We are convinced that God’s design for a life well-lived happens best in community. When we do things together with each other, we become better people, we accomplish more, and we find more joy in what we’re doing. This applies to families, businesses, our daily activities, and the lives of Christians. This also applies to doing ministry – we believe that ministry happens best in teams. Currently, we have a team of two families – Paul and Amanda Bartel (Micah – 2, and Silas – 10 months) and Jason and Nancy Phelps (Ella – 1). Below you can learn more about the team. We are also looking for mission-minded families who either live in the Brookside or Waldo area of Kansas City, or who are feeling called to relocate there to help us plant the church. Please contact Paul Bartel if you are interested.

Paul and Amanda Bartel:

Paul’s dream of church planting began during an ‘urban plunge’ in Wichita, Kansas, with Lighthouse Community Church while a student at Tabor College. Since that time, he and his wife Amanda have been able to work with two other church plants, The Heart (Tulsa, OK) and The Grove Community Church (Fresno, CA). Both of those experiences challenged and refined them, and confirmed their call to church planting. After a brief interim ministry in Fairview, OK (Paul’s hometown), the Bartel’s moved to Kansas City in January 2009. Paul is passionate about making the church a safe place, loving people ‘on the margins’, cooking, and Oklahoma Sooners. Paul and Amanda have two children – Micah (3) and Silas (1).

Jason and Nancy Phelps:

Jason and Nancy met while attending Tabor College, where they earned degrees in Biblical / Religious Studies: Youth Ministry (Jason) and Journalism & Organizational Communications (Nancy). They were married in 2004, and worked in secular positions before pursuing a shared dream of ministry. For the past four years, Jason and Nancy have been ministering in St. Louis with World Impact, an inner city missions organization.  Their first child, Ella, was born in October 2007.