Gig Harbor Community Development

Fresh on the heels of my meeting with the folks from NLF, I met with leaders from several churches in Gig Harbor to talk about how we can work together to develop the community around us. Again, what a great meeting!

We all seemed to be on the same page with everything--that Incarnational ministry was the key to making a significant difference for the kingdom of God, that parachurch ministries and other agencies were doing a better job at this than most churches, and that the best way for us to move forward would be to partner with these agencies to help the community of Gig Harbor.

The next step for us is to talk to the leaders of our respective churches, find out the key ministry areas that each of our churches are interested in, and then come back together to see where our interests overlap. This way, we can have the support of the leadership to make sure that this multi-church effort is a success.

I am excited about what is going to come of this. Although I want to see our church strengthen its relationship to Tacoma, I would also love to see us helping people here in the Harbor. After all, there are legitimate needs here, they just aren't always as blatant as they are in the Hill-Top area or in East Tacoma.

The combined work of all of the churches in Gig Harbor could make some serious progress for the kingdom of God. Chapel Hill Presbyterian, the largest church in Gig Harbor, already does some great things (as do the other churches, but we don't have near the resources and influence of Chapel Hill). I can only imagine what we can do if we pool our efforts. I imagine a time when the Gig Harbor churches have built such a reputation for community development that when the city faces a crisis it looks to us for relief. THAT would be cool. We'll be there some day. This is a much-needed first step.