Brandon and Samantha attending the Berwick Mayor’s Ball
Greetings from Berwick!
It has been one year since we were commissioned by our sending church, Iron Mill Church. A lot has happened over the past year, and we’d love to give you an update and provide some ways you could be praying for us!
Remind me, why are we doing this!?
About three years ago, God began calling us to plant a culturally relevant, gospel-preaching church in the downtown area of Berwick. Since then, we have felt even more confirmed in our calling. Many people in our town are open to spirituality. We want to bring Jesus to them. The people we meet are hungering for community and restoration. We love our town and the people here. Our vision is to bring restoration to individuals, families and our community through God’s overwhelming love. We believe God is opening doors for us and Foundry Church to reach the unchurched of Berwick!
Praying over our Kids’ Ministry leaders before their maternity leave
What’s happened over the past year?
After being commissioned at the end of May 2023, our launch team (who had already been meeting as a small group Bible study in our home) started hosting pre-launch services. These pre-launch services were regular worship services on Sunday evenings, held at our leased location at the B.I.D.A. Eagles Building. On September 10, 2023, we switched to Sunday mornings as we officially launched as Foundry Church! It was a great celebration of what God is doing.
Since our launch in September, we’ve been seeing our volunteer pool grow in numbers. It’s great to see more people wanting to get involved with the hospitality team, kids ministry, worship team, AV team, outreach, and more! Beyond seeing more volunteers, we’re also seeing our leadership team grow in both numbers and leadership development. Many individuals on our leadership team have been part of our launch team since the beginning. Some are taking on leadership responsibilities stretching them beyond what they may have initially anticipated.
Worship service at the B.I.D.A. Eagles Building conference room
With that leadership group growing, we’ve seen our small groups multiplied as well. One of our core values is that we believe the gospel best transforms us in community. We believe doing life together helps us better understand the gospel, and being in community is a tangible way for God’s love to be shown to us and through us. We are thrilled to see our community groups growing and we are working through plans to continue multiplication this summer or early fall.
Almost each week, we are seeing new faces on Sunday mornings. We’re also seeing some people get connected to Foundry Church for the first time at small group gatherings, whether that be at someone’s home or the guys’ group that meets for breakfast twice a month. We are seeing people take steps to further their faith as they grow in their discipleship process. We even celebrated a Baptism service in November, held at our local YMCA!
How can you pray for us?
As you know, our vision is to bring restoration to individuals, families and our community through God’s overwhelming love. God’s overwhelming love is the gospel, and it’s only by His grace that we’re seeing parts of our vision fulfilled. We would ask that you continue to pray for opportunities for us and Foundry Church to share God’s overwhelming love with people, families and our community.
Since being commissioned, we’ve got a clearer view of our financial situation. While God has been faithful to provide, we know there are some gaps that will need to be filled. Please pray that we trust Him to provide financially, too.
Some of our Foundry ladies on Easter Sunday in our photo booth
Many of you have given to our Greenhouse Fund or Foundry Church at some point. For that, we want to say a huge THANK YOU! Your generosity has helped us continue doing what God has called us to do. If you would like to continue giving or give for the first time, please visit Foundry’s website: https://foundrychurchberwick.com/giving/ or by mail at Foundry Church, 107 S. Market St, STE 3, Berwick, PA 18603.
We’re excited to share this report with you! Please continue praying for our family during these early years of church planting.
Serving Jesus with you,
Brandon Glenn
