COVER STORY 27 october 2024 www.goodnewsfl.org Good News • South Florida edition During hurricane season, Church United often collaborates to provide disaster relief after a storm. When Hurricane Ian hit the west coast of Florida as a powerful Category 4 storm on September 27, 2022, causing severe flooding and damage, the church in South Florida was there. Collaborating to provide a unified front, Church United sent truckloads of aid and supplies along with volunteers to help muck out homes, tarp leaky roofs and minister to the victims for months. The relationships built after Hurricane Ian, catalyzed the expansion of Church United in Southwest Florida. Teaching series Annually churches throughout South Florida unite over a common theme. This year’s annual joint teaching series coincides with the presidential election, a period that will likely be marked by fear and division in our nation. In response, Church United aims to speak with one voice, proclaiming the miraculous unity, peace and hope found in the truth that Jesus is King and He reigns over all. Last year Church United rallied over 53 churches for a collaborative teaching series called, A Seat at the Table, co-created by local pastors, that was designed to awaken Christians to evangelism and encourage them to intentionally share their lives and faith with unbelievers around them, changing our city. Administer Justice “Listening to the needs of black and brown churches,” Rosa said they recently brought in Administer Justice, which is a program now available at three locations, to help alleviate the long waits people were experiencing at Legal Aid. “I think we can solve this,” said Rosa. He explained that Administer Justice provides free legal consultancy once a week so folk can come in, speak to the attorney and get the advice that they need. The service is currently available at Cruciform Church in Hollywood, at HOPE South Florida in Fort Lauderdale and at Advent Lutheran in Lake Worth. Connecting churches for the sake of mission There is also a lot Church United does below the waterline to bring churches to the table in support of ministries like Habitat for Humanity and HOPE South Florida to tackle community-wide issues such as homelessness and the lack of affordable housing. Connecting churches with technology for mission As Church United walks alongside every church to help them understand the low hanging fruit in missional opportunities, they’ve developed partnerships with organizations like Gloo and Barna to provide them with technological tools that connect those curious about the gospel, which they call explorers, to a local church. For example, during COVID Church United piloted a program with Gloo called the Church Connect App, which became the infrastructure behind the He Gets Us campaign. He Gets Us is an historic, digital evangelistic campaign connecting those exploring faith, life, and meaning to the churches of South Florida. Copeland explained, “When someone watches a He Gets Us ad on Facebook or sees it on TV, they go to a website. There are algorithms that route that explorer to a local pastor that best meets their felt need – a marriage need, an addiction need, I just want to talk to someone. Based on how they fill that out it goes to three churches in your neighborhood that have raised their hands to say, I want to receive those explorers. Today, there is no more Church Connect, but we still have 117 churches that are receiving explorers from campaigns like He Gets Us, Churches Care, Hope With God and God Speaks.” Connecting with local schools One of the greatest opportunities to demonstrate what’s possible when churches collaborate together exists in education and next generation engagement. That’s why Church United has developed relationships with school principals, sitting down with them to say, “How can I help?” Working behind the scenes, they’ve helped orchestrate professional development programs for assistant principals, facilitated church partnerships with their neighborhood schools and even saved two Christian schools from closing due to partnerships developed through Church United. Sauder also pointed out that there have been several offshoots of Church United that have developed such as Schools United, Village Hymns and One City Prayer. For such a time as this The momentum appears to be building. “I absolutely believe the last 10 years of Church United was providing the framework for such a time as this,” said Copeland. What is so unique about this time? “The world is more divided than ever,” said Sauder, “and when the world is more divided, when the world is more cynical, when everything is being disrupted, that's typically when God works in a way that could bring revival. So, we look at all the things that are happening in our world as a precursor or catalyst to a really beautiful movement that God wants to do through unity that brings awakening and builds the Kingdom.” Robey Barnes, lead pastor of CityRev Church and a member of the Church United Leadership Team, said he believes “the Lord is in the process of sweeping through our region, reawakening the church with a fresh fire so that our whole city will in the end look differently. We're passing on to our children and grandchildren a different South Florida, one that reflects more of what's happening in the Kingdom of heaven down here on earth. That's what I'm expecting because why else would He be doing this unprecedented miracle of unity? It's not just a revival fire that lasts for a week or two. I think He's building a deeper wildfire that's going to last for generations to come.” It was an invigorating challenge for Good News Media Group to present this 10-year retrospective of Church United. For their unbelievable dedication and hard work, we salute them on their 10 years of impact and are excited for the years to come under their leadership. To get involved, visit churchunitedfl.com l Pastors pray over David Cassidy, during his first week as lead pastor at Spanish River Church David Rose and Lisa Fields, leading next gen apologist
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