Where We Intend to Plant Campuses (2) - Warner Robins:
This is a guest post from Heath Clarke, one of our Warner Robins MC Leaders about his home city...
Warner Robins is located directly south of Macon in a neighboring county. The city’s population is 61,336. However in Houston County (pronounced House-ton) the population is 133,161. Warner Robins and Houston County is one of the fastest growing areas in the state of Georgia (listed as the fastest outside of Atlanta according to recent census information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_County,_Georgia). Warner Robins is also home of Robins AFB, the states largest industrial complex and employer making it a vital city to the Central Georgia area.
Partly because Warner Robins is a “young” city and has experienced rapid growth a central downtown area never developed. It is a typical 20th century boomtown suburb setting, lined with shopping malls on every street and commercial chain restaurants.
However, because of a swelling desire by the people there are plans that have been developed by the city to renew and develop an area of the city to transform it into a city center and a downtown. A New City Church in Warner Robins could help serve the city in its plans to do such development.
Being a suburban military town, family and security are two traits of the city. These traits have made Warner Robins the number one city in the state of Georgia to raise a family for two consecutive years. The pulse and personality of Warner Robins is not music and art but family. The importance of the family is found in the very vibrant youth sports leagues and high school sports programs throughout the city.
New City Connections:
The Warner Robins and Sub-south Missional Communities. These two Missional Communities already buy into and are living out the vision and mission of New City Church and are serving their contexts with the gospel. These two MC’s will form the core team for planting in their context.
Heath and Lindsey Clark with Jason and Kimberly Clements - Together they lead the Warner Robins Missional Community. All have jobs in the city of Warner Robins and are serving to build and multiply their MC.
Mike and Tammy Gilbert – They are the leaders of the Sub-south Missional Community. The Sub-south area is between Macon and Warner Robins.
Through these MC’s there are several people that are attending and traveling 30 minutes to attend the New City gatherings on Sundays. They buy the vision and mission of the church and are already in the process of fighting to see the Gospel transform their city.
Because Robins AFB brings people from all over the United States and the world, Warner Robins is different in many ways than most Southern cities. One trait however that it shares with the south is a plethora of churches. Warner Robins and Houston County could be described as a very churchy un-churched culture. Religion is pervasive but the Gospel isn’t! What Warner Robins lacks is a church that is strong in all pillars of a healthy church (worship, community, being missional, and theology). Several churches might have one or some of these traits but none embody all. There is not a church that is striving to serve the city and engage it where it is with the gospel.
Though New City Church Warner Robins will no doubt look different because of the context of the city Warner Robins is in need of a church that preaches the Gospel and lives out the mission of God as a people living in community with each other for the city.
