As the Woodlands Gathering community grows, the church is improving their building and continues to offer cultural education opportunities.
The Space
At the end of September, the church plant started a capital campaign to expand their building. They plan to wrap up the $100,000 campaign at the end of this year, and even before they started officially fundraising, generous people gave $35,000 toward the expansion. A friend of the PCA and of our presbytery offered his architectural expertise pro bono.
Woodlands Gathering hopes to start construction in spring 2025. The expansion will add a small church office, a kitchenette, accessible bathrooms, and a minor change to the sanctuary layout. Currently, the building’s bathrooms can only be accessed via a steep flight of stairs or from the exterior through a narrow door. For people using walkers or wheelchairs, this issue has been a deterrent. Greg Baney (planting pastor) said that about half a dozen people have been joining worship virtually because of this accessibility issue.
The basement of the building has a kitchen, but again, accessibility makes it an inconvenient space for church events. With a kitchenette on the main floor, Woodlands Gathering can continue having meals after Sunday services, and the basement will be dedicated to children and youth ministries.
Also, a mobile storage building is currently attached to the rear of the church. They plan to detach this building and turn it into a free thrift store for the community to drop off gently used items and take whatever they need.
Still a small church plant without abundant internal resources, Woodlands Gathering relies on outside donations for 85% of its budget. Having witnessed God’s provision for the church over the last four years, Greg is confident that He will continue to provide. Greg hopes that current donors will continue giving to the church’s general fund while also giving above and beyond to the campaign.
The People
Woodlands Gathering launched Sunday morning worship two years ago in November 2022. Now, the church has 14 members, but about 38 people (not including Greg’s family) are in the seats on any given Sunday.
However, the plant’s sphere of influence is much broader. Between 50-100 people do not come to worship, but they do attend events and even consider Woodlands Gathering to be their church. Greg explains, “We’re in relationships with them. We have a presence in their life, even if it’s not a consistent weekly presence built around worship.”
Of the Sunday attendees, most are new believers with no previous church experience. The worship style and service elements have been welcomed by the congregation, and a Wednesday evening prayer meeting that started in September has been fairly well attended.
Greg calls the church’s liturgy “unashamedly Reformed.” A confession of faith, prayer of mercy, pastoral prayer, preaching of the word, and weekly communion are all part of a Woodlands Gathering service. The music is a mix of contemporary worship songs and hymns, also with hymns in Cherokee.
As many know, the church is focused on reaching Native people, and Greg says, “We truly are a multicultural congregation.” About 70% of the people are Native and the remaining 30% are a mix of Vietnamese, Puerto Rican, Filipino, White, and mixed ethnicities.
The Spiritual Growth
More important than growth in numbers is spiritual growth. Of the 38 people regularly in the pews, only one couple comes from a churched background, and they are a support to the Baneys. The other members and regular attenders are new believers, which is pretty unique in our presbytery.
Greg says, “We knew when we were seeking to reach the native population that they are likely to be unchurched. In a context like this, growth is going to be much slower. We found early on that most people didn’t even know who Paul was. It’s not the typical Christian subculture.”
For example, when Greg looked at the elder training curriculum used in the PCA, he realized it is much like a seminary course and is not a great starting point for his people. Greg explains, “When you’re 60 years old and you’ve spent 55 years not going to church, it’s sort of like you’re in a slow cooker learning what it means to be a disciple.”
While Woodlands Gathering has had to adjust the expectations of what a PCA church plant looks like and how quickly it can grow, Greg says this work is extremely rewarding.
The Cultural Education
As we’ve shared before, Woodlands Gathering hosts a Cherokee language class and seed preservation program. This summer, the church formed a nonprofit called “Woodlands Educational Initiative” to engage the community through indigenous cultural preservation and education efforts, including the language class and seed program.
The church hosts annual workshops about land stewardship. “We talk about what it means to live with the land, not just on it,” explains Greg. “We explain the holistic approach to salvation, that it impacts all of the world we live in. We’re developing a theology of place and teaching people how to care for the land.”
On the church’s property, they currently have three raised garden beds and hope to expand to 20 6x12 foot raised beds. They also have the beginnings of a fruit orchard. Greg hopes the garden will become a place for people in the community to grow their own food. Food banks generally don’t accept perishable items, but he hopes spring, summer, and fall harvests will provide fresh produce to supplement other food options.
In a “Three Sisters” garden, they grow corn, beans, and squash together. Native people refer to these three crops as the “Three Sisters” because they grow better together than they do alone. Appreciating this knowledge from the Native culture is a way to dignify the culture while pointing to God as the ultimate source of this knowledge.
The Cherokee language classes have been going on for three years as a way to preserve the language. The teacher, Lou Jackson from Robbinsville, NC, is one of the remaining 1,500 people who still speak the language.
Woodlands Educational Initiative shows value and care for created things that are valued in Native culture while redirecting worship to the God of these created things. Greg says, “It’s a great outreach and a great way to show indigenous people that God doesn’t just like you; He loves you, and He made you the way that you are.”
The Baneys
Greg and Tricia Baney and their three kids have now been fully focused on Woodlands Gathering for four years. Their oldest was nine years old when they started the church plant; he’s now 13, and their youngest is nine. Greg says, “It’s been a journey. Our kids are learning how to be missionaries in their own community.”
As parents, the Baneys have delighted in seeing their kids gain a unique perspective as they watch people encounter Jesus for the first time. A strong children’s ministry is one of the church plant’s goals, but the Baney kids have grown by being part of an atypical church experience.
Twenty years ago, if you told Greg and Tricia that they would be leading a church plant focused on reaching Native people, they would have been surprised. Greg has wanted to reach Native people for a long time, but he didn’t envision planting a church. Now finding themselves approaching year five of this work, they are settled, happy, and driven.
Greg says, “Overall, I’m very encouraged. I’m encouraged by the faithfulness of God. Seeing the spiritual growth in people is encouraging and convicting for me.”
Komentarji