Facebook & Website

Instead of posting here, we are frequently providing updates about our ministry, family, and life on Facebook. Please check us out there, under user name: Greg-Rebekah Hubbard (you'll have to sign in to Facebook after you click the link).

Also, keep up with the latest info about our ministry through the Orchard Group Facebook Page and the updated Orchard Group Website.

Ireland

Up next . . . a new church in the Republic of Ireland in 2012. Here's a preview of what is coming.

One Month Away

As I write this, the calendar reads August 11, 2011, exactly one month before the 10th Anniversary of the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001.

Check out all the info, including the video, about our special memorial on that day.

"Launching" (?) a Church in New York City

What he said. Pretty much exactly.

It's like all my ministry experiences boiled down into one simple way of putting it. Cannot wait to see this seed grow in New York City.

An Historic Location

We are unpacking and setting up our new home in Newtown, PA. Our neighbors commute to both New York City and Philadelphia for work.

HISTORIC FOR THE U.S.:
Newtown is an historic borough which was settled by William Penn many moons ago. We are just minutes away from the location where George Washington made his historic crossing of the Delaware River. Over the past 15 years this area has become a popular home base for commuters. Nearby railways go to New York City. Interstate 95 provides direct access to Center City Philadelphia.

Although we are still overwhelmed with transition details, we are thrilled to finally be here!

HISTORIC FOR US:
Greg will be speaking at Princeton Community Church this Sunday. Rebekah and Greg met at that church in 1994 when Greg was there helping plant the church. We now live about 15-20 minutes away. It will be good to re-connect with everyone there. It was a ground-breaking church plant for Orchard Group at the time as we learned much about how to plant churches in a new way.

What This is All About

Reports from this past Sunday of significant developments in people's lives from churches Orchard Group has helped start recently:

From our new church in Allentown, PA: "10 baptisms today. One of them is an atheist who has a very, very rough past and is currently in a bit of a mess. He has been attending Legacy since the 1st month and finally surrendered to Christ today. Both he and his wife were baptized today . . . Additionally, two of our Roller Derby (tattooed, pierced; colored hair) ladies were baptized today . . . This give Legacy a total of 42 baptisms since launch."

From our recently planted church in Baltimore: "best part of the day was after service i had a grown man come up to me bawling and couldn't stop for 5 solid minutes. eventually i realized that nothing was wrong--he just finally GOT IT today!"

Love Prevails Video

Check out the Love Prevails video, regarding our memorial of the tenth anniversary of 9/11. We invite you to join is in marking an anniversary of sorrow with a message of hope!

Homeless As Part of Our Transition

We are now homeless! . . . but in the best sense of the term.

Our house in Indiana is sold and we delivered possession. We are still several weeks away from closing on and getting into our new home in the Northeast. In the meantime, we have spent some time in New Jersey and will soon be based out of Rebekah's parents' home in Grand Rapids, Michigan for a few weeks (except for the times that our travels take us to other project locations)!

It is All Happening Now!

So many things are happening right now!

Our church plant teams in Buffalo and in New York City are preparing for their churches to begin meeting this fall. Constant arrangements to be made in preparation for those. We also have teams on the ground in the LA area and in central Phoenix who are at various stages in their launches.

We have a deal to sell our house in Indiana (closing this Friday!). We have also just entered an agreement to buy a townhouse right in the region where the New York City Metro Area intersects the Philadelphia Metro Area, in Newtown, PA. It is minutes from the New Jersey border and centrally located between all of the projects with which I will be involved! Lots of details still to come together. It will probably be mid-July before we are moved in there.

Lots of churches around the country are also getting involved in Love Prevails this coming Sunday, September 11, the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. The celebration on that day will be a key part to raising the funding Orchard Group needs to prepare for the next decade of church planting in the Northeast and beyond. It will also help us with our personal fundraising for this year. Lots to do for our fundraising for next year, though!

Please pray for Rebekah, Tori, Lucas, Niles, and me as the transition is now not just a future event, but is now right on top of us!

Good News About Our House!

We are now in contract to sell our house in Indiana! Please pray with us that the deal closes without any glitches.

This is a huge milestone as we prepare to re-locate to the Northeast in between our kids' school years! Please pray that the details all come together!

Speaking of which, we could use help with a few things.

If anyone has any connections with any movers, we could use a deal on moving and storage. Perhpas someone could use this as their way to contriubte to church planting in the Northeast! The task we have before us is beyond a "do-it-yourself" move (we've done that one more than a few times in the past) and we will likely need to store some things for a few weeks as part of the move. Let us know of any leads!

Along those lines, it would be a tremendous one-time giving opportunity for anyone who would could help us cover moving expenses!

From New York City, the News About Osama Bin Laden

I am writing this from New York City. It is fascinating to be here as the news reports about Bin Laden's death are taking over everyone's attention. People are saying things like "justice is served" and "we have prevailed."

On the one hand, it is strange that everyone is celebrating the death of a human being. Yet on the other hand, I am sure the world is a better place with one less terrorist mastermind.

Overall, though, what has impressed me today is that we (people like you and me) already knew that love overcame the evil of 9/11 long before we heard this fascinating news about the death of Osama.

I've blogged about it before, but it bears repeating at a time (and from a place) like this:

September 11, 2001

We all remember where we were and what we were doing.

3,000 lives were lost that day. America was changed forever.

Many of us gave sacrifically to help the families impacted by the terrorist strikes.

Ten years later it is clear…

LOVE PREVAILS

Out of the rubble, God is bringing good.

Since 2001 Orchard Group has been involved with -

12 new churches in the New York City area

24 new churches around the northeast region

Over 2,000 baptisms

September 11, 2011 falls on a Sunday. Mark an anniversary of sorrow with a message of hope –

LOVE PREVAILS!

One way in which we will be encouraging churches to participate is by receiving an offering on September 11, 2011 so more new churches can join those already thriving in New York and Washington and Pennsylvania.

If this news about Bin Laden's death has impacted you, I would like to challenge you, your family, and/or your church to invest in the real victories, the kindgom victories, being won each day as new churches are coming to life in New York and the Northeast, the very same places targeted by terrorists almost ten years ago.

New York City Planter's Story

My last post linked to photos from the team planting in New York City this fall. Here's a glimpse at the spiritual story of lead planter Chris Travis, in his recently-published own words.

Upper Manhattan Church Plant

Some photos from from the upcoming new church launch in New York City, taken from the rough draft of the church's website.

Buffalo Project Update

Here's an update I recently received from our team leader in Buffalo. So many good things in it that I that I would share it in raw form below. I've been meeting with this team (mostly by phone) every Thursday to work on their legal and administrative start-up details. I like what I'm hearing and seeing.

------

Hey guys,

Just wanted to let you know that our website was launched last night at House Church. We are really excited about it, and would love to hear your impressions so we can fine tune it before we start advertising beyond our band of faithful House Church members. www.villagechurchbflo.com

Audra and I met several of our neighbors this weekend too, the weather in Buffalo was perfect for 2 days in a row! These are people that we have waved to and exchanged brief pleasantries with up to this point. This weekend was different, as all our kids were playing across 4 yards in from of our houses and all the parents were there too, really good conversations and connections. Aynsley (my 4 yr old daughter) was inviting everyone to House Church, I was humbled and encouraged by her excitement, and the reception that our neighbors had to the idea. None of them are walking with Jesus, not one. I ask you to pray with me for David and Amber, Kelly, Meg and Steve, Liz and Steve, Jim and Caroline, and Mike and Ginny. There are also 6 kids in the 4 houses in a row, so pray for them too.

I also have an open conversation with a Catholic school in our neighborhood, that would be an awesome place to meet this fall. Nardin Academy is in the middle of our target, and they seem very open to the idea of working with us. They are meeting as a leadership team this week to discuss the possibility, so please be in prayer for that as well.

The office space that we made an offer on doesn't seem to be working out... I am playing email/phone tag with the landlord, but he doesn't seem very excited about our proposal. I will keep you in the loop.

I really appreciate you guys being on our team, and look forward to an amazing year.

--
Jeremy Hazelton
Lead Pastor, The Buffalo Project

Mission to the City

A friend of mine recently wrote: "God lives in the mountains and the beaches, but he is even more visible in the city."

I agree wholeheartedly.

Although I love the ocean and find spiritual renewal there, I also love New York City. Every time I am there I see something new that I don't completely understand. It reminds me how small I am, how big God is, and how much more there is to do on his mission.

The world is no longer best understood by national boundaries. It is understood by its major, global impact cities. More people live in cities than ever before. And it is not just the poor or ethnic minorities. (That day is long gone.) It is now the preferred dwelling of many in the creative class, those who come up with the ideas that shape the future of the world.

America is an urban nation. More than two thirds of Americans live on the three percent of land that contains our cities. Yet cities get a bad rap: they’re dirty, poor, unhealthy, crime ridden, expensive, environmentally unfriendly… Or are they?

Recent studies are showing another view of reality: cities are actually the healthiest, greenest, and richest (in cultural and economic terms) places to live. New Yorkers, for instance, live longer than other Americans; heart disease and cancer rates are lower in Gotham than in the nation as a whole. More than half of America’s income is earned in twenty-two metropolitan areas. And city dwellers use, on average, 40 percent less energy than suburbanites. (see Triumph of the City by Edward Glaeser.)

Church planting in these urban centers is the future (really the present) of our mission to the world.

It has been said that salvation history started in a garden (Genesis 1-3) and will end in a city (Revelation 21-22). We are heading for the Holy City, the city of hope.

True North State of Mind

Rapper Jay-Z has a recent hit called "Empire State of Mind," which is very modern tribute to New York City (think Frank Sinatra if had been born in Harlem and 50 years later).

If this is just outside your realm of musical knowledge, see Tori for details!

But if you know the song at all, you might appreciate the video at this link, which was used two Sundays ago at the premeire of a new facility for True North Community Church on Long Island, New York. It is easily the largest church we have ever seen spring to life on densely populated Long Island.

Yo, enjoy.

Pieces of our Mission

Just returned from speaking at a church east of Cincinnati about the recent impact of church planting in the northeast. That church supports our new plant in Annapolis, Maryland.

I'll be meeting with the team in Annapolis in the upcoming days as well as with our team in nearby Baltimore.

I'll also be participating in a college course entitled "Exegeting the City" in New York City as part of Orchard Group's partnership with Ozark Christian College.

Along the way I'll be also be spending some time in NJ and PA. Finally, I'll be speaking for a missions weekend at a church near Reading, PA.

Busy days -- all exciting pieces of our overarching mission to plant growing and reproducing chruches in New York and the Northeast!

First 100 Days

I have been on the road a lot for fundraising and to work with our church plant teams. In the past 100 days I have made trips to:

New York City
Albany, New York
Las Vegas
Miami
Cincinnati
Louisville
Denver
Salt Lake City
Grayson, Kentucky
Buffalo, New York (well, the airspace above the city, at least! weather kept me from ever landing there)

Rebekah and Tori have also visited New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvannia during this time. Rebekah and Niles went with me to Albany.

I'm tired! I'm also very excited by what I see. Seeds planted in the past are being harvested now. People all over the country are beginning to partner with us financially as well, though there is still much more needed.

P.S. The ten year anniversay of 9/11 is six months from the date I am posting this. Churches around the country are committing to a special offering that day (or other creative ways to give) to NY Church Planting in celebration of the reality that despite the evil behind 9/11, Love Prevails in NY and the Northeast United States.

Love Prevails -- More Info

September 11, 2001

We all remember where we were and what we were doing.

3,000 lives were lost that day. America was changed forever.

Many of us gave sacrifically to help the families impacted by the terrorist strikes.

Ten years later it is clear…

Love Prevails
Out of the rubble, God is bringing good.

Since 2001 Orchard Group has been involved with -

12 new churches in the New York City area

24 new churches around the northeast region

Over 2,000 baptisms

September 11, 2011 falls on a Sunday. Mark an anniversary of sorrow with a message of hope – Love Prevails!

One way in which we will be encouraging churches to participate is by receiving an offering on September 11, 2011 so more new churches can join those already thriving in New York and Washington and Pennsylvania.

Videos and print materials will soon be available to your church for that memorable anniversary.

Love Prevails - September 11, 2011

September 11 of this year will mark the 10th Anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC. September 11 is also a Sunday this year.

"Love Prevails" is Orchard Group's way of honoring the tenth anniversary of that day by celebrating kingdom things that have happened in the region since that day (maybe even somewhat because of that day). It will also be our way of looking forward to planting more new churches for this region of the country and seeing New York become a staging center for new church planting in other global urban centers.

I just spent several days in New York City with the rest of the Orchard Group Team planning and preparing for Love Prevails. I hope that you and your church will be part of it on September 11. More to come . . . .

New Church for New York City

Watch a short video about a new church for New York City, which is set to begin meeting this year!

Support Update

Based on firm commitments, we have about 12% of our monthly support raised. This amount could go up to 30%, 40%, or more, based on pending requests.

10,000: A Number That Matters

I am the last person to think that you can measure the success of a church by the number of people in attendance -- who would think a church was doing great things if it merely stole the members from every other church in its region in order to grow large?

Yet I also know that in the Northeast church leaders have struggled for decades without the numbers to show for it, and therefore when larger numbers of people become involved in church in this region, it really means something.

That is why it is significant that last Easter Sunday there were nearly 10,000 people in attendance in churches started by Orchard Group in the Northeast over the past two decades.

While it is not about the numbers, that is one number I know from experience really means something significant.

More About Greg's Specific Job

My role is needed now because so many new churches are being started that the President needs to hand off many of his duties to me so that he can focus on recruiting new leaders, raising up new partners and setting new direction for Orchard Group.

I am now the primary contact person for Orchard Group's new church plant staff teams (which as of now includes teams in New York City, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Annapolis, Allentown, Baltimore, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, and Ventura) for their administrative, operational, financial, corporate and legal issues. This begins from the very beginning planning stages of each new church, and goes forward through their launch as a new church, and on to the point where they are completely self-supporting financially and have established an internal eldership.

For the organization itself, I oversee the daily operations, which includes oversight of our business manager staff person.

I also will be representing Orchard Group (speaking, fundraising, etc.) at churches, colleges, and conventions.

Other areas in which I will become increasingly involved include promotional issues (website, social media, publications), urban ministry classes offered in conjunction with Ozark Christian College and other Bible colleges, and preaching in area churches as needed.

Gathering of Church Planters

Greg and Rebekah just returned from a great gathering with many of our church planters and their spouses. Church plants were represented from New York City, upstate New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania and our projects outside the Northeast (Salt Lake City and Phoenix). It is absolutely amazing what God is doing through these talented leaders. We planned for, hoped for, and prayed for all of this back in the 1990s. For me to see that it is now happening is just amazing. Yet much more needs to be done. Toward that we shall strive.

Why New York Matters

A good summary of the significance of New York City, and its surrounding region, is contained in this Wikipedia article.

Urban Salt Lake City Project

I've been on the phone today with a church planting team in urban Salt Lake City, Utah. A group of house churches have now begun meeting together for a larger worship event right in the urban core of of Salt Lake City. Fascinating kingdom things happening directly in the shadow of the headquarters of the Mormon Church! Orchard Group is helping with this vitally important project even though it is outside of our traditional target region.