Partner Stories
The Living Church
A fresh wind of the Spirit has blown into two Alliance churches in the Midwest. Setting examples of Christ’s love through practical demonstration, Crossroads Church in Perry, Iowa, and New Beginnings Christian Fellowship in Maywood, Illinois, are causing their communities to stand up and take notice.
The Early Church in the Book of Acts practiced community daily, serving, giving, and helping one another. Today Crossroads and New Beginnings, as well as many other Alliance churches, are living out the Early Church example by serving people. “One event,” says Crossroads’ Pastor Rick Gates, “is for church members to plug into different community groups that they can serve for an entire week.”
Gates shampooed all of the carpets in a local school. Others cleaned windshields at a local grocery store and handed out free water bottles at civic functions. Since beginning the planned service outreaches, many civic groups as well as individuals have solicited the church’s help.
At New Beginnings, Pastor David Torres met with the mayor of Maywood and several others from nearby Chicago suburbs. Of the 80 churches in the city, the mayor told Torres that none has ever offered its services. “He’s excited about working with our church and agreed to shut down the church’s street for a day to hold a back—to—school festival,” says Torres.
Because of their presence and service in their cities, both churches have outgrown current rental facilities, which New Beginnings shares with two civic organizations. Through The Alliance Development Fund (ADF), the churches are now in the process of purchasing their own properties. ADF has enabled Crossroads to build a simple, steel—framed sanctuary that will seat 500 and New Beginnings to purchase an old church building in the heart of downtown Maywood.
These Alliance churches are stirring things up in their communities through the selfless contribution of their members. Today, Alliance churches are showing Christianity through practical demonstrations instead of just talking about it. Residents see the gospel in action and visit the churches. As one young woman said recently at Crossroads, “I’ve always been told that the church is people. I never saw it until I came here.”