Yesterday's Visits

I had a fabulous day in the Utica area yesterday networking. I visited some really great churches and one ministry in particular ... The Good News Foundation, Utica, NY Mike & Andrea run this retreat house and center for evangelism. They are Roman Catholics. The Foundation is not under the Diocese of Syracuse but works closely with them. Their primary goal is to spread the good news of Jesus Christ as Savior. Mike has been in this position for 2 months moving over from the banking industry. We visited for about an hour and half. One church in Utica that is in danger of closing they are working closely with to ignite some excitement. I almost cried. They're working with St. Joe's-St. Pat's, which is my mother's family's parish. My parents, aunts & uncles & cousins were all married there, most of them were baptized there too. I've been there once a year for the past three years or so for the funeral of my grandfather, and my great aunt & uncle. Cornerstone Community Church, New York Mills, NY I love to see when a new church plant takes an old church building and brings it to life. This is an very old church building. I'm guessing the turn of last century or earlier. But the Cornerstone people have done a wonderful job remodeling. The fellowship hall had several couches to give it a coffeehouse feel and a wall paper border with café scenery. The kitchen was beautiful with the old black and white checkered tile floor and brightly colored walls. The children's area had a rear projection screen and a junlge theme. It's an odd structure. When you come in the front door to the narthex, you have to either go up to the sanctuary or down to the fellowship hall and classrooms. It's like entering in on an in-between level. Best of all, this is a church preaching the good news of Jesus Christ and doing so in a culturally relevant way. Nice print pieces & website. I'm going to have to make a Sunday morning visit. Mt. Zion Ministries, Utica, NY A great pentecostal church with strong compassion ministries, in the neighborhood where I grew up. They were instrumental in bring evangelist Carlos Annacondia to Utica. They have a beautiful facility with a narthex that has that mall feel like Willowcreek. Every person in Utica I've asked, "Who are the most influential churches?" the first one out of their mouth is Mt. Zion Ministries. Everybody respects them for their food distribution. Best of all they have a Saturday night service. There must be some ex-Catholics influencing them. First Assembly of God, Marcy, NY The church I hear mentioned second most often is First Assembly. This is one of those great stories of a church that's out in the country/small town in between Utica and Rome, and it's grown huge. God has blessed them. It's not always about location, location, location. More often ministry growth is about the Spirit of God moving in powerful ways. I took a new way home driving the back roads between Marcy and Trenton through the sleepy village of Stittville, driving past the tomb of revelutionary war hero Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus Steuben, Baron von Steuben. This is a hilly drive out of the Mohawk Valley. You can see for miles. The sun was out for the first time in weeks and the leaves were stunningly beautiful. (I included the Wiki reference in case you forgot what the sun was.)