The Frozen Chozen

From Kevin Brown, elder at Epiphany Station (with help from Jeff Gauss):

A group of about 20 people initially started Epiphany Station after repeatedly recognizing the inability of their traditional church to radically reach their community with the love of Christ. Our history began on July 16, 2006 in the dining room of our home with an acoustic worship set and Kevin Brown leading a bible-based message. We continued meeting in our home for several months, then rented a commercial space in downtown Thief River Falls for a month, then rented the Heritage Center for almost a year to hold meetings on Sunday evenings. Along the way we’ve become formally affiliated with the Minnesota Baptist Conference and eventually were able to save enough money for the down-payment on what used to be a gas station in the heart of downtown (403 Main Ave. North). This facility will give us about 3,400 square feet to work with but needs lots of renovation.

We are a diverse bunch of passionate lay-people who love the Lord, want others to as well, and are specifically drawn toward being relevant to future generations. Leadership of this ministry has come from four “elders” to this point — Kevin Brown, Dale Schneider, Ben Kosharek and John Kelley. Together we have managed to provide weekly worship services and a couple weekly small groups. We have also sponsored various outreach events within the community. Attendance numbers have grown to about an average of 40 or so per week for worship services. Financially, we “gave” about $40,000 in 2007.

In February 2008 we concluded that our next steps as a ministry are to find financial partners who might share the church plant vision and to seek and call the best possible Lead Pastor to “take the keys” into the next era. We are passionate that the church plant concept is the most efficient way to advance God’s Kingdom in the world we live today. We feel we’ve identified an ideal Lead Pastor to guide us into the future in Jeff Gauss, who received the MBC’s highest rating during planter assessment. Jeff is also gifted at communicating vision and mentoring others. We have a nucleus of several young men who are simply ripe for being mentored toward various roles in ministry. We are convinced that God has led us to Jeff Gauss and vice versa.

We have many things going for us as is. Our “station” motif has already drawn much attention in the community. We have seen steady growth and positive discipleship occurring in our midst. People have come to the Lord, grown in their relationship with the Lord and been baptized because of our ministry here. That said, there remains incredible untapped potential in targeting young people and young families in this community for whom there really is not a viable option. There are several solid traditional options, but none that are adapting to the culture we live in fast enough to retain young people.

Having identified the right person to lead us into the future in Jeff Gauss, the next critical component is financing. We need significant financial help to make this happen, to support Jeff and his family, to renovate the facility to maximize ministry potential, and to aggressively market the ministry to God wants to reach through us. We genuinely see this as a partnership. We have already invested mightily ourselves in the ministry. We raised the $23,000 for down-payment on the existing location and are currently able to comfortably pay our monthly mortgage and basic utilities. We will continue to pour everything we possibly can into the ministry until it is self-sustaining.

We know that Jeff, as our Lead Pastor, will be devoting 50+ hours a week of his heart and soul to this ministry. We need to fully support him and his family, even if it’s with a modest salary of $45,000 that first year. In that first year, we know we also need to put significant funds toward facility renovation. We have several willing and able-bodied workers who have and will continue to donate their time and talents. We welcome more, especially professional plumbers, electricians, etc.

As excited as we are about the potential of Epiphany Station, we are also convinced that God’s Kingdom is intended to grow well beyond Thief River Falls. We are pledging 5% of our incoming tithing to be designated for escrow toward supporting future church plants, perhaps even spearheaded by a church planter cultivated from Epiphany Station. Regardless, we have seen first hand the joy of ministry and effectiveness of this model. We truly delight in the long-range vision and opportunity for support!

For more information visit www.epiphanystation.com