Bryan and Missy Meyers
By David Limiero
When Bryan and Missy Meyers participated in a Stadia church planting assessment in the fall of 2009, they had a clear goal in mind””plant a church in northern Nevada in the fall of 2011.
It seemed like the perfect plan. Bryan was serving as associate pastor at Hope Community Church in Reno, Nevada. Missy was the church”s preschool director. The church”s senior pastor, Bill Sherman, was solidly behind both the strategy and the timing. And Hope had just planted her first daughter church in nearby Fernley.
Bryan and Missy”s church plant would be the next step in Hope”s vision to reach northern Nevada for Jesus Christ. It was a bold vision, backed up by a solid track record of growth at Hope Community.
But God”s vision was bolder still. A little more than 12 months have passed since that assessment. Bryan and Missy have already planted their church””a whole year earlier than expected””and not, as they had planned, in or around Reno. The Journey, a Christian Church had its grand opening October 10, 2010, in the suburbs of Salt Lake City, with 175 in attendance that first Sunday.
This church plant is an amazing story of how God has used Hope””which celebrated her fourth birthday as a church this fall””to plant not just one daughter church, but two. It”s a story of how God has used Bryan and Missy to establish a beachhead in an area where less than 3 percent of the population attends something other than a Latter-day Saints church, and almost 50 percent do not attend a church of any kind. Finally, it”s a story of unprecedented cooperation””cooperation with God in prayer, and cooperation between churches and church-planting agencies to reach the least-reached in America.
Three Churches in Four Years
In the fall of 2006, Bill and Stephanie Sherman saw their dreams become reality. In partnership with Stadia, they started Hope Community Church””a church with “no perfect people allowed.” The people of Reno were drawn in by that simple message, and today almost 500 people attend weekly services.
In January 2009, Hope again partnered with Stadia to call Rod and Gay Idle to the nearby town of Fernley, Nevada. Journey Community Church held its “Grand Beginning” in September 2009, and today more than 200 people call Journey home. That church plant has had such a big impact on its community that Rod was asked to run for mayor””before the church held her first services!
Bryan and Missy were set to lead the next daughter church when they attended a Stadia-sponsored assessment in fall 2009. They left that assessment confirmed in their call to church planting, but with a new timetable. The urgency of the harvest had convinced them to plant a full year earlier than expected.
It was not exactly the message Bill Sherman expected to hear when Bryan and Missy returned from assessment. Hope was just beginning a capital campaign. Money was tight, and Bryan”s ministry was needed to keep up with the needs of the rapidly growing congregation. It was not an ideal time to plant another new church, so soon after the plant in Fernley. But after a night of prayer, Bill was convinced God had changed the timetable.
Ultimately, Hope would contribute more than $90,000 to help start The Journey, in addition to the money the church had already invested in Fernley. Despite this huge financial gift to church planting, Hope raised an additional $23,000 in a building fund, and the church recently baptized 31 people in a single weekend. Starting three churches in four years hasn”t taken away from Hope”s strength. It”s added to it.
One of the Least-Reached Cities
When Bryan was first invited to the Wasatch Front (an 80-mile long area that is home to 2 million-plus people, more than 76 percent of Utah”s population), he was still set on planting in Reno. But after driving miles and miles through Salt Lake City”s southern suburbs and seeing very few churches, he had to pull over to the side of the road because he could no longer see through his tears. The size of the harvest was simply overwhelming.
Most missionaries consider a people group with less than 3 percent Christians to be unreached””the Wasatch Front is 2.9 percent Christian. Overall, there are fewer than 100 non-LDS churches serving a population of more than 2 million.
It Began With Prayer . . . and Cooperation
Statistics like that also moved the heart of Steve Edwards. Most people identify Edwards, who leads the Intermountain Church Planting Association (ICPA), as the key visionary for recent church planting in the Salt Lake City area.
In 2004, Edwards and others began a series of prayer journeys in the Wasatch Front. Small teams from around the country would fly into Salt Lake and spend several days prayer-walking throughout the city, including trips to a tall hill behind the Utah State Capitol building that offers a panoramic view of the Wasatch Front and its more than 2 million people.
Edwards shared his vision with other church-planting leaders, and by 2008 the first Salt Lake City Summit was held. More than 90 Christian churches from across America have participated in these biannual summits.
A steering committee is composed of leaders from ICPA, Stadia, CEA, Orchard Group, and Real Life Ministries. The initial dream is to see 10 new churches planted by 2012. The bigger vision is to see 50 new churches started across the Wasatch Front.
The Journey is one of three churches being started in 2010. ICPA is a key partner in this plant, and Edwards is actively involved in the church”s management team and as a mentor to Bryan.
The Beginnings of a Movement
The Journey”s motto of “no perfect people allowed” isn”t just a reflection of Bryan”s time at Hope. It”s a message of grace to the hundreds of thousands of people who desperately need to hear it””among both the unchurched and those trapped in religion.
When Bryan and Missy arrived in Utah, they settled on a unique outreach strategy. Realizing that most LDS people would be in church on Sunday morning, they decided to use Sunday mornings to hold a number of community events””from handing out free hot dogs in the parking lot of a local Wal-Mart to inviting people to a free showing of the movie Shrek 3 in the theater the church now calls home. Over the course of the spring and summer, they made personal contact with more than 5,000 people.
They followed up with anyone who expressed an interest in The Journey, and quickly built relationships through hospitality events in their home. This led to the formation of several small “missional communities” led by Bryan and associate minister Jared Buckley.
By the time the church held its first service, more than 30 adults were already part of the team. A young mom named Kim responded to the church”s advertisement on Craigslist for free coffee at Starbucks. She had never set foot in a Christian church before. Bryan ended up giving her a Bible, and Kim soon attended the church”s partnership class. She was shocked when Bryan asked her to serve as the hospitality coordinator for Sunday services.
Kim is now reading the gospel of John and is getting to know Jesus for the first time. She said the Bible is the best gift anyone has ever given her.
A former LDS missionary and his wife also became a part of The Journey before the first worship service. They fell in love with the genuine, authentic relationships they encountered, seeing for the first time that church is more than a Sunday morning service. It”s a community of friends, saved by grace, following Jesus together.
Bryan has been cautioned that a church plant in Utah County will take years to establish. He says, “Why? Seriously””why? Can”t God move in such a radical and countercultural way that people are coming to The Journey hungry for something of substance and meaning? Can”t The Journey be a church that gives people living water that quenches their soulful thirst? I am praying for big things in Utah Valley. It”s not defined by numbers, but a broad spiritual movement of irreligious people who come to faith in Christ and change the world in which they live.”
Bryan knows he serves a God who promises immeasurably more than we can ask or even imagine. He”s already seen God answer the prayers of Steve Edwards and Bill Sherman. And he”s not afraid to ask God to answer his prayers as well.
The Journey is a joint church plant of Stadia, ICPA, and Hope Community Church in Reno, Nevada. You can visit the church”s Web site at www.thejourneyutah.com.
David Limiero serves as associate executive director for Stadia: New Church Strategies and as lead pastor at Life Journey Christian Church in Bakersfield, California.
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