we can support the planting of thousands of American churches with resources, networking and appropriate infrastructure. This has been quite a journey involving many hours of conversation with wonderfully talented people who are prayerfully considering being part of the CMN team. I’ve utilized three different “profile” tools- the DISC, the Strengthfinder and the Emotional Intelligence profile to help me understand how they will serve on the team. Unintentionally, the process came down to a lot of concentrated interviewing this past week. In the next few weeks, I’m looking forward to announcing the addition to our team of some key players who will help make the CMN a blessing to everyone involved in any aspect of church multiplication. Stay tuned for more!