Couples target area with few churches
Mission USA news story
Lighthouse Church is a new Mennonite Brethren church plant being established on the west side of Denver, Colo. Church planters Josh and Brianne Shaw, along with Graham and Maggie Faul, will give leadership to this new work in an area that currently has few churches.
The Southern District Conference (SDC), Mountain View Community Church (MVCC) of Fresno, Calif., and Mission USA, the church-planting arm of USMB, are supporting Lighthouse Church. In addition, a few Denver churches that are a part of Acts 29, a network of church-planting churches, will provide leadership support.
Both Josh and Brianne were recent interns at MVCC, and MVCC lead pastors Fred Leonard and Dave Thiessen are highly supportive of their vision for planting a church in Denver. MVCC will assume the role of the church plant’s “mother church” even though they are hundreds of miles apart. Thiessen says, “We are thrilled to be able to partner with Mission USA and the Southern District to see a new church plant start in Denver.”
Josh Shaw will complete his master of divinity degree at Denver Seminary in May. Both the Shaws and the Fauls are graduates of Tabor College, where they became acquainted and began to dream about doing ministry together. Josh says, “After I began attending Tabor College, the thought is church planting became more intriguing. Brianne and I have a deep love and compassion for the lost and for those who are unable to defend and provide for themselves.”
The Fauls just finished a ministry stint in Harvey, ND, and will move to Denver in May. “God has given a huge vision for Lighthouse Church,” says Graham. “He's going to use it, he's going to work through it, and I'm excited for the adventure.”
Current plans are for Lighthouse to use a local movie theater in the Colorado Mills Shopping Mall for Sunday morning services and to incorporate home groups as a core element of the makeup of the church.
“This is a great team with varied gifts that will enable them to maximize what they do and do it all very well,” says Don Morris, Mission USA director. “Only about 7 percent of the Denver population attends church on Sunday. Many people worship outdoor activities, almost like a religion. ‘Lighthouse’ is an appropriate name—brightness in the midst of darkness where people headed for destruction can come to know the one true light, Jesus.”
Morris says, “Let’s be reminded to pray for this new work as it will not be easy in this culture.”
Thinking about the magnitude of what God has called them to, Maggie says, “Amidst the challenge of being in over our heads, I am excited to be a part of something that requires God's grace to succeed!”
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