On December 4, I had the joy-filled experience of participating in Celebration Sunday at Redemption City Church (RCC) in Baltimore, MD. RCC was planted several years ago as part of TIMES12 and they are thriving!
Adam Muhtaseb (RCC’s Pastor for Vision and Preaching), his fellow elders, staff, the church body at RCC, and I had much to celebrate on Sunday. Their two services were packed with worshipers who cheered on seven young adults as they were baptized. Encouragement and prayers were offered for the 24 men and women participating in their leadership training institute, and we celebrated two new church planters being commissioned and sent out from RCC that day. What an inspiring example of a local church that’s multiplying — new disciples, faithful disciples, leaders (to stay), and church planters (to go)!
One church planter and his wife were sent out to Japan where they will work with a global mission agency. The other church planter was Orlando Cordero, along with his wife Tiffany, their children, and the planting core group being sent out to plant a new gospel-centered church called Radiant Church in nearby Towson, MD. Orlando and Radiant Church are also part of TIMES12. Orlando completed his church planter residency with the coaching and oversight of RCC, in collaboration with TIMES12. We’ve sought to serve Orlando, as we had Adam and RCC several years back.
Before RCC was planted and after they started and progressed, TIMES12 served Adam and others on his team. TIMES12 provided Adam with our Lead Planter Assessment, a Customized Prep Plan, coaching one-to-one, training courses, online resources and tools, monthly relational Collectives with peers in our region, a planting grant, periodic Snapshots to measure Gospel-Centered DNA and improve church health, and focused mentoring as needed. We were glad to supplement the good developmental work that Adam’s sending church (Imago Dei, Raleigh, NC) did with him before he and his wife Sherrie and their core team relocated to Baltimore. TIMES12 comes alongside church planters like Adam and Orlando to help equip them, but it’s these church planters and their teams that are the ones who plant, pastor, and lead new local churches centered on Jesus and the gospel as part of our network.
“My church planting residency and coaching with RCC and TIMES12 has equipped and resourced me with the tools, training, and development necessary to plant a church that makes, matures, and multiplies disciples and churches!” Orlando remarked of his experience with TIMES12. “I am so grateful for their partnership in the gospel!”
“TIMES12 gave us the coaching, support, and tools to help us develop into a thriving, multiplying church,” Adam added.
When a newborn child is born, family and friends celebrate. In a similar way, let’s praise God along with RCC for the birth of Radiant Church to join the celebration of multiplication!
Please prayerfully consider partnering with us by giving a generous end-of-the-year gift to TIMES12 to help us continue to equip church planters to multiply gospel-centered disciples and churches. If you would like to give, select the General Fund dropdown on our website at https://times12.org/give/.
As we enter the Christmas season, let’s remember the birth of Jesus, the birth above all births. The birth of God’s Son was not only a miracle, but also the ultimate gift that demonstrated we are loved by God (Jn 3:16; Rom 5:8). That’s worth celebrating!
Merry Christmas!
Mark
Mark McGeever
Executive Director
TIMES12
info@times12.org
Adam Muhtaseb, Orlando Cordero, Mark McGeever (left to right)
Commissioning Church Planters