St Joe Community Church
  • Home
  • Connection Groups
    • Connection Groups Headquarters
  • About
    • Beliefs and Values
    • Our membership covenant
    • Ministries
    • Who is Jesus?
    • On Mission
    • 8:30 am & 10:30 am Services
    • Resources
  • Give
  • Sermons
  • Contact

St. Joe News

Photo by Austin Ochoa on Unsplash

Carrying on church legacy

12/3/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
​ROSA SALTER RODRIGUEZ | The Journal Gazette
Link to original article: http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/Carrying-on-church-legacy-8130441.
​
To put it in biblical terms, Fort Wayne’s St. Joe Community Church has stopped worshipping in tents.

The congregation, planted by the Southern Baptist denomination in 2003, has spent more than a decade of existence wandering from one location to another – in all, three schools and a movie theater, said its pastor, Greg Byman.

In February, Byman said, the 120-member congregation had its first chance to worship in an actual church building, Memorial Baptist Church at 2900 N. Anthony Blvd., after that congregation agreed to a location-sharing arrangement.

Now, Byman says, Memorial has agreed to allow St. Joe to have the building all to itself. The two congregations will celebrate today with a 6 p.m. joint worship service with Memorial’s pastor, the Rev. Dave Mitchell, as St. Joe settles into its first permanent home.

Byman said Memorial, a 70-year-old congregation started by First Baptist Church on Fairfield Avenue in Fort Wayne, witnessed declining membership in recent years. A sanctuary designed to hold 250 was drawing only about two dozen on a typical Sunday, he said.

As leaders pondered closing, the church board decided to give the building and contents to St. Joe at no cost.

"This is not a merger of congregations or a joining of congregations," said Mitchell. "We are endowing them with our property and building for them to carry on our legacy at that location."

Mitchell said he and his wife, Barbara, will attend St. Joe as will some other Memorial members. Others will choose other churches, he said.

"I call it a bittersweet moment," Byman said. "It’s never fun to watch a congregation pass away. But it’s sweet in the sense that we feel blessed to be called to carry on a ministry to the community."

Byman said St. Joe had been looking to buy its own building as rent went up at its former meeting site, the Carmike Cinema at 3930 E. Dupont Road. It had even made an offer on another building farther west, but was turned down, he said.

The congregation also had been contemplating moving to a another donated property with a building at 9709 N. Clinton St. But now it will use that site as a youth ministry center, with the ultimate aim of becoming a multi-site congregation, Byman said.

He added that St. Joe is still working on exactly how it will use the former Memorial Baptist building.

But, after spending so many years without a space to use during the week for small-group sessions, developing those kinds of ministries and a Sunday school will likely be priorities, he said.

"It’s an overwhelming blessing to have the building and be able to use it more than one day a week," the pastor said. "It’s time for us to stop being portable."

rsalter@jg.net
0 Comments

    News Request
    Have a news item you'd like to see included in St Joe's website, e-news, bulletin, facebook page or twitter page? Submit your news item here.

    Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    December 2015

    Categories

    All
    A Bonnie Doolittle
    A Christopher Mann
    A Jon Moody
    A Joy Geiger
    Event 15th Anniv Cookout 4/21/18
    Event 2019
    Event 2020
    Event 2022 Block Party
    Event Concert
    For-sale
    I: Abortion
    I: Christmas
    I Coronavirus
    I: ReSermon Institute
    I Voter Guide 2018
    I: Youth Camp 2018
    Media Clip
    M Fort Wayne Rescue Mission
    Ministry: A Hope Center
    Missions
    Newsletter
    Newsletter 2018 11 21
    Newsletter 2018 12 05
    Newsletter 2020 01 22
    N St Joe E-News
    S 2019 Best Relationship Ever
    S 22 In 2022
    Sanctity Of Life Sunday
    S Capital Campaign
    S Connection Groups
    S Connection Groups - Women's Book Club
    S: Family Life 2018 - Elephant-Free Family Life
    S Mental Health Ministry
    Sponsor FairHaven Funeral
    Sponsor InkWorks
    Sponsor Windows Doors
    Team Care Team
    Team Greeting Ministry
    VBS 2019
    VBS 2021
    Youth Group

    RSS Feed

    E-news archive

    Picture
    Click here to be taken to the St Joe E-news archive.
Home
About
​> About Our Beliefs and Values
> About Our Member Covenant
> About Ministries
2900 North Anthony Blvd.
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46805
(260) 471-4704 www.StJoeCommunityChurch.org
Sunday Worship: 8:30 AM & 10:30 AM (Live cast at 10:30 am)
Sunday Kids Connection Classes (infants-5th grade):  10:30 AM

Wednesday Prayer & Bible Study:  6:30 PM
Picture
Photos used under Creative Commons from m01229, joncutrer, shixart1985
  • Home
  • Connection Groups
    • Connection Groups Headquarters
  • About
    • Beliefs and Values
    • Our membership covenant
    • Ministries
    • Who is Jesus?
    • On Mission
    • 8:30 am & 10:30 am Services
    • Resources
  • Give
  • Sermons
  • Contact