Seminary Alum Plants Church
Mar 20, 2009
Pastor Dave and Jen Sears had a vision to plant a church in Michigan. After attending the church planting courses at GRTS, God led them to the Saginaw area of our state. A church has been born. The name of the church is Connecting Points. Their web site is: www.connectingpoints.tv
Dave grew up in Greenville, SC, and spent 15 years in the supermarket industry with over 9 years experience in retail and executive management. In 2005 he graduated from Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, MI with a degree in Ministry Leadership and has taken a church planting track at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary.
Dave served as a ministry staff member at Kentwood Community Church in Michigan, Willow Creek Community Church, in Illinois, and at The Chapel, in Libertyville, Illinois. His top spiritual gifts are Leadership, Administration, and Shepherding. Dave loves to hang out with his family and friends in his neighborhood or at the local coffee shop. He also enjoys running, cycling, volleyball, and of course playing golf and cheering on The Big Blue!
Here is a recent update on Dave and Jen’s story. Let’s all join them in prayer as they commit this ministry to the head of the church, the Lord Jesus. Here is what Dave writes,
“I want to give you a quick update on how things are going for us here in Connecting Points. It has been almost 2 years now that we have been in Saginaw. Wow, it seems like yesterday! This past year has been amazingly rewarding, yet incredibly challenging. Things at Connecting Points are really beginning to take off. We are debt free and have an amazing weekend experience. The church as has two Life Groups, soon to be three, meeting each week.
“This past week, we held our largest event yet. It was a comedy show featuring Michael Jr., a well known comedian from Los Angeles. We had over 400 people in attendance and the admission was a bag of non-perishable food. We collected close to 2,000 lbs of food that we donated to the Mid-Michigan Rescue Ministries, a Christian based rescue ministry in Saginaw and Bay City. There were many seeds planted during the show as we gave a clear gospel presentation during the event.
“Beginning, March 15th, we will be working in conjunction with LifeChurch.tv to present 3 weeks of free financial teaching from Dave Ramsey. We are working hard to get the word out about this to our community as this is a great relevant way to engage people where they are while sharing the Gospel with them.
“Jen and I continue to be very passionate about our call to ministry here in Saginaw, and the need here is greater than ever. It has been over a year now that I have been bi-vocational working as a salaried Store Manager for Starbucks, while trying hard to balance time with God, family and Connecting Points. .
“Last year we made sure that the overwhelming majority of the funding for the church went to the start up of the church. I feel very strong that within the next 12 months … that we will see significant growth that will allow us to be supported internally. Thank you in advance for your prayers and support!”
Dave Sears
