Church planting in the last frontier

If someone wanted to travel to the most unchurched place in the United States, one might think of heading to Seattle, Wash.; San Francisco, Cali. or New York City. How about Anchorage, Alaska?

Alaska ranks as the second least religious state in terms of their belief in God in the 2009 Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life poll. Only 22 percent of Alaskans attend a weekly church service.

The task of reaching Alaska with the Gospel seems impossible, considering the state is larger than the combined area of the 22 smallest states in America. However, it doesn’t seem so far-fetched when one recognizes half of the state’s population lives in the municipality of Anchorage. Whether thinking about the University of Alaska and its 16,000 students, the two military bases or the port that receives 95 percent of all goods entering the state, Anchorage is Alaska’s city of influence.

Like any metropolis, Anchorage is home to a vast amount of cultures and sub-cultures. In fact, 94 different languages are spoken in the Anchorage School District. This cultural diversity requires that a variety of gifted church planters become missiologists in order to reach the city. A “church in a box” method will not be effective. It will take church planters who have an understanding of the people and are willing to not only bring them church, but give them Jesus.

I’m currently part of a church plant, True North Church, which has the goal of doing just that. We are we are planting a missional, church-planting church in Anchorage because we are convinced that when we reach this city, we will reach Alaska.

We realize the 16,000 students at the university are key to reaching Anchorage, so we are spending time on campus visiting with students and facilitating open forums and discussions about God, culture and faith. The response to these meetings we call Coffee House Theology has been phenomenal as students from different cultures ask questions and seek answers. A few weeks ago 13 people gathered at a local Starbucks to talk about God and suffering. Eight of the 13 were unbelievers.

Not only are we engaging students in intellectual dialogue, but we also are recognizing our task of being agents of reconciliation. We work for restoration through the preaching of the Gospel, and we demonstrate the hope of resolution through works of mercy.

By the time we launch a public worship service, we will have visited all of the social ministry centers (religious and non-religious) in our city. When we visited the local AIDS and HIV center, the program director was shocked that a church wanted to know how it could help. She said no church like ours has ever volunteered to bring a meal to those suffering with HIV or AIDS.

“Missional” is the buzz word floating among evangelicals, yet being missional is an intentional decision to engage our culture by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and its good works.

With all these facts to consider, my encounter with Jennifer most convinced me of the need for missional churches in Anchorage.

Jennifer is a 20-year-old from Thailand. She and her family moved to this city three years ago for the opportunity to improve her life. During our conversation, she asked me what I do in Anchorage. I told her I am a pastor starting a new church. She then asked me what kind of church, and I told her we are a church that worships Jesus.

She replied, “Who is Jesus?”

Those words changed my passion for Anchorage forever. How can it be that a person could live in the United States of America for three years and never hear about Jesus? I began to tell her about the Son of God, starting with creation and ending with the early church in Acts.

After our conversation, Jennifer invited me to her home because she wanted the rest of her family to hear about this man, Jesus, who–unlike her Buddha–left his place in heaven, took on flesh and died for the glory of God to rescue her from herself.

Yes, my wife and I moved our family 4,000 miles to a place where we get sunlight for six hours during the winter and more snow than my teenage sons can shovel. Yet we know this state is in desperate need of the Gospel. When we reach Anchorage, we reach Alaska.

Please pray for church planting in Anchorage, and consider …

… sending a mission team to help with the launch of True North Church. One-week teams are needed throughout 2010 to help evangelize and establish a presence in the city.

… moving to Anchorage for a year to be a part of our launch team.

… staying for three years to help plant other churches.

Radical? Sure. Risky? Yes. Amazing? Absolutely!

Written by Brent Williams. Brent, his wife and four children sold most of their possessions in a garage sale and drove 4,000 miles from Illinois to Alaska in 2009. Since then they have taken steps toward launching a church plant, True North, in Anchorage.