Why Nova?

This post was written by AJ Thomas, lead pastor at Deep Water Church One of the first projects we have backed as a part of our ReachOut initiative is a church plant here in Halifax called Nova. To some people this may seem like a rather strange thing for us to do. Why would we pour outreach funds into a church? And if a church why a church other than Deep Water?  And if another church why Nova? Let's take a couple minutes and look at the answers to those questions.

“Why pour outreach funds into a church?”

At Deep Water we believe that God has called us to help bring his kingdom here in Halifax. While this includes serving the poor, feeding the hungry, helping the sick, caring for those in prison, and a whole host of other social justice initiatives, we believe that the most essential thing in bringing the kingdom of God to Halifax in greater and greater ways is to see individual lives transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. The tool that God has ordained as the primary way for the gospel to be both lived out and proclaimed is the local church. We believe that the more churches there are in Halifax that are Spirit filled and on mission with Jesus the more we will see people come to Christ, our community transformed and the kingdom come. No organization in Halifax is as well positioned or as God-empowered to bring transformation as the local church so we think it makes great sense to invest in a project that raises up another great local church.

“If a church, why a church other than Deep Water?”

I understand this question. God is doing some amazing things in Deep Water right now. Why would we not just continue to fuel that fire as much as we can? The answer is simple: we can't do it alone. It will take many different kinds of strong, effective churches to reach Halifax for Jesus and while we want to do our part we also want to be a part of helping other churches to do theirs. Deep Water exists because the good folks at Hillside Wesleyan Church knew that we needed more strong healthy churches in our city and so they released people and gave money so that Deep Water could get off the ground. We want to have that same heart that says we will work our corner of the field with everything we have but we will also support those God has called to other corners. Our mission is to help people become passionate followers of Jesus Christ not just to build Deep Water, and if investing in another church helps us to accomplish our mission we will. People invested in us and because of this THE CHURCH in Halifax is stronger. Now we our investing in another church and THE CHURCH will be stronger still.

“If another church why Nova?”

In Matthew 25 Jesus tells the parable of the talents. You can read it for yourself if you want all the details but the basic gist is this: the Master gives us resources and it's our job to invest them where they will bring the greatest return. Pastors Mike and Nancy Miller have served faithfully in the city of Halifax for many years. They know the culture, they know the people, and they know the spiritual climate here. They have excellent gifts for this type of work and God has clearly shown his blessing on this project in many ways including the amazing team he has raised up around the Millers. When Deep Water started we had the launch team of 30. Nova still has almost 2 months until they launch and their team already has 100 members. The vision they have for Nova is certainly not a replica of the vision for Deep Water but there is absolutely  a common heartbeat, a common passion, and a common focus on reaching people who are far from Jesus. Making Deep Water and Nova kindred spirits. Simply put we are giving funds to Nova Church because we believe that it is one of the best kingdom investment opportunities our city has ever seen and we want in on the rewards of seeing lives transformed and God glorified.

So that's why we are not just investing in Nova Church but are thrilled to have the opportunity to do so. We are investing in Nova not just because we believe in their mission but because it helps us accomplish ours and helps bring the Kingdom in Halifax as it is in Heaven.