An Update on Redeemer Ann Arbor
The Timeline
August 2015 – God. 4 people. Prayer.
April 2016 – We began meeting for public worship on Sunday evenings at Lord of Light Lutheran Church at Forest and Hill, on the edge of campus. God blessed us in so many ways, and bit by bit we have seen progress: people added, ongoing conversations and relationships with unbelievers, students reached, a growing sense of identity, purpose and community for our core group and more.
January 2017 – Having concluding that it is much slower to grow without a morning service, we began to look diligently for an opportunity to meet within easy walking distance of central campus in order to continue what we have begun. This was not an easy find.
March 2017 – God provided! Marvelously! We purchased 611 ½ East William, a small historic structure built in 1878 for DKE, a fraternity on campus. The building is located where campus meets downtown, a hub of activity and foot traffic. Considerable renovations will be performed over the next several months. We hope to begin worship in this facility by the end of the year, if God wills.
July 16, 2017 – We begin morning services, which we are labelling Worship! We will meet on campus at the Michigan League on the second floor at 10:30 am. “God’s Truth for Kids with Pastor Jim,” classes for children, will begin at 9:45. We also will meet at Angelo’s Restaurant, 1100 Catherine, at 5 pm for a service we are labelling Equip! The Equip! service will be followed by a meal together at 6 pm. Taking the Great Commission seriously, we want to reach unbelievers with the gospel, but we also want to disciple many Christians that we have the opportunity to reach. People come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and we want to equip these believers to serve God in their lives, their vocations, and their churches wherever they may go when they leave Ann Arbor. The Equip! service will be aimed at achieving this objective.
Late 2017 – We plan to move into our newly renovated building at 611 ½ East William Street. We look forward to the opportunities to serve Jesus and to reach people that greater accessibility and visibility will bring.
Today
This year we have been averaging 40 in attendance at our Sunday evening services. This was our first year to reach out to students, and a number of students have come regularly this past year. Some of them will now serve as leaders of various endeavors that we will begin in the coming school year.
Our weekly Mornings Together sessions provide opportunity for women to study, discuss and pray together. These have been fruitful and hopeful as we have developed relationships with several unbelievers who attend regularly. Men meet early Friday mornings; they are currently studying the book of Titus. A weekly campus study has been ongoing through the school year. Evangelistic opportunities have emerged as various relationships have developed with unbelievers.
Tomorrow
We are now in the last few sermons of a series preparing us to organize as a church as we commit ourselves to God and to each other. We will take these steps in the next few months and move forward into a new phase of our existence.
We look forward to another school year and the opportunities that we believe God will bring for us to serve more students.