THE TRAILS CHURCH - PLANTING FALL 2018

WHAT IS THE TRAILS CHURCH?

The Trails Church is a new church plant, launching this fall in Celina, TX. This will be the third church planted in the 13-year history of Providence Church, joining Christ Redeemer Church (formerly Imago Dei Church) in McKinney, TX and Veritas Fellowship in Fayetteville, NC as churches who have carried forward our mission of advancing the Kingdom of God through the Gospel. The Trails Church will be pastored by Matt Boswell, who has served as the Pastor of Worship and Ministry at Providence for the past seven years.

WHY PLANT A CHURCH?

Providence Church is part of a long history of church planting. First Baptist Lewisville, a church formed in 1882, planted Lakeland Baptist Church in 1962. Lakeland Baptist Church planted Highland Village First Baptist Church in 1978, which became the Village Church in 2002. The Village Church planted Providence Church in 2005.

We believe that scripture models a strategy of multiplication as the most effective way of reaching people for Christ. Our desire is to make disciples who in turn make disciples (2 Tim. 2:2), to equip the saints for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:12), to raise up and send out leaders and missionaries (Acts 13:2), and to plant churches (Titus 1:5; Acts 14:23).

Planting The Trails Church will allow us to maximize our resources and giftedness in order to reach more people for Christ. The Celina area is growing rapidly and we are excited to plant a church there with our DNA focused on making disciples and not just converts, committed to God’s word and not the shifting ideologies of the culture, rooted in the Gospel and not merely religion as the hope for mankind. Our hope for the future is that the three churches (Providence, The Trails, and Christ Redeemer) along with future plants will make up a network of like-minded churches who pray for each other, encourage one another, and occasionally collaborate on events or mission endeavors.

WHO IS GOING?

As stated earlier, Matt Boswell will serve as Lead Pastor of The Trails Church. We believe that the Lord has been growing, equipping, and preparing Matt for this role for many years and this is the right time for him to further use his gifts to serve the church and community. The elders of Providence will help oversee The Trails Church until they have an adequate number of elders serving their body locally.

The Trails Church will launch with a core group from Providence Church as well as others in their community. Matt has done a fantastic job of making inroads in the Celina area and building relationships there. Though geography is a factor, we do not believe it is the sole determining factor of who is part of this church plant. There will be people who live south of Highway 380 who will be part of this plant and people who live north of 380 that will remain at Providence. Our hope is that God’s call will continue to direct our lives as we seek His will for us. 

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR PROVIDENCE?

The next few months will be a time of transition for us. Matt will continue to lead us in worship most Sundays and will remain as one of our elders until the time of the official launch of The Trails Church. We will be praying and searching for a new worship pastor. Though the new worship pastor will certainly bring his own unique set of gifts, personality, and leadership which we are excited to experience, the nature of our services will continue to be Christ-centered, congregational singing that is rooted in scripture. Additionally, Providence Church will continue expanding our leadership as we are on pace, Lord willing, to install new elders in the fall coinciding with the church plant.  
 
We remain committed to the mission God has given us: to glorify God by making disciples through the Gospel, in community, and on mission. These are exciting days for our body as we continue to grow.  The Lord has been faithful to bring so many new folks to our church in the past few months who are in need of Jesus and the fellowship of his body. The Lord continues to give us opportunities to reach more people in Collin County and beyond. There will be many areas of service and leadership that will be vacated by those who will be part of The Trails. We will need many of you to jump into these roles and serve in new ways as we continue our mission.
 
Finally, we want to acknowledge that this will be an emotional and bittersweet moment in the history of our church. There are people launching from our church who we have done life and ministry with for many years. It is OK to be sad to see Matt and this group leave Providence but our prayer is that seeing our mission advance will overwhelm our sadness with joy. This is a thrilling time for us. Healthy things grow and multiply and see their influence for good expand and we can’t wait to see all that God has in store for us!

HOW CAN WE BE PRAYING?

Pray in the coming months for The Trails Church and the core group as they prepare to launch in the fall. Pray for Matt and Jamie Boswell and their family as Matt transitions to this new role as a church planter and pastor. Continue praying for Providence Church and that your elders will continue to seek the Lord, follow His guidance for our church, and steward our gifts and resources for God’s glory alone! Pray for the new leaders that God will send our way to lock arms with us on our mission as a church. Finally, pray that we see many come to faith in Christ and have their lives transformed by the Gospel through both the ministry of Providence Church and the Trails Church.