Montana Missional Communities
Loving God by Living Community and Serving the World
A New Work in the West
Montana is one of the least churched states in America.
There are few Baptist churches overall, no Cooperative Baptist
Fellowship congregations, and
only one CBF church within
hundreds of miles of the state. However, with the help of the national CBF
and partnering Baptist churches, a missional-oriented moderate
Baptist congregation is being birthed in
Billings this summer.
A second church plant is slated for
Bozeman in 2009, and additional churches are planned for the years
following.
Ryan and Courtney Tucker are the church planters for the Billings church. They have stepped out in faith, confident that God will provide. Bruce Gourley, Interim Director of Mercer University's Center for Baptist Studies and long-time Montana resident and entrepreneur (and former campus minister), is supervising the Billings church plant and future plants.
How We Started
In the fall of 2007, Ryan contacted Bruce to seek guidance about
God’s call on his life, and a unique conversation began. Bruce and
Ryan found a synergy about new ministries in
The initial conversation centered on the
planting of a single church. However, in response to the leading of
the Holy Spirit, a greater vision to reach the state of Montana
using a Community Group Church approach supported by the Internet,
moved the conversation to a new plateau. A vision of planting a
minimum of three churches in Montana by the year 2010 emerged.
Settling on the name "Montana Missional Communities," the goal is to
reach the Post-Christian culture in key areas of the state:
The Need for Partners
Montana Missional Communities is seeking missional-minded partners - churches and individuals - who would like to join us in the vision of ministering to persons who don't yet know the love of Jesus Christ. Learn how you can be a Montana Missional Communities Partner.
A Word From Ryan
My favorite verse in the bible is John 15:16,
“You did not choose me but I
chose you…” Recently, as I listened to Bart Campolo speak on
John 15 he proclaimed, “We do not choose God, God chooses us!” Over
the last two years, a holy unrest about God’s call has been present
upon Courtney and I. Through Bart’s words God provided
clarity as I realized we were not wrestling with the concept of how
we can serve God by planting a missional community. To the contrary,
God is choosing us to plant a missional community. God isn’t
choosing us because we are worthy or better equipped to accomplish
the task. God is simply choosing us! A funny thing happened along
the way. God chose Bruce and Debra Gourley as well, a direct answer
to our prayers for God to send us an initial partner to begin our
team.
God is choosing us to plant a missional
community to reach people not being reached starting with
Join our team! Invest in how God is working in Montana by committing to one or more avenues of support; prayer, time, energy and resources. Together we will follow the command of our Savior to love one another, and as we do this we will fulfill our mission to Love God by Living Community and Serving the World. Is God choosing you?