One man's story of faith and moving mountains

In this first-person account, the Rev. Craig Taylor recalls his experiences as a newcomer to the Cape Region and his faith journey to establish a new ministry here.

I was looking for help - and hope. I only had a couple weeks to move my family out of our home, without a job or a place to go. I was driving back from a doctor of ministry class at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky. At the time, I was crossing the mountains of West Virginia. In the darkness I searched for encouragement by listening to the radio. When I heard the song "Mighty to Save," I began to reflect on the words, “My savior, he can move the mountains.” I asked God what it would look like for him to move mountains in my life. And God answered!

I had been working in the Cape Henlopen School District for seven months as a part-time temporary computer technician. In those moments, God clearly gave me a burden for all of the people I had met. He called me to stay where I was working and to plant a Nazarene Church in the Lewes area. There in the car, I immediately thought of four mountains that would have to be moved if this calling from God were to become a reality.

I had never thought of myself as a church planter. The first two mountains would be convincing my wife and my district superintendent that this church plant was something I should pursue. I spoke to my wife the next day. She confessed that God had already revealed this plan to her several weeks earlier. She knew that if it was indeed God’s will, he would speak to me directly about it. Then I called the district superintendent. After a few discussions, he and the other district leaders also affirmed the call.

The remaining two mountains were the need for a place to live and full-time employment. The Mid-Atlantic District Church of the Nazarene made arrangements for our family to stay where we were until we moved to Milton four months later. Now I just needed a reliable source of income. That mountain was moved 16 months after that discussion with God in the car. I was hired as a full-time technology specialist at Cape Henlopen High School.

Shortly thereafter, we made our first plans for the church plant. I already had a mission. I know a lot of people who do not go to church. I have also been in churches that make it easy to understand why more people do not attend church. Yet I am called to bridge this gap between the world God loves so much and the body of Christ that is the church. I am called to preach and to teach God’s plan for humanity. My mission is to create a community that learns to live in the love of God and freely shares his love with others in the community.

I am driven by the fact that people matter to God. The people we meet in our neighborhood, in the schools, and on the fields of Henlopen Soccer Club matter to God. Many need help and hope like I did. We have been blessed with a chance to be an incarnation of that message - to let our words and actions demonstrate that they matter to God. There are other great churches in the area, but there are also a lot of people who do not know Jesus as the source of living hope. God is in the process of moving mountains to reach them for his glory. The goal of the church plant is to bring living hope to those whom God is seeking in this section of Delaware.

We started having monthly countdown worship services in February 2011. We will continue to worship toward the end of each month until the formal launch of Living Hope Church of the Nazarene on Sept. 25. At that time we plan to move to weekly worship services. Our first three services were in the library at Cape Henlopen High School. The next several services (Sundays, May 22, June 26, July 24) will be in the auditorium of the Lewes School on Savannah Road next to Shields Elementary School while we investigate long-term options. Each worship service is from 10:30 to 11:30 am.

My wife and I are proud to be raising three amazing children. We passionately believe that children are not just the church of tomorrow. They are the church of the present, so Living Hope Church will intentionally include children in all that we do. Children worship with the adults. During the worship services we have activity bags for children to enjoy as well as a children’s message. Eventually, when the right people are in place, we plan to have a nursery and preschool ministry on Sundays. Each month we also have a social activity planned for families and people of all ages.

My core values as pastor of the church will influence who we become. My top core values are: people matter to God, loving as Jesus loved, Godly servant leadership, fellowship and community, a grace-orientation to life, strong families, evangelism, and welcoming visitors.

I am not out to copy what other churches are doing. I am on a mission to find out what it looks like for a community of faith to actually take residence in the love of Jesus and then share that love with others. What would it look like if we loved each other as Jesus did? How can we be a blessing to our community? These are the questions we are going to wrestle with and answer together.  Everyone is invited to join us. We are not sure exactly what the final picture will look like, but others can help create it. Visit www.nazarenesites.com/lhcp or join us for a worship service. For more information, call 302-329-9381 or email craigdtaylor@aol.com.