Greetings in Christ!My name is Kyle Bair. By the sheer grace of God, I am endeavoring to plant a new church near the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. I'm working with a wonderful church called Jacob's Well to reach Dinkytown, an area north of the U of M that is filled with people, but not with churches.
When God first began calling me to plant a church in Minneapolis, I didn't immediately see the need. After all, wasn't Minneapolis already heavily churched? As you drive down its streets, church buildings dot the landscape. Minneapolis already has a number of mega churches, including Substance Church, Bethlehem Baptist Church, and Apple Valley Church. The EFCA even hosts their headquarters in Minneapolis! What possible need could there be for another church?
But when I started looking at the statistics, I was shocked. Minneapolis is one of the youngest, most educated, and most unbelieving cities in the nation. Over two-thirds of the population are under 35 years of age. Out of these, the vast majority have either rejected Christ or have never encountered Him. Only 9% of this vast population worships regularly in an evangelical or charismatic church. Out of the remaining 91% of the population, most simply have no time for God or church, while a small percentage attends churches that have largely abandoned the faith. This city is dotted with old church buildings, but the majority of these congregations are either dead or dying. Empty church buildings are being sold constantly, with many of them being converted into mosques, temples, and even witch covens. The atmosphere of the city population is largely "post-Christian." They believe they have seen what Christianity has to offer and have rejected Jesus as their God.
Yet God is not giving up on this city! He is raising up movements of church planters who are desperate to plant new churches throughout the city and reach all of its 88 neighborhoods with the Gospel! These organizations, such as the Treasuring Christ Together Network (hosted by Bethlehem Baptist Church) and Mission 16:18 (hosted by Hope Community Church), believe that the best way to reach this city is through local area church plants, new congregations who will serve their home neighborhoods while seeking to invite its people into new relationships with Jesus. These churches are Christ-centered, preaching nothing but the Gospel, passionately believing that if the true Christ is preached, He will not fail to draw crowds of "post-Christian" people to Him!
I have joined this army of church planters, choosing Dinkytown and the U of M campus as my target neighborhood. This area is filled with college students, graduate students, and those who have finished school but love the area too much to move away just yet. This neighborhood, even more so than the general Minneapolis population, lacks a significant Christian presence. As best as we can determine, less than 1-2% of this population has any connection to a church or Christian group.
This area is one of the most densely populated regions in the city, with over 21,000 residents living within 1 mile of our offices! This is in addition to the 50,000+ on the nearby University of Minnesota campus, giving us well over 70,000 people within walking distance. Yet despite the high population, this area is one of the least-churched neighborhoods in the city! Dinkytown’s people desperately need the Gospel, and we are eager to bring it to them!
God has been greatly smiling on our ministry thus far. I am planting with a man named Bob Smith, who has been doing collegiate and church planting ministry in the Twin Cities for nearly 30 years. He brings a great deal of wisdom and experience to this plant, as well as the support of the Southern Baptist Convention, through its North American Mission Board. Additionally, a number of college students from Jacob's Well, a church Bob helped to plant five years ago, have already become core members of this new church. Further, despite the immensely high property values in Dinkytown, God has graciously given us office space two blocks from the U of M campus! Despite its normal rent starting at $2,000 per month, we signed the lease at $500 per month, with the first three months free, due to the sheer grace of God.
This is the mission we’ve been given, to reach this neighborhood with the Gospel, and we’re carrying it out as eagerly and creatively as we can! One of our most successful outreaches has been serving coffee and hot chocolate to people bar-hoping between 11 PM and 3 AM! When these people encounter us, the first thing they see is us serving them, in the name of Jesus. This simple act has led to a wealth of conversations about Jesus.
Like any mission, we need to be well equipped to carry it out to the best of our abilities. At the present time, our greatest needs are for prayer partners and financial support partners. We are eager to do this work, but we can’t do it alone!
Our first need is for prayer. We are well aware that we are in hostile territory, and that no ground will be gained unless God Himself does the work. Because of this, we are eagerly seeking those who would join us in this ministry by praying for us regularly, asking God to use us to reach this area of the city.
We view all of our prayer partners as true partners. We believe that if someone is going to pray for us, the least we can do is pray for them! With each other monthly newsletters, we will provide a response card which you can fill in with any current prayer needs, and we will treat those needs as seriously as we hope people will treat our prayer requests. We are all together in this mission; we must support each other!
Secondly, we are in need of financial support. My monthly budget for life and ministry expenses is $2,000. It’s not a huge sum, but by getting a bit creative, it’s enough for me to live on. I would humbly ask you to consider prayerfully whether God would have you join my financial support team. Every gift will help to advance the Gospel in Dinkytown, going directly to pay for either basic living expenses or direct ministry expenses.
Also, in order to make donations as painless as possible, we can simply send an envelope every month with our prayer update letter to you. Monthly donations are the lifeblood of ministries like these!
Additionally, as a new church plant, we have been well advised to take every precaution to avoid temptation and failure in ministry. To help us in this area, we have sought a high degree of accountability. Bob Smith's church plant from five years ago, Jacob's Well, is overseeing our new church plant. In ministry matters, he and I are being held accountable to Jacob's Well, as well as to the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board. In personal matters, I am being held accountable to Bob Smith, the core group of this new church, and to Nate Ray, the lead pastor of Jacob's Well. In the area of being well-trained for ministry, I studied Bible and Theology at Wheaton College, then earned my Master of Divinity degree at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Additionally, I worked a long-term internship at Bethel Evangelical Free Church in Fairmont, Minnesota.
Donations made to this ministry are tax-deductible. Given that support for both Bob and myself are being sent to the same address, the number "2012" should be written on the memo line to designate the funds to my support. Alternatively, a small post-it note could be included, specifying who the donation is for.
If you do decide to contribute financially to this mission, your support can be sent to:
JW - Dinkytown, C/O Bob Smith
P.O. Box 14249
Minneapolis MN
55414
I ask you in Christ to prayerfully consider this matter. I would gratefully accept any support you could lend to this ministry, both in prayer and finances. We cannot do this alone. With your help, we will reach this city with the Gospel!
in Christ,
Kyle Bair
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