Photos by Shana Warenberg

A youth pastor’s neighbor, walking through the church’s doors after searching for a congregation that would fit his family’s needs. An uptick in attendees at youth ministry, with totals on Sundays approaching 100 young people. Residents from a girls’ home, joining a Christian event full of worship and fellowship. Finally, encouragement that God is on the move in the Midwest.

These outcomes were exactly what members of Parkland Chapel—a Calvary Chapel in Farmington, MO—had hoped for as they planned the church’s first-ever “Jesus in July” program. And God delivered, even as the July 1 event veered from what its planners had first expected.

A Change of Plans

“We told everybody, ‘It’s going to be outside, we’re going to have all these activities, water slides, and fireworks,’” remembered Assistant Pastor Jordan Ankrom. But the church soon learned that it would not be able to set off fireworks because of dry conditions; additionally, it was going to rain the day of the event.

Changing plans, event organizers decided to hold the celebration inside. The agenda now consisted simply of a night of worship, with food trucks and ice cream available afterwards. “We were planning a large outreach, but the Lord used the unpredictable Missouri weather to redirect us to a powerful in-reach,” Lead Pastor Mike Harrison acknowledged.

“People just fellowshipped with that, and it was just an amazing atmosphere,” Jordan recalled, estimating that about 500 people attended. “It was just electric. It was really a night of worship rather than just a night of entertainment.”

Pastor Mike agreed, “The night of worship produced pervasive joy. Folks were singing at the top of their lungs, clapping, and shouting out spontaneous praise of the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit was palpably present in the corporate joy.”

The simple but powerful Jesus in July event, one of many events that Parkland Chapel has hosted this season, has proven to impact lives and draw new faces to the Midwestern church even weeks after its occurrence. The church was established in 2005 by Pastor Mike, who previously was on staff at Maranatha Chapel in San Diego, CA. Once a fellowship of 12 adults and six children, Parkland now sees upwards of 500-600 people attend its weekend services.

Having put on smaller events in the past, the church wanted to challenge itself with a larger event this year in hopes of sharing Jesus with the community, Jordan said. Jesus in July planners spent roughly six months preparing, advertising via word-of-mouth, radio, and social media. Additionally, Parkland partnered with other Calvary Chapel believers, such as Jake and Mikayla Hoult, worship leaders at Woodlawn Chapel in Charleston, IL, who performed at the event. Woodlawn Chapel is a Parkland Chapel church plant.

However, the leadup to the event wasn’t without its challenges. Administrative Pastor Todd McKinney explained how some of the event organizers dealt with unexpected injuries and sickness the week leading up to July 1—adversity that ultimately inspired the church to alter its approach to event-related prayer. He explained that Parkland has increased its focus on praying before and during events; Jordan added that the church will also ensure there are designated people committed to praying for each event during those times.

“It was important for us to realize just how important [it is], not just talking about prayer and the importance of prayer, but really going on the offensive and not waiting to have things to pray about,” Todd said.

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16b

A Lasting Impact

Despite the challenges leading up to Jesus in July, planners saw the Lord working as the night began to unfold: “There were people there that I’ve never even seen before,” Jordan said. “We had some girls from a girls’ home show up; we didn’t even know the girls’ home knew about it. We just had all walks of life. It was just awesome that this wasn’t just a Parkland Chapel thing—this was a Parkland area event for people to come and see Jesus.”

The impact of the summer event has also echoed weeks later, Todd added. “We see people who just showed up for that event who are now attending church,” he said. “Or even people that followed the media leading up to that event that became curious about the church. They didn’t even necessarily go to the event itself, but started coming to church because they saw what we were doing.”

Parkland Youth Leader Gabe Williamson experienced that directly. He received a text from his neighbor weeks after Jesus in July, asking Gabe if he had time to talk. His neighbor began to ask about Parkland Chapel, explaining he had been looking for a new church to get involved in—and had begun considering Parkland when he saw pictures of the Jesus in July event on Facebook.

“He [said], ‘That just really hit home with me, that you're a church that's willing to do stuff like that, making it about the community and fellowship,’” Gabe explained. “He was just very interested, and he ended up coming to church that Sunday. All in all, he was in, and he’s told me he’s going to keep coming back.”

Pastor Todd noted that Parkland has been growing not only because of Jesus in July, but also because of the numerous other events the church has recently hosted. “It’s just been incredible to see everything God’s doing here,” he declared. “We’ve had these youth nights of worship, [and] a young adults’ service that just started. We’re seeing families that are hearing about [Parkland’s] church camp, Jesus in July, and the youth nights of worship—and the buzz around it is really big,” Todd described.

Pastor Mike reported, “The enthusiasm surrounding the event has attracted several visitors to Parkland Chapel in the following weeks. We have baptized over 50 people this year, the majority under the age of 25!”

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. Proverbs 11:30

Spiritual Awakening in the Midwest

Jordan described an additional impact: As more newcomers have walked through Parkland’s doors, it’s been an encouragement for the Midwest church’s believers. Previously, he said, there have been “all these massive movements of the Lord on the coasts. But then you come to the Midwest, and [many] people have never been through the Bible. But I think we are really seeing a spiritual awakening and people are hungering for the Word of God. It’s encouraging to know that God is still on the move in the Midwest.”

An Electric Night at Jesus in July
Browse photos capturing moments of genuine worship and fellowship

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Learn more about Parkland Chapel here: parklandchapel.org

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