We sent the first ever RCC newsletter yesterday.  In case you missed it, here it is:

Welcome to the first official monthly newsletter for Restoration City Church!

Thanks for finding your way to our website at some point in the last nine months and signing up to get updates from our little church plant. Going forward, we’re planning to send a monthly newsletter, so you’ll be hearing from us more regularly all summer and into the fall as Restoration City comes to life.

Most of you know that Laura and I spent the last nine months in Raleigh-Durham, doing a church planting residency with The Summit Church (www.summitrdu.com). It was an amazing experience for us personally, gave us space to refine the vision God had given us for this church and allowed us time to start assembling a launch team. Here are just a few highlights of what God accomplished during that time:

– Recruited 45 members of our Launch Team. Each of these people are amazing leaders who are deeply committed to seeing the vision of Restoration City become a reality. They’ve each filled out an application, been interviewed and signed a Launch Team Covenant with us as a sign of how committed they are to this vision. Best of all, they’re amazing people with huge hearts for Jesus!

– Established an Advisory Board to provide accountability for our team until a local elder board from within Restoration City can be established.

– Developed seven church partnerships to help meet our financial needs.

– Confirmed a launch date of late September/early October of this year.

– Settled on Crystal City, VA as the initial location for our weekly gatherings.

– Secured 2/3 of the funding we need for our first year of operations.
Ephesians 3:20 tells us we have a God who does “exceedingly, abundantly more than we can ask or imagine” and when I look back at these nine months, I see that confirmed over and over again. He has been so faithful to all of His promises and we’re filled with hope for what He’s going to do in the future.

That future really starts this coming Sunday, June 22nd. Our launch team will start gathering weekly on Sunday mornings for worship. These pre-launch gatherings are a huge step for us in uniting our team, developing culture and getting ready to open our doors this fall.

As soon as we have a venue and launch date confirmed for the fall, we’ll let you know. In the mean time, you can be a part of what God is doing in three ways:

– Pray for RCC, our vision and Washington, DC. We’re passionate about bringing gospel restoration to our nation’s capital but we know God is the ultimate Restorer. Our hope isn’t in our team, our programs or our gatherings. Our hope is in a Risen King and an outpouring of the Spirit. Pray God would make us effective for His glory.

– Give to Restoration City. We’re thrilled to be nearly 2/3 funded at this point but are still trusting God for an additional $100,000 to meet our Year One Operating Budget. If you feel led to make a one time or recurring donation, we would be incredibly grateful. You can give directly to RCC online at restorationcitydc.com.

– Help us get the word out about RCC. If you have family or friends in the DC area who are looking for a church home, please let them know about RCC. We want to be a church that reaches people far from God but we also know there are many people in DC who are looking for a church and haven’t found a place to connect. If you know anyone who might be interested in RCC, please let them know we’re launching this fall.

Our prayer is that God would be honored in massive ways through the planting of this church. We’re praying He will show His power and do something through RCC that is so large that His grace is the only possible explanation. We don’t want RCC to be explicable in any way other than, “Wow, God did that!” I’m so grateful to have you along for the ride and partnering with us to see this vision become a reality.

For Restoration in DC,

John McGowan
Lead Pastor
Restoration City Church