World Impact continues to pioneer new ways to find and connect with urban pastors, church planters, and ministry leaders in urban communities in the heart of our nation. We recently have connected with two amazing brothers who are pastors of urban church plants in very challenging communities of Detroit. Both churches are thriving and one church is a result of being birthed out of the other! This is the kind of church planting reproduction that we love to see and find ways to encourage, equip, and resource however we can.
Mike Hanafee is the lead pastor of Restore Community Church in inner-city Detroit. A couple years ago, he mentored Tyler St. Claire who now pastors Crossroads Community Church, also in inner-city Detroit. Together, these two men, their families, and their congregations are having a profound impact on the neighborhoods around them. But it doesn’t stop there. They both have a vision to partner with World Impact to find more urban church planters and equip them to reach more of Detroit, up into Flint and even Southeast Michigan! Both Mike and Tyler are World Impact Associates and we look forward to growing in partnership with them as we seek to reach low-income and under-resourced communities in Detroit for Christ.
Tyler is currently working on establishing an Urban Church Association, which is a gathering of like-minded churches and pastors who work together and provide vital encouragement and support to one another. Mike is working to possibly start an Evangel School of Urban Church Planting in the Detroit area where we could train urban church planting teams more effectively and efficiently to meet the great need in Detroit. Mike and Tyler are both connected with many other pastors and ministry leaders and their hearts and vision to reach Detroit for Christ is contagious and powerful! Recently, a TUMI graduate named Michael Vanderhorst was released from a prison in Western Michigan and is currently partnering with World Impact and Pastor Mike to look at church planting among the released offender population. His vision to extend the church planting call to leaders who are incarcerated and some who are being released is equally as inspiring. God is at work in Detroit and we consider it an honor for World Impact to be connected to this Kingdom expansion!
Read more from Daren Busenitz.
