Sojourn Elders Answer Questions About Multi-Campus, part two: Why St. Matthews?

Brothers and sisters:

Thanks again for the many well spoken questions you’ve asked, concerning the decision to open a Sojourn campus in St. Matthews.  Thank you also for your patience in waiting for answers.  Today we’re going to tackle one of the questions we’ve heard most often:

Why St. Matthews?

We understand the question. St. Matthews isn’t the poorest community in Louisville, it’s not the most multi-cultural, it isn’t in the inner city and it doesn’t have a reputation for being a center for the arts.  So what is Sojourn’s interest in St. Matthews?  Is it because lots of Sojourners live there?  Is it because the region contains a seminary?  Is it because there are less churches in St. Matthews?

No on all counts.  We’re going to St. Matthews because this is where God has opened the door and led us at this time.

As we’ve said many times in Member Classes, Sojourn isn’t an institution, it is a movement.  Our desire is to let God use us as agents for renewal and gospel transformation throughout the Louisville area.   This includes every sector of the city and Southern Indiana.  Saying “Yes” to St. Matthews is not a “No” to Shively, to New Albany, to the South End or downtown, either in terms of Sojourn campuses, working with existing churches, sending church planters or doing Seed projects.

God opened this door when we weren’t even looking for it to be opened in this place.  But God is amazing and now that the door is opened, He has confirmed this decision in our hearts.  We are excited.  As the famous missionary William Carey said, “Expect great things from God.  Attempt great things for God.”  As we step out in faith, we truly are expecting great things from God.  He will never call us to something that He won’t empower us to do.

A couple months ago, Lifespring Community Church approached us.  They are a Christ-centered community that has been laboring faithfully for 2 ½ years in St. Matthews.  Nevertheless, they hadn’t seen a lot of growth and so they were looking to partner with a gospel-preaching church.  This began a conversation that has lasted a couple months, although we have known their leaders for much longer.

Lifespring pastors Mike Graham and Dan Horton (whom our Pastor Daniel has known since each of their days in seminary) are entering Sojourn’s elder process, just like anyone with the qualifications and desire to become a Sojourn elder would do.  The Lifespring members voted to join us and will take Sojourn membership classes this summer.  We are already partnering with them on many levels to make the integration as seamless and productive as possible between now and the official launch date of Sunday, August 9.

We continue to bathe this process in prayer and listen to the Spirit’s voice.  We’re excited about building on the groundwork Lifespring has begun, adding to their numbers and moving forward with gospel proclamation and kingdom work in this area.  In the meantime, remember two things:

1. We are not abandoning Germantown or the inner city, just as we did not abandon the arts community when we moved from the Highlands to Germantown.
2. No person, group or sector needs the gospel  less than any other.  Without Christ, they are all dead in sin and destined for hell.  We refuse to cede one inch of this metropolitan area to Satan. There is no area we are afraid to enter just as we know there is no area you are afraid to enter.  But the timing and means of bringing the gospel to each part of Kentuckiana is under God’s command – we simply need to be obedient to walk through the doors that He opens.

We continue to ask for your prayers in this process.  We also ask, as always, that you pray for God’s will to be done in this city, the region, and throughout the world.

The Elders

Read Part One: “Are We Giving Up On Church Planting?”