Grace Community Church joined Harbor Network in January. This association of churches is gathered around a common commitment to growing the body of Christ, and Harbor Network churches are committed to church planting as an essential component of church growth.
As a member of Harbor Network, Grace has connected with many pastors and church planters who have worked to start new churches. We also have access to training resources, conferences for our pastors and leaders, and money to help pay the salaries of church planters.
Grace has recently participated with the network in a conference and a planning retreat. In October, we sent both staff and lay/volunteer leaders to Harbor Network’s bi-annual conference in Louisville, Kentucky. The focus of the conference was to promote the value of Godly friendship in the church. Though this may seem like an obvious value that all churches would naturally embrace, Harbor did a great job of teaching and leading participants toward a more nuanced understanding of the importance of healthy friendships within the church. The speakers and sessions pointed out that a culture of Godly friendship is a prerequisite for communities to work well together—including working to plant new churches.
In September, four of Grace’s pastors met with other local pastors and Harbor Network representatives to develop collaborative church-planting approaches. Harbor knows from experience that many churches who want to plant new congregations are too small to do the work by themselves. While Grace is not too small, other churches in our area might be. The September meeting began the process of churches in the greater Iowa City area working together to plant churches throughout Eastern Iowa.
Harbor Network is not a denomination. It also doesn’t hold any authority over our church, and our participation is completely voluntary. Since our official activities with the network are likely to wax and wane over time, you may not hear about things that are happening in the network very frequently, but updates are always available. Part of Pastor Jason’s job is to be the church’s official liaison with the network. Feel free to ask him questions about Harbor Network at jasonb@graceb3.org.
