NOW Start Network Continues to Spark

Talk of community partnerships, the blessings of shared space, and investing in new ministry starts across cultural lines reverberated from table groups eager to engage in Christ’s mission to the nations right in their own back yards — and front yards for that matter. Forty five people from around the Northwest gathered at Our Savior Lutheran in Tacoma, Washington in late November of 2019. Zabdi Lopez from Lutheran Latino Ministries in Mt. Angel, Oregon gave insights into how predominantly anglo churches can seed a new branch into Latino communities. 

Aaron Putnam from LINC Bay Area in California gave timely tips for transforming ministries into multi-ethnic centers of worship. Key to both presentations was willfully letting go of control and intentionally passing leadership on to new voices — and new faces — from those new communities. He also helped us begin to recognize potential new leaders so that we may identify them, support them, and give them authority to be the leader God wants them to be for his purpose. 

Before it wrapped up, several groups pitched their new start ideas to our panel of presenters, and two of them split the $1,000 NOW Spark money to get their new starts off the ground. Edgar Burgos planned to use his portion of the Spark money to buy new basketballs and Bibles for a basketball ministry he has launched among Latino youth. SonShiners Ministry, through Ascension Lutheran Church, has just begun to reach for their dream of being the helping hands of Jesus to seniors in need; the Spark funds will go a long way toward making that dream a reality.