The Need – Revitalize God’s Existing Resources
The Las Vegas metro region is home to more than 2.2 million residents. According to one mission board, over 92% of this population is unchurched, over 1.9 million people. The difficult question is how can so many be reached? The answer to reaching this vast region is multifaceted. Our calling is to church revitalization. In Las Vegas, Henderson, and surrounding areas such as Boulder City there are thousands of churches. These churches represent resources that belong to God, but many of these resources are underutilized or in disrepair with an aged congregation with a widely unbalanced age gap. For many, the answer to reaching over 1.9 million people is through church planting. This is the path God used to bring us to the Las Vegas area, but God soon chose a different path of church revitalization. in this new direction, God would rebuild using existing resources and a small remnant of dedicated people. Like church planting, this new path of church revitalization is difficult. Pastoring a church on the rebound requires partnerships with those who can support revitalizing efforts and help connect our ministry to available resources.
Here is the perspective from an influential ministry in Las Vegas.
The reality, though, is that even if we grow to 30,000 people, we will not have penetrated the ‘lostness’ of our city by even one percent. Our city is 95% lost. However, if in the same 25-year period we plant and multiply five churches every five years, and those churches multiply five churches every five years… each one simply growing to 200 people… we could plant more than 10,000 churches and reach over 3 million people with the gospel. (Vance Pitman, Pastor of Hope Church, Las Vegas, NV)
Our ministry is to serve in an existing church who is already strategically placed to reach Boulder City and Henderson, part of the Las Vegas metro region. Our goal is not to build another mega-church, but instead to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit to build a healthy church that will have a powerful impact on the community for the cause of Christ.