Adventures in Church Planting (Part 1)

Our journey has been an interesting one lately, as we are in the process of planting Vertical Church. To lead a church is a challenge. Make no mistake about it, being a pastor is different than being an entrepreneur. If you want to be a business leader, then I encourage you to open a McDonalds or barbershop. Not that owning either is any less respectable, but when a business leader goes home, they don’t have to think about the homes of their workers. A pastor must not only be concerned about the “business”, but the struggles and successes of people they lead. That is a massive difference.

Add to the struggle of being a pastor, the challenge of starting something from scratch. Anyone, who has been through the process of creating a new and vibrant work where there was none, can get a glimpse of what we have been facing. Add to that, my own unique call to reach college students and the urban poor, and you can more fully understand the task we have been given.

I find myself waking up exhausted and wondering why I am doing this! Then I remember that God is the one who calls people into what He desires to do. The fact that He has called us to do this tremendous job is incredible. That doesn’t decrease the challenge, but it gives us courage. I have been driving through the area, finding myself near tears at the thought that God could do something amazing there. Now that the college students have returned to the campuses, they are buzzing around, and I am reminded of my passion for the campus and urban community.

We are intensely searching for more financial supporters for both our family missions fund and for the church as a whole. We are hopefully wrapping up a location for our next few worship gatherings, along with sound equipment, musicians, and singers. Two big things that have happened is our website www.verticalATL.com is up and running and we recently received a donation of $15,000 from New Life Church in VA.

Supporting Vertical Church –Donations sent to P.O. Box 11480 Atlanta, Georgia 30310 or visit us online @verticalatl.com

Supporting the Boyd family – Donations can be made on-linewww.hhmin.org then clicking the make a donation icon on the home page, then select the Donate to Helping Hands Approved Projects icon, then select Ministry on the category drop down list, then select DamianZarat Boyd