Church Plant Partner Update - Bedrock Church

---

If you give through 3Circle Church, you support church plants, missionaries, and compassion ministries locally, regionally, and globally. Below is an update from one of the church planters in Philadelphia, PA that you support. In the letter, Pastor Drew celebrates what God has done, and tells about a few of the opportunities they have in the coming months. 
__________________________

Hello Church Partners! 

Our church recently celebrated its four-year anniversary this past Sunday! God has been doing so much to grow and mobilize His people here. From the start, our calling was to plant a church in a community that has lacked a gospel presence. We see ourselves as a gospel-bridge between two neighborhoods, Fishtown and Kensington. Each has been overwhelmed by darkness in different ways. 

Fishtown is a neighborhood that largely would be identified as a post-Christian community. It is the fastest growing neighborhood in the city mostly due to its role in shaping progressive culture in Philadelphia. In short, this is not a place where a community of believers should be forming and growing, but it is. We have gone from a small team of outsiders looking to start something new to a local church who gathered over 120 people this past Easter to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Kensington is one of the darkest places in the United States. It is well-known for being ground zero for the opioid epidemic. The New York Times wrote an article titling it the “Walmart of Heroin” in 2018. Since then, the opioid epidemic has only worsened. The Kensington and the Fishtown neighborhoods are separated only by one street. Over the past couple years our outreach in Kensington has become a regular part of our ministry. 

Our summer outreach has been a crucial part of our ministry as we have many unique opportunities to expand our presence in both Fishtown and Kensington. We have been establishing our outreach efforts over the past four years. This year feels like the first time that we are familiar enough with our cost and capacity that we can formally invite you to contribute financially. Our events have also grown and require more partnership in order to accomplish. If you would like to come join us in any of this work we would love to partner with you! 

THE GOAL: 
Our goal is to raise $20,000 for our summer outreach. This amount would cover the cost of our summer outreach opportunities. 

Summer Outreach Event: 

Summer Splash:
Summer Splash is an event for families that leads into our VBS week. This event is hosted in a local park and includes inflatable water slides, water games, face painting, hot dogs, popcorn, and cotton candy. The event will be hosted on Saturday, July 26th. In addition to the cost of supplies for Summer Splash, the inflatables and permit would cost around $1,500. We are excited to have this event at a new park this year and invite new families to participate in VBS. 

Vacation Bible School:
This is our second year hosting Vacation Bible School. We are hoping to increase our marketing efforts and invitations for both Summer Splash and VBS. If we send out mailers to engage more of our community it would cost us around $1,500. 

Grill Ministry:
The Grill Ministry is exactly what it sounds like! We are parking on Kensington Ave and serving burgers and hot dogs. This is a simple ministry but has been one of our greatest catalysts for evangelism. It creates a unique opportunity to pray over and restore people out of addiction and into the loving arms of Jesus. Each time we do this ministry it costs us $400.

Monthly Service at the Table Ministry:
We serve with the Table Ministry monthly. We set up at the parking lot of Sankofa School on Kensington Ave and serve food, preach the gospel, wash and cut hair, provide live worship, give clothing, and provide first-aid medical care. Each time we serve it costs us a minimum of $700. 

Serve Team Weekends:
We will have at least 3 serve team weeks and weekends this summer. These teams significantly increase our ability to have an impact. We will have hosting-related costs like food and housing. These teams will be helping us accomplish many of the events we have listed in this email. 

Serve Philly Weekend:
This is our biggest outreach event of the summer. We will be hosting many teams from partner churches. During this weekend we are hoping to serve in a number of ways such as community clean-up, hosting a block party in Kensington, and more. 

Additional Need: 
Truck: A majority of these events require the transportation of a large amount of items. We are looking for a truck that would help with these outreach events. We could use a pick-up truck or a small box truck. 

We are prayerfully asking you and your congregation or social network to consider giving towards what God is doing here in Philadelphia. We believe that we are at the beginning of a new network of churches that God is raising up throughout this city and that this summer is a critical moment in seeing that vision come to fruition. 

You can give towards our campaign below. 
GIVE HERE

Thank you for your time and prayerful consideration. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to reach out! 

Grace and Peace, 
Drew Guensch
Lead Elder, Bedrock Church 
bedrockfishtown.com

________________________________

 

---