Roots by the River

Some time ago, I received this question: “Why did you start your own church when you moved to Moscow? I am working in ministry in my church, but I am considering being a pastor. How do I know if I should leave this church to start my own or stay and keep trying to minister to the people here?” We came out to Idaho from Michigan to spy out the land in February 1971. In October ’72, fifteen months after we arrived, I was asked to substitute at the Grange church, which my family had been attending. In the meantime, we had been holding an afternoon house church in our home. In 1976, we shut down the afternoon house church because we did not want to compete with Community Evangelical Fellowship, the Moscow church that we started from the Grange in September 1975 because the congregation there was growing. The Grange grew and divided/planted again in 1976. I pastored both churches in Pullman for one year until another pastor was able to join us. The other church I pastored until I retir...