If you have been around the Rock Church and World Outreach Center for any length of time or are familiar with all things ‘Rock’ then you know that we have planted some churches in Southern California. In fact it is one of the seven pillars that make us who we are. Along with the changes in leadership at our church we have seen some major changes in two of our church plants. Sometimes when we see the words ‘major changes’ we immediately go negative. I am excited to report that neither of these changes are negative.
First of all I am happy to tell you that Pastors David and Dionne Archibeck are doing well. They followed the call of God a few years back to plant a church just north of San Diego in the Poway area. After a few years of pastoring and trying to build a church they saw limited fruit. Through the process of prayer and some supernatural connections they were pleased to meet an area pastor with a young and growing church that they befriended. As they built their friendship they realized that this was a God connection and there was a Divine plan. After a lot of prayer and thought they made the decision to merge churches and combine their efforts to build the kingdom of God. Today they are helping as associate pastors and their family continues to thrive. How awesome that God had a plan for these two churches to unite and take more ground together!
Second I wanted to tell you about what God is doing in the church we planted in South Riverside under the leadership of Pastors Tom and Heather Flores. We met with Pastor Tom recently and he shared that he has seen God moving their church in a different direction and made us aware that he and Heather had been in prayer about changing the name of the church. We thought this was a good idea with the new direction and would only help us have a better relationship in the future because it clarifies their mission and shows they are doing uniquely what God has called them to do. They announced recently that they have changed their name to Elevate Life Church. I love it!
Even with both of these changes it doesn’t change their history or stop us from loving them and praying for their success. We are one body in Christ but we havre different functions. Rather than separate we celebrate the different churches. That is why we pray for them each time we gather before hearing the Word of God. We don’t care about the name on the building; what matters is the name of Jesus! Through all the changes Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever and He is the Great Shepherd of the sheep. It is His church and any changes He is making can only turn out for good. We are all doing our best to follow Him and come along side the great work He is doing on the earth of building the church.
