The Arizona Conference began considering church growth issues while planning the It Is Written NET 2006 meetings with Shawn Boonstra. Many people attending the meetings made decisions for baptism and are being welcomed into existing church families.
Arizona leadership called Pastor Bill McVay to the Phoenix area to prepare a special church plant specifically for many of these new members. Charles White, senior pastor of the Camelback Seventh-day Adventist Church, is sponsoring this new congregation. Camelback has a rich history of helping to launch new church congregations throughout the Phoenix area.
The newly-commissioned group, called the It Is Written Southeast Adventist Fellowship, held its first services Sabbath, March 18, at the Superstition Springs Elementary School located near Highway 60 and Power Road in Mesa. The program began with Sabbath school and was followed by a church service featuring a powerful and affirming sermon by McVay.
McVay has planted three congregations in Las Vegas, Nev., Orange County, Calif., and Yuma, Ariz.
"If you or someone you know has moved to the Phoenix area and has not yet found a church home, we invite you to come and worship with us," invites McVay. "Maybe you haven't been attending church for a while and would like to make a new start. Here's your opportunity! We welcome you with open arms and affirming hearts at the It Is Written Southeast Adventist Fellowship."
Leaders hope existing members from sister churches throughout the Arizona Conference will visit this new fellowship where they will be given opportunities to discover and use their spiritual gifts and special talents. Children's Sabbath school leaders, musicians, audio-visual experts, helpers of all kinds are needed as this new congregation gets started.
"We're starting brand new," McVay reports, "but I know we will get the necessary support to minister to the needs of our new flock, and one day soon, we'll build a new church, a testimony to the Lord's blessings for the people who found Him at the NET 2006 meetings. We will always be grateful to the powerful preaching and personal outreach of Shawn Boonstra."
Several major evangelistic campaigns are planned throughout the year under McVay's leadership. "Proclaiming the good news of the gospel is our goal — our reason for existence," says McVay.
