Building a Partnership in New Bedford, MA for the Gospel
by Mike Godfrey, Associate Pastor
Last year our church met Morgan Proudfoot and Evan Welch on a Wednesday night. Morgan serves as a pastor at Grace Harbor Church in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Morgan came to share with the First Coast Churches annual meeting along with two pastor/planters from New England. However, we had asked Morgan if he would speak to our church about what it would look like to partner with Grace Harbor Church in their effort to reach New Bedford with the gospel of Jesus. Prior to that Wednesday evening, I had met Morgan along with pastor David during a vision trip to New England in September of 2022.
After many conversations David and I along with Morgan agreed that entering a church planting partnership with Grace Harbor was where the Lord was guiding us. Thus we began supporting the work financially funds from the church planting line of our budget.
Money is good and helpful, but there is more to partnership than money. Thus, our first step to further build this partnership was for Carrie and I to attend an event in New Bedford called the neighborhood churches weekender. “Neighborhood Churches” is the name of the strategy that Grace Harbor emplys as a church planting church in the forgotten places of New England starting in New Bedford.
What did we see?
We saw a church committed to the Scriptures, building a culture of Christ-honoring community and seeking to carry the gospel into their neighborhood. Carrie and I were deeply encouraged by Grace Harbor in our time.
We also saw that for the South Coast region of Massachusetts, which includes New Bedford, there is a population of 350,000 people and almost no churches. We saw this with our own eye, and it humbled our hearts.
We saw an empty church building that had been handed over to Neighborhood Churches with the last members of the dying church asking them to “not sell the building, please just keep this a church.” We sang and prayed along with other weekender attendees in a building that stands empty each Sunday with no one to sing, preach and pray, no one reaching out to the neighborhood – we prayed for the Lord to raise up a missionary church planting team to come to this neighborhood and give the life-giving message of Jesus to a community where the gospel is not heard. We saw this more than once. It brought us to tears, it broke our hearts.
We also saw people whose lives have been changed by the gospel. We met Omar, Missy, Ruby and many others who were not looking for God, but God found them through the ministry of Grace Harbor Church – and brothers and sisters there are thousands like them in the city of New Bedford and the forgotten places of New England.
This is why Carrie and I went, this is why we partner as a church, this is why as a church we will work to go.
So here is what we must do as a church in order to be a real partner to this church and not a partner in name only:
We must pray – Jesus said… “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”[1] – Will you be faithful to pray for Grace Harbor Church and for the mission of Neighborhood Churches?
We must give – Grace Harbor church has no paid staff members, all pastors and ministry workers are support based. They raise their own salaries. You can support one of their staff through a regular or one time donation. If you will do this, reach out to me and I will show you how you can. We will continue to support the mission of the church through our missions giving as a church as well.
We must go – Carrie and I had to ask the question to ourselves, “is it time for us to go?” We believe God has us here at FBCOP for now, but when the Lord says go, it’s time to go. New England’s forgotten places don’t just need pastor/planters…it needs Christians. Christians who will move into these neighborhoods for the purpose of telling someone about Jesus who had never heard about the real Jesus. Even if you will not move to New England you will have opportunities for short term mission trips and we will go to help this church reach the community they are in for God’s glory.
Lord willing, in the coming months we will share some of the amazing stories we saw in New Bedford. I am confident that like Carrie and I, your hearts will sing with the glories of our risen savior Jesus who is saving a people for himself from every tribe tongue and nation.
Good partnerships are hard work and precious joys, and this partnership will be the same for us if we will commit as a church to be faithful. Brothers and Sisters let’s do this good work for our King.
Grace & Peace,
MG
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[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 9:37–38.