St. Patrick's Day 2012

St. Patrick’s story is compelling. He used innovative methods to take the message of Christ to the people of Ireland and leave behind vibrant church communities about 400 years after Christ’s death and resurrection.

Yet the spiritual landscape of Ireland has changed since St. Patrick’s time. A recent news video highlights the startling decline in the Irish Church in recent decades. It is worth a few minutes to watch.

The Catholic Church was once a power structure in Ireland, but the majority of people there have given up on their faith.

The evangelical church is not filling the spiritual void in Ireland either. As an example, the Irish town of Limerick has a population of 300,000, and only about 200 people there attend evangelical churches of any denomination. That means less than one percent of the population of that town is part of any kind of evangelical church! That is a staggering statistic!

Orchard Group is partnering with Dermot O’Mahony and his family to see a vibrant new church planted in Limerick. Dermot is a native of Limerick, Ireland who spent some time in the United States and has now returned home. Already he is meeting with about 70 people in Limerick to engage in spiritual dialogue. Dermot is praying that the core group for the new church emerges from those people.

St. Patrick’s Day reminds us of a time when the church thrived in Ireland. That time has passed. I'm excited that through people like Dermot the spirit of St. Patrick lives on.

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!"