25 Years

This past weekend, Pam and I participated in the 25th Anniversary Celebration of Summit Christian Church. We were flooded with warm memories and deeply meaningful connections with people we loved and served alongside for over two decades. Summit continues to be a healthy, life-giving church which now runs over 3,000 in attendance.

When we first arrived in Reno in 1998, we stayed in the Peppermill Hotel. Early one morning, Pam was awakened by a still-small voice that whispered, “Valley of Baka, Valley of Baca.” Pam wondered what that meant and opened her Bible to Psalm 84:6. “As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.”

Pam looked out the window of our hotel and saw the dry high-desert stretching to the horizon. At that point, she realized God was calling us to help transform the valley’s spiritual landscape. That whisper-from-God helped to cement our call to plant a church in the Reno/Sparks area.

By faith, we could see a long-term future where springs of living water bubbled up throughout the region. In our first vision document, we tried to capture this by boldly stating: We want to help transform the spiritual landscape of the Truckee Meadows.

Much has changed in the past 25 years. When we arrived, the area was known as a graveyard for pastors. In general, churches were small and too-often-visited by splits and moral failure.

When we launched Summit, one local pastor asked, “What church did you split from?” I told him we were a brand-new church plant. We were not a split from any church. The pastor told me he had never heard of that taking place in the area.

Scroll ahead 25 years. Now, there are several thriving churches in the Truckee Meadows. God has not only moved miraculously at Summit. He has also moved throughout the valley. Summit is not the only robust church in the area. A few previously existing churches have grown much stronger. Other church plants have also popped up in the past two decades. Along with Pam and I, scores of men and women of God have poured their lives out to advance the cause of Christ in Reno/Sparks.

Together, we have made a difference.

This morning, as I flew out of Reno heading back to Costa Rica, I looked over the valley and I could say with certainty: By God’s grace, in the past 25 years, the spiritual landscape of the Truckee Meadows has been transformed.

Not completely, of course. There is still much to be done. But a rising tide raises all boats. As God blessed and grew Summit, he also blessed and grew other churches in the valley. Today, the big “C” church in the Truckee Meadows is thriving, healthy and making an increasingly powerful impact.

To God be the glory! Great things he hath done!