A very special ordination event last night. Elias, my brother & friend, is now my officially ordained pastor! — with Laura Jinar and Elias Jinar. (Preluată de aici). Recunosc în poză pe Florin vancea, păstor în Florida și pe Daniel Chiu, păstor în Chicago.

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Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Why start another church?

There are over 9MM people living in this area, many of whom need the Gospel. In order to reach every 500 people with one church, Chicagoland would need an additional 12,000 churches. Currently there are less than 6,000 churches in this city, yet many of these don’t preach the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. We want to join in the call of the Great Commission by establishing a new church that can reach new people for Christ. The New Testament offers many examples of how the Gospel spread through churchplanting. Churches like Antioch, Ephesus and others prove to us that churchplanting is God’s plan A for world evangelisation. The Gospel spreads much faster when people go out to plant new churches. We have received that call and are excited to obey it faithfully. Matt 28:1820; Mark 16:15; Matt 9:3738; Acts 1:8, Acts 1314.

2. Who will you reach out to?

We will reach out to those who live around us. We hope to go beyond the Romanian ethnic circle and make disciples of all nations. We are not trying to set up a ministry for Romanian youth exclusively, rather we will minister to whomever God places in our path. We are aware that at first we will likely reach those who are similar to us by virtue of our age, jobs, location, interests. However, with God’s help we are committed to crossing barriers and connecting with as many people as God allows. We hope to reach:

● People who are lost and in need of a Savior; our neighbors, whoever they may be

● People who drifted away from the faith, but whom God wants to bring back into the family

● People who have religion, but lack relationship with Jesus Christ

3. What relationship will you have with other churches and particularly Romanian ones?

We seek the best relationship we can possibly develop. We desire good collaboration and mutual encouragement. We will freely associate with any and all churches committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His mission. Chicagoland is a mission field that needs varied churches in order to reach various people. There are always more people to reach. We respect and value the work of the Romanian churches in this area. We don’t seek to replace or minimize their ministry. We see our ministry as complementary, not competition. We want to reach new people, alongside the ministry of existing churches. Although the current group is madeup of a majority of romanianamericans we sense God calling us to go beyond the ethnic circle and, like Paul, break new ground. With faith, joy and trembling we are ready to take that step.

4. How will you relate to people coming from other churches?

Discipleship will be our main focus (2 Tim 2:2). Attenders will not be automatically considered members. Those who currently attend a church but feel compelled to join our church will have to provide a release letter and/or membership transfer from their previous church, indicating good standing. We will readily talk about our vision and values and we will gladly welcome anyone who wants to grow as a disciple of Christ. We will not denigrate other ministries or try to convince people to leave their church and join ours.

Our emphasis will be on discipleship and leadership formation. We want to see lost people saved; saved people matured; and mature people multiplied. We pray and strive for a ministry where the rebellious will be challenged, the discouraged will be encouraged and the weak will be instructed (1 Thess 5:14); so that all may grow in maturity and likeness of Jesus Christ (Col 1:2829). As leaders are raised we hope to send out many to start new churches and/or support existing ones.

5. To what authority do you submit?

The authority of Jesus Christ, the Scriptures and God’s call We submit to the authority of Jesus Christ as the Head of the church (Eph 1:22) and His call to go out and make disciples (Matt 28:1820; Col 1). The Holy Spirit moves churches and people to fulfill the Great Commission in various ways. Often God will burden a man with the call to plant a church and gather around him men and women of similar commitment and conviction. That is our story and how God called us. We wholeheartedly recognize the authority of God’s Word and gladly submit to it. The Spirit compels all of us to join together in the difficult yet exciting journey of church planting. We submit to the authority of Scripture in all matters of ministry and methodology.

The counsel of godly men and partnerships with likeminded churches We value godly men/elders who uphold the Word of God and rightly divide the truth. We welcome their wisdom and counsel. We acknowledge our youthfulness and our limited experience, but we humbly seek to obey the word that says: Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. (1 Tim 4:12) We are in good standing with all, as far as we know and as much as it depends on us.

Our lead church planter, Elias Jinar is under the supervision and mentorship of Rev.  Robert Goette. Additionally, Elias receives regular counsel and accountability from a group of godly pastors, elders and church leaders (Florin Vancea, Brooks Fuller, Ian Gerrard, Robert Duijzer and others). We are affiliated as a church plant with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). We seek to develop partnerships with the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA), the Gospel Coalition and any likeminded churches or network of churches that finds value in collaborating for the expansion of Christ’s kingdom.

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