Our One Church campaign was nothing short of a miracle. In these tough economic times, we collectively pledged more than $2.7 million dollars for projects on all three campuses over the next three years. Already more than $638,000 (23%) of the pledges have been received. We have paid back our reserves which were used (along with gifts to Generations) to purchase the former Barton’s Hardware store in Carthage. Now we are saving for the remodeling of that building which will be the new home for our Carthage Campus.

We are the One Church Follow-Up Team and will be keeping you informed as we make progress toward the One Church objectives. Those objectives include:

• Getting everything ready (remodeling, equipment, etc.) for our Carthage Campus to move into their new home
• Improving Mission Joplin for our ongoing ministry to those impacted by the tornado
• Updating the Worship Center on our Joplin Campus
…

I have no idea how to start a message like this one, so I’ll simply start by saying that I love you all dearly. My family and I are alive and well.

If you and your family have been affected by the disaster, Forest Park is here to support you. Right now it is one day at a time for all of us, but please know that you are not alone and that your church family is here help you for the long haul.

For our Worship and Tech Team, life at North is going to be different for at least the next few weeks. My job has turned from full-time Worship Pastor to the Head of Food Preparation and Distribution of FP’s tornado relief efforts…and then a part-time worship pastor on the side. I will allot some time each week for our worship ministry, but at the moment I…

Good News! If you looking to help out in whatever way you can with our disaster relief efforts, you can do so by simply calling the Joplin Campus Church Office at 417-623-4606. The church has partnered with Samaritan’s Purse who specializes in coordinating volunteers for disaster relief efforts. When you call the number I just listed, simply follow the prompts for Samaritan’s Purse and you’ll be on your way to making a difference in Joplin.

Thank you everyone for your love and support. I look forward to serving alongside you as we work to rebuild this great city!

I had several people ask me to send them my story about Mrs. Burk who memorized a Bible verse for each letter of the alphabet. One of our members said she has created her own list. Here it is for the rest of you.

Haddie Burk was a hundred years old and blind. A man who was in her Sunday School class when he was a kid went to visit her. He said, “Mrs. Burk, you taught me the Bible when I was a boy. I know you can’t see, so I’ve brought my Bible to read to you.”

She said, “Charles, you don’t need to read the Bible to me. All those years when I was able to read, I stored it up in my heart.” She said, “Give me the letters of the alphabet and I’ll show you what I mean.”

He said, “A” and she said, “A…

Check out Larry and Cheryl Baker’s “Generations” Faith Story video.

Come and worship this Independence Day weekend at FP North! We have identical services at 5:30 and 7:00 pm on Saturday night and 9:30 and 11:00 am on Sunday morning. This is a great weekend to come celebrate the true freedom we have in Christ! See you this weekend.

It is hard to believe that we will be celebrating our first Easter weekend at North in just a couple of days. It seems like just yesterday that we were getting ready for our launch back in September. I have a couple of things below that I want to remind each of you to help with this weekend as we prepare for guests. 

However, let me first start by saying that this has been an extremely tough week for our campus. On Monday, we had the sudden death of our dear friend Luke Grayson who has worked side by side with me at the North Campus since day one, making sure everything was finished and ready for our launch. Luke was also our maintenance guy here at North, one of the LifeGroup Team Leaders, as well as my sidekick/co-leader in my personal LifeGroup on Tuesday nights. Luke’s visitation is…

Well once again let me say “WOW!” Yes, it was a wonderful first weekend at North Campus. Thank you again for all of you who prayed, worked and invited. The greatest part of launching our campus is that we now get to do it every weekend. Below are a couple of reminders for each of us this weekend.

• Be in your spots early. We want to make sure and be prepared before our guests arrive. Talk to your team leader about when exactly they want you in your spot.
• Park in the back or away from the main doors. Our parking lot team will have a few of you park closer to the entry ways so that it looks like we have a crowd but if they don’t ask you then go ahead and park farther away.
• Be intentional about greeting people you do not know. The best conversation starter…