When we moved to Merced we were given a template that recommended perching near fast-growing communities to capture the inevitable new residents actively looking for a new church home.  At one brief time Merced might have resembled that, however, the national financial collapse put an end to that.  It soon became apparent that none of that was relevant to our situation.

My approach was to look for ways to show up at, be present, and join local organizations and groups.  My collection included the Chamber of Commerce, a business networking group, a performing arts board, etc.  With those memberships came people who were curious about what LifeSpring was doing.

At our celebration on Sunday, person after person traced their membership at LifeSpring back to chance meetings with me at various community meetings.  Today you will find people like Amanda who was a member of BNI, a business networking group; Rich and Janell, who were told about LifeSpring by someone else who had met us; Matt and Elena, et al., who were looking for respite after a disillusioning congregational experience; and Ed and Jane who left a local megachurch and are surprised by the welcoming they received at LifeSpring.

I could go on, however I won’t.  It will suffice to say that Merced is filled with people who are looking for simple good news.  It is labor intensive to find them, but it is so well worth the effort.

YOU help us to do this work.