Recap: Baltimore Vision Trip

Recently a team from Northstar (from left to right in picture -John Evans, Neal Nelson, Adam Wilson, Callaway Cass, Tanner Blankenship,) visited Redemption City Church (RCC) in Baltimore to meet the church leadership and core group in the hopes of a possible future ministry partnership.

Adam Wilson, one of the pastors of RCC, is a former Northstar staffer and a Hokie alumni. Adam and his family (wife Jenn, daughter Selah) left Northstar in 2015 to finish up seminary at Southeastern in Chapel Hill, NC.  They believed God was calling them to plant a church and after considering several possibilities joined a team planting in heart of Baltimore.

Our Northstar team met up with Adam on a Saturday morning to tour Baltimore and RCC’s ministry partners in the city. On Saturday evening, we were able to meet with other staff and members of the church plant and hear why they were planting themselves in Baltimore or joined up with RCC. We were deeply encouraged by the God-stories we heard. On Sunday morning we attended the RCC worship and teaching service. It was encouraging to see how Redemption City Church was already penetrating their neighborh0ods with the good news of Jesus.

Here are a couple of things we learned about Baltimore:

• The city is “neighborhood centric” – meaning the people often work, shop, and socialize very close, sometimes just blocks, away from where they live.
• The city has very few healthy churches, and those few churches membership is very small in comparison to other large cities.

Here are a few things we learned about Redemption City Church:

• RCC is committed to taking the gospel into their neighborhood.  They are intentionally being where the people are, and we could see the fruit of their intentionality.
• RCC has a committed core group of staff and leaders.
• RCC is committed to God honoring worship and teaching. We were genuinely encouraged by the service.

The Northstar team was unanimous in believing that there was work for Northstar in coming alongside Redemption City Church in the future and that a ministry partnership would be a win-win for both churches. Already Matt Kesler, Northstar’s Youth Minister is in discussion with Adam Wilson about taking a group of youth to work in Baltimore. A possible “family” mission trip for next summer is also in discussion.

If you think you may have a heart for helping reach Baltimore for Christ, contact me at neal@northstarfamily.org.