But now I must obey the Holy Spirit and go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what will happen to me there… I don’t care about my own life. The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me—to tell people the Good News about God’s grace.
- Acts 20:22, 24
When I read these words of the Apostle Paul, I think of Alan McCormick. Take out the name Jerusalem and put in the city of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and you have the life of Alan, “Big Mac” McCormick.
Eleven years ago this month, Alan and Kathy McCormick and their family moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho with no plan other than honoring God by going and making disciples in the Pacific Northwest. Alan, who had worked with local churches for more than two decades in the central and south U.S., felt called by God to reach out to people who might never enter a traditional church building. Alan and Kathy believed they could reconnect people to Jesus who had lost faith in “traditional American church.” God has blessed Alan with many spiritual gifts, and his most prominent are evangelism and helping make disciples who make disciples.
What first started as a downtown urban church, has now evolved into a house church planting movement in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho that has migrated to nearby Spokane, Washington. The first house church that met in Alan and Kathy’s living room has birthed three other family house churches: a “millennial group lead by millennials;” a group meeting by Zoom in Spokane; and a brand new house church for young women.
Alan’s days are spent meeting with people in his home (due to the pandemic) who are searching for something more in life than what they previously received from “organized religion.” Kathy and Alan host smaller groups in their home most days of the week. These are often mentoring and coaching sessions as they replicate their efforts by developing group leaders and disciple-makers. And even during the pandemic, Alan is out in coffee shops in downtown Coeur d’Alene where he meets with people to show them that Jesus has a message of hope and peace for their lives.
As hard as it is to believe, and through God’s power, their house church ministry has thrived and is growing despite the pandemic. Or better said, this house church ministry is growing because of the pandemic. The crisis of the pandemic is causing many to search for real answers to life’s hardest questions. Alan shares that in the past two weeks seven new people have asked to meet with him to talk about Jesus and what He has to say about life. They are finding those answers through the house church movement in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
Keep Alan, Kathy and the leaders of this movement in your prayers. And please feel free to give to The Flow as we help to support this disciple making movement.