Two hundred and twenty years ago, a determined group of Presbyterians set out for the frontier west of the Appalachians, settling at Craig's Fort; within its walls, New Providence Church was born. But those charter members knew that those walls could never contain them. In the 1790s,they built their first church home, a log structure that provided a base for worship and ministry; two centuries and five buildings later, the walls still cannot contain all that God is doing in and through this church. As a congregation, we are continually asking: what is God calling New Providence to do and be? What is the vision that God is inviting us to live out together?
During the last several years, those questions have been coupled with concerns about our building - critical rehabilitation needs, and a need for more usable space to carry out all the different ministries in which we are involved. Last year, the session appointed a Facilities Planning Team to tackle those issues: what needs to be done to keep the current building in shape, and what sort of space do we need to carry out the ministry God is calling us to - not only now, but 25 years into the future?
We all want New Providence to be a place in which children, youth, and adults worship and grow in faith, so that we can reach out beyond the doors with the good news of Jesus Christ. We have been blessed by previous generations with a godly heritage and a magnificent building; now we have the opportunity to provide the same for generations into the future.
These walls are not meant to contain us - that has never been the goal for New Providence. Rather, we pursue this campaign confident that lives will be changed and that we will see anew how God's love and grace are at work in and through us,anow and in the years to come.
