New City Notes

January 2003

Dear New City Friends,

Another year of ministry in the Old City comes to an end.  My reflections run the gamut from a deep sense of blessing through the provision of our new location to a lingering sadness over the sudden death of a dear friend. 

Early last summer—after the unexpected purchase of 102 S Central, our home since 1998--we were not sure where New City was going to be.  As a board of directors we discussed, prayed, researched, and negotiated through a variety of options .  Our sense of God’s pleasure in the project had never been stronger.   Yet we had neither the means nor the desire to pay 30% more for a rented building that could no longer serve our long-term vision.  All roads kept leading us back to the strategic significance of the Old City and the evident fruit from five years of ministry. But how? Where? And when?  Our new landlord wanted us out of the building by the end of June.  

Enter God’s intervention (I have no other way of explaining it) through the exhorbitant and sacrificial benevolence of His people in Knoxville.  At a time, when every non-profit everywhere was struggling to meet financial obligations and people were scrambling to stabilize investment losses, two married (anonymous) couples bucked the system and provided New City with sufficient resources and pledges to help us secure a new home!  And not only did we get a building, but combined with other gifts, large and small, we have been given the opportunity to birth the New City Consortium, a city-wide educational network purposed to equip God’s people (head, heart, & hands) for life and ministry.  For your part in this project (past, present, & future), we say “thank you.” 

It is clearly a work of the Lord built upon the perseverance of a core, the radical obedience of a few, and an adventurous spirit among many.

And now a sobering dimension of our reality : in the very process of our re-birth, one among New City’s core lost his struggle and left this life in October.  From the time we first opened on the corner, David Egerton was a special part of the community .  An artist and friend of God, David read and wrote for hours at the Cafe.  We have a few of the many photographs he took now on display in the performance space.  The images reveal a penetrating awareness of things ignored and unnoticed— perhaps even a bit like their creator .  I think many of us miss David more than we can articulate, more than we can even know.

And so my Lord Jesus uses this experience of death to remind me that as great as our new building is it is merely a shell for the cultivation of authentic friendships and a  deeper experience with God.  Everything we do on site at New City contributes to these eternal purposes --whether steaming cappuccinos, singing from up front, chatting over coffee, or leading a theological discussion upstairs.  

Thank you for your part in this project with us.  Please remember us in your prayers, your tithes , and your reflections on your service to The King.

Kenny Woodhull for New City