Sabbath Year Prayer Guide

When Antioch Church adopted New Heights Baptist Church and its facilities in 2013, our call to pursue intentional gospel relationships in Louisville’s South End was strengthened by the legacy we inherited. The Lord had uniquely positioned us to be a city on a hill in the South End. We thought, “how will we engage this community?” To answer this question we commissioned a team of volunteers to guide the church through an in-depth study of the Beechmont/Iroquois neighborhood. Our goal was to become students of the South End in order to become servants of this community. We surveyed neighbors door-to-door, conducted in-depth interviews with community leaders, spent hours walking and observing our streets, and collected demographic, historical and cultural data to complete this study. Parts of our research can be found in this guide.

Then in mid-2017 we instituted a Sabbath Year, an intentional time for resting in Christ and putting down deep roots in him. In this time, our church was able process the community survey results communally and prayerfully, leading us to convictions and conclusions together about how God is specifically leading us forward to live as sent ones in our community. Our goal was not to dictate mission, but to stimulate our entire church to own the mission, equipping the saints for the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:11-13).

Feel free to read the Sabbath Year Prayer Guide to better understand where Antioch is coming from and going to in the future. At the end of each section you will find discussion questions, prayer points, and space for recording reflections. Read through it on your own or with a friend from church.

Post Sabbath Year Prayer Guide

On Sunday, May 20, 2018, we celebrated the conclusion of the Sabbath Year. During the Evidence of Grace portion of the gathering we took a moment to acknowledge specific ways God had already answered our prayers on how to engage the neighborhood. This guide is a continuation of that reflection on how God has answered and is continuing answer our prayers. In it you will find Antioch’s Missions Convictions and our plans for outreach.

The guide is a work in progress and is being processed monthly in our Family Groups. It is currently divided in two different downloadable documents, because we are still writing the second half of the guide. Click the first button to Download January-May, and the second button for May-August.