Antioch Community Church

“Plant a church at UAB.”

Those were not words I ever expected to hear from God.

Yet here we are four months in to watching God do something amazing. The call came in March 2018 followed by months of prayerful consideration and assessment. In October 2018 we shared publicly with the Shades family the vision and invited you to pray about joining us. And on January 20, 2019 we held our first Core Team Gathering. 

What We've Been Up To

Over these past few months God has assembled a Core Team of 41 adults and 10 children. All life stages are represented in this team which was a major answer to prayer. Our desire is to be a multi-generational church focused on reaching the next generation. 

Continuing to meet every Sunday afternoon for worship and missional training we moved into our initial outreach phase in March. We launched Antioch Families. These are our vehicle for missional engagement. One of the convictions God has given us is the importance of attractional communities not simply attractional events. Jesus said, “ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) So, we want to give those far from God the opportunity to see the gospel through the body of Christ in a non-threatening atmosphere.

An Antioch Family is a co-ed group of 10-20 people that meets in a home and includes two things: dinner and conversation. It provides a welcoming atmosphere for those far from God to belong and it provides an easy ask for us with our lost friends: “Want to come to a dinner party?” 

As people are invited to belong we invite them to believe through reading the Bible together and hearing the gospel.

Since we launched our first three Antioch Families in March we have seen 20 unchurched or de-churched people visit a Family. Of those 20 people include students from India, Nepal, and Taiwan. By God’s grace we are even beginning to see lost people bring other lost people. And God has led one lost student to begin reading the Bible with one of our students. 

God is also beginning to answer our prayer for a cultural diverse church. We recently just had a student from Ghana join our church! 

How to Get Involved

• Join our Prayer Team. There are 60+ people praying for Antioch everyday.  We know that church planting and making disciples is not suited for human wisdom. We need God’s presence, leadership, and wisdom. Would you consider praying for us on a daily basis?
• Volunteer. Throughout the year there will be opportunities to serve with us through set up and tear down as well as helping with events. 

Let us know here if you are interested in supporting us in either of these ways. 

How to Pray

• Meeting space. We are on the hunt for God’s place for us to gather for worship this fall. Pray for God to provide the right place. 
• Relationships with the lost. Pray for God to continue grow our heart for the lost. Pray for opportunities to build new friendships and deepen current ones. Pray that we’d see many students far from Jesus come to know and love him. 

Shades Family, thank you for your prayer, encouragement, and support. I am grateful for you.

Yours,

Kevin