A New In-Person Church in Troy, Ohio
- David Myhren
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 6 hours ago
I was rather surprised when I Googled Bread of Life Church in Troy, Ohio and stumbled upon this description:
Bread Of Life Church in Troy, Ohio, offers a welcoming space for individuals at various points in their spiritual journey. Whether you are a lifelong churchgoer, someone exploring faith, or seeking companionship in life's questions, all are embraced at Bread Of Life. The church's worship services embody reverence for God's holiness and a genuine display of His grace, reflecting the core tenets of a centuries-old Christian faith.
Embracing the importance of community in a digitally isolated world, Bread Of Life Church emphasizes the value of genuine connections among its members, fostering a sense of belonging as the family of God. The church's commitment to living out the Christian faith in contemporary times resonates with believers across generations, rooted in the foundational belief in Jesus as the ultimate savior based solely on His grace.
…Through a blend of ancient faith traditions and a modern approach to community, Bread Of Life Church stands as an inclusive space where individuals can encounter the goodness of the Lord and find spiritual nourishment.
Aside from a few typos and awkward phrases, it’s not a bad write-up. The irony of ironies is that ai wrote it, unbeknownst to me, by pulling information from the church website.[1] Given a year or two, I’d bet those awkward bits will be gone, but the irony of decrying our digitally fragmented society will probably still be there.
A Non-Curated Church
Ai seems to know a lot about our church plant, and it probably knows far more about many of the residents of Troy than I do.
According to Google Maps, Troy is about a 30-minute drive north of Dayton. Wikipedia tells me that Troy is nestled along the banks of the Great Miami River and is the county seat of Miami County. The city is home to about 30,000 people and the county is home to about 112,000 people. The US Religion Census claims that over 6 out of 10 people in the county are not religious at all, let alone evangelical. We are the first NAPARC work in the county. There is a great need for churches that exhibit the three marks of the true church.
Lots of the people that I speak with like the idea of Jesus and might read the Bible, but many have stopped attending church. Some have suffered some pretty serious church hurt in their past, and trust is a difficult thing to win back after betrayal. Others do not attend church because they would rather watch something online. While there are certainly many benefits to having great Christian teaching online and freely available to all, a drawback is that we can curate our teachers as we please and maybe even our community. As I consider the breakdown of the significance of the institutional church among many with whom I speak, I can’t help but feel that it’s tied to other problems, such as the breakdown of the family and the fracturing of society into echo chambers. To say “church ought to be a family” relies on a healthy view of the family that’s missing from many I speak with. The gospel alone can restore the vocabulary that’s been lost by our society.
I’m so thankful for the family that Christ has been bringing together at Bread of Life. Each story is so unique and yet each soul is there for the same reason, we need Jesus to save us. Over the past year we’ve grown closer as a church through worship and things like home visits, fellowship meals, and even a church softball team, but one thing I wish we had started earlier is our prayer time after service. We break into small groups and pray with and for one another for approximately 20 minutes before Sunday School. I’ve found that time to be a great encouragement as every member is able to open up and we can each bear one another’s burdens to Jesus.
If Church is the People Why Don't We Try Meeting In Person?
While we have tried to put a good foot forward with our online presence, there is just no substitute for in-person presence, and so we’ve been putting ourselves out there. The most in-your-face outreach we did was to rent a booth at the county fair and paint kids’ faces while inviting folks to church. A less scary idea was having church members bake cookies and deliver them along with a gospel tract and a handwritten invitation to families that recently moved to the area. It was great
seeing our neighbors’ faces go from leery, “Who is this strange person at my door?” to light up when they realized we came bearing gifts. The floodgates haven’t opened, but a few brick-and-mortar doors did. We’re still praying that it will lead to spiritual doors.
One attempt I’ve made at opening the door for others is spending some time each week in a coffee shop while I work on sermons or emails. I’ll put up a sign saying, “I’m a pastor. Have questions about God? I’ll buy you a coffee!” It’s a little cheesy, but it’s an olive branch to outsiders.
The other place I frequent is the local hospital where I volunteer as a chaplain. Many times patients will be watching TBN when I come in the room to pray and share scripture with them, they usually turn it off when I come to visit. It’s pretty rare that a patient prefers a digital pastor in the hospital. It’s a good thing to have flesh and blood sitting next to you then, even if I am just a cheap knock-off of the Great Physician. He has ordained me to minister to His sheep with His Word and Spirit.
Please pray that the Lord would establish Bread of Life as a faithful in-person church that preaches Christ and Him crucified for sinners. Pray that the Lord would draw people from all sorts of backgrounds to Himself, especially the unconverted. Pray that God would use the gospel to recreate such basic notions as “family” for Miami County. As challenges come up, and with church plants, there will always be challenges, pray that the Lord would use them to strengthen our love for Christ and one another.
[1] I found the description on mapquest.com, compare with: www.breadoflifeopc.com