What do you do when it suddenly becomes possible for your mission church to hit its long-term goals in months rather than years? That’s the question we’ve been asking ourselves at Ascension, Jacksonville, N.C.

Our two long-term goals were:

1. To become a self-supporting home mission congregation (meaning we’ll still benefit from our mission board and mission counselor but won’t need a financial subsidy from WELS to meet our budget).
2. To help start at least one new mission church in eastern North Carolina.

I’m happy to report that as of July 1, we’ve been subsidy free, and our church is fully funding our ministry. And it’s possible that soon a core group from Ascension will be applying for home mission status and funding for a new mission in Wilmington, N.C.

How did we get here so fast? God’s been blessing us in amazing ways. Almost every week we connect with new people from our community who don’t have a church home and invite them to join us for life groups, worship, or weekly story time for families. People thank us for the invite, show up to check things out, and get connected from then on. We’ve conducted multiple Starting Point studies (think Bible information class) for all the people interested in learning more about the Bible. Our sanctuary has been fuller on Sundays, kids and their parents are baptized, and our offerings have increased.

At the same time, it became obvious that God was showing us that now is the right time to form a core group for a new mission about an hour away. Multiple families live closer to Wilmington than Jacksonville and have been driving an hour (or more) for years. The outreach mindset and culture at Ascension is exactly what a core group can bring to the effort of starting a new church to serve a rapidly growing community with more than 100,000 people who need Jesus.

Over the last few months, we’ve been hard at work for Wilmington. We assembled a core group that meets at least twice a month for fellowship and to work on our application for mission status and funding. We’re building on our outreach culture and praying for opportunities to reach the lost. We’re in the community serving local non-profits, including hosting a WELS Mission Journeys team from Fox Valley Lutheran High School, Appleton, Wis., that helped run a grocery canvass for a local food pantry.

So what do you do when things move faster than you expect? You hold on! When things move quickly, you need something to ground yourself and let yourself know it’s okay.

What are we doing in Jacksonville? Holding on to the message—the good news of Jesus for us sinners who desperately need him. We’re holding on to our identity in Christ as the most important thing about us. It’s not achieving long-term goals or positive developments like having a newer building and a growing congregation. We hold on to what Jesus has done for us and define ourselves as forgiven and loved children of God.

What are we doing? We’re holding on to the mission God has given his church so we don’t get lost in details that don’t really matter. We work to do everything we can to keep one another connected to Jesus, grow our faith through his means of grace, and reach out into our community with the good news that also can give them something to hold on to.

With something to hold on to like that, moving fast is not just okay. It’s something we’re praising God for doing.

Author: Steven Saatkamp
Volume 112, Number 08
Issue: August 2025