Church walls don’t mean much when it comes to partnering for the gospel, and that was on display at Parkville 4 the Gospel, a joint worship service/event that brought hundreds to a busy park in a Kansas City suburb.
The four Missouri churches participating were Fellowship Kansas City, Fellowship of Grace, Park Hill Baptist Church and River Park Baptist Church.
“At the beginning of the year us four pastors got together and had a conversation,” recalled Tyler Wilkins, pastor of Fellowship KC. “Our mission is the same, we’re all within four miles of each other, we’re trying to reach the same communities with the same gospel, but historically we’ve never partnered together.”
Time for change
They decided it was time to change that, so they began planning ways to come together for the gospel.
The first step, they decided, was a joint worship service in the most visible spot in town. Parkville is known for English Landing Park, a prominent strip of greenery that runs for a mile along the Missouri River, and it proved to be the perfect spot for the four congregations to gather.
Wilkins noted their goals were two-fold.
“We wanted it to be an encouragement to each of our congregations,” he said. “We wanted them to know there are people worshipping the same Christ we’re worshipping just a couple miles down the road.
“But we also wanted it to be an outreach event as well. If we have hundreds of people worshipping in the park, there are going to be hundreds of other people just walking by who would maybe get a glimpse of something that was going on and maybe connect with us.”
Setting stage for partnership
With the sun shining and 500 people participating, the day was a success, Wilkins said.
“It was a sweet day. Each church took a different role and responsibility in the service, and it went great.”
The four churches now are planning to make the joint worship gathering an annual effort. They also plan to have other joint outreach and fellowship events.
“Our churches were encouraged by it,” Wilkins said, “and we hope this sets the stage for us working together even more for the advancement of the gospel as we engage with the community.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Brian Koonce and originally published by the Pathway.
