Harvest Happenings: Rockford 1st Church Gifts Building to Rockford Community Church

You will be glorifying God through your generous gifts. For your generosity to them will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the wonderful grace of God shown through you.
—2 Corinthians 9:13-14

During a congregational meeting of Rockford 1st
Church on February 6th 2011, a motion passed to gift the Rockford 1st Church building to Rockford Community Church.

At district conference in 2008, Rockford 1st Church Pastor Kathleen Brinkmeier made the announcement that their congregation would like to invite church planter Samuel Sarpiya to come to Rockford to start a new church with the offer of sharing space in their building. Pastor’s Samuel and Gretchen Sarpiya accepted the offer as a leading from God and moved to the Rockford Community in February of 2009.

They began praying for and meeting with individuals in the Rockford community and eventually formed a prayer group that met in one of their homes. The group grew and soon decided that it was time to move from simply a Friday night prayer meeting to including a time of worship and fellowship on Sunday mornings.

Rockford 1st Church willingly received them and the group began worshiping in the Rockford 1st Church building. Since that time the Rockford Community Church group has grown.

Rockford 1st Church had been considering the sale of their building due to dwindling resources and the cost of maintaining the building which was becoming increasingly difficult for the small church to handle. Several attempts to sell the building had failed to produce a buyer for the building.

A suggestion was made that Rockford 1st Church congregation consider gifting the building to the growing Rockford Community Church group. This solution keeps the building in the Church of the Brethren denomination, provides an excellent resource where Rockford Community Church can continue to grow and flourish, and Rockford 1st Church is able to continue to meet in the building without the struggles of maintenance and upkeep that were draining the older, smaller Rockford 1st congregation. It’s kind of like passing along the family farm to the next generation.

Rockford 1st Church has provided a wonderful example in opening their hearts and arms to a new church growing in their midst. May the Lord prosper you and keep you, may He make His face to shine upon you and make you great. May God be gracious to you and give you peace.