55.5 Square Miles
Within an area of 55.5 square miles, not very far from where I write these words, is a community which is home to fortune 500 companies, seats of commerce, houses of industry and institutions of innovation and education. Within those 55.5 square miles, hundreds of thousands work, live, and build relationships. Millions more live just outside the area.
The community found within that tract of land is known for an uncanny ability to reinvent itself; so resilient are these people that the recent G-20 Summit was hosted there to showcase one city’s ability to not only weather but grow stronger through economic crises and global storms.
Within those 55.5 square miles, you will find incredible fusions of old and new, stayed and untried. You will also find 455 bridges, 712 public stairways, 8 tunnels, 90 distinctive neighborhoods, and 140 separately identifiable ethnic groups.
But you won’t find a single Wesleyan Church.
In fact, you won’t find a Wesleyan church within what is considered ‘reasonable driving distance’ of those 55.5 square miles.
I’m sharing about the city of Pittsburgh, where “95 percent of the local population has no recognizable, identifiable relationship with Jesus Christ.”
Sarah and I, partnering with the Cox family (Rick, Eunice, and Trevor), and, hopefully, partnering with you, are working to change at lease one of those statistics. The Coxes and Gomezes have joyfully accepted the call to church planting in the Pittsburgh region and are growing in passion for what we sense as God’s desire in the area.
Our heart’s passion is to see a multiethnic, multicultural church right in the ‘Burgh. We sense God’s leadership in developing a relevant, engaging hub of ministry to people from a variety of cultural, economic, and spiritual backgrounds–where once steel was forged, now lives are fused with the Spirit of God, strengthened and engaged as members of His Body. What we can see is a multiplication center working within the heart of the city where countless individuals are sent out as missionaries to the communities of Pittsburgh, the surrounding areas, throughout the region and around the world. In fact, God is already drawing people to be part of this great work and we believe His dreams are far bigger than ours.
Does any of this stir your heart with excitement and passion? If so, remain on the lookout because in a few days, we’ll be sending you more information on how you can be involved in this Great Pittsburgh Adventure.
