No bloomin’ way! (How God changes your plans with His dreams)

If you had asked Jeremy Williams what he would be doing a year ago; “planting a church in Regina SK” — or anywhere! — would not have been his answer.

“Been there, done that, almost killed me!” is what both Jeremy and his wife Niki used to say about church planting–starting a church from scratch.

But of course, that was before God called them to follow Him one yes at a time into the adventure that is now called “bloom” — a brand new church campus in Saskatchewan’s capital city.

Officially launched on Easter Sunday, “bloom” welcomed more than 80 people to their rented space at the Science Centre where they offered lively worship, authentic friendship, a full children’s program, and a video feed featuring a top-notch biblical message by Craig Groeschel, the founder of the international Life network of churches.

Jeremy and Niki had planned to leave Regina last year. They sold their home with a spacious backyard in a nice cul de sac and traveled to three different churches that had invited Jeremy, one by one, to interview for a position as worship leader. All three churches offered Jeremy the job and one offered Niki the position of Children’s Ministry Director, but in every case they both knew that God was saying “not this.”

“If ‘not this’ then what?!”, Jeremy wanted to know. As a husband, father of four and main provider for his family, he was growing anxious and despondent as he waited on God to reveal the next step in this unforeseen section of life’s road. Weeks passed.

Then some acquaintances from a former church invited the Williamses to their home bible study where the teaching came via video feed from the Life network of churches. After attending for six few weeks, the hosting couple, Dave and Lee Bojic,  both business professionals in the fitness and wellness sector, dropped in at the Williams’ home one evening.

“They weren’t even fully in the door before Dave started talking,” Niki remembers, laughing. The Bojics were quite animated and their words rushed out — they invited Jeremy and Niki to consider planting a Life church with them in Regina.

“We had been having some ‘If we did start a church here…’ conversations already,” Jeremy said, “so the Bojics’ offer came at a good time.” Jeremy said he and Niki had already defined what they wanted in a new church: God, not religion; authenticity, not politics; bold biblical truth, not watered down seeker-friendly ear tickling. The Bojics felt the same way. A partnership was formed.

No sooner had they sealed the deal than God began to send them “proofs” that they were on the right track: the other members of the bible study all jumped on board; other pastors in Regina affirmed their plans; the Life network welcomed them as an international campus and offered their resources; CTV, CBC and another television station heard about the new church and approached them for interviews (free advertising!); unexpected money came in to cover costs; and more.

It’s been quite a ride and Jeremy and Niki are running “to keep up with what the Lord is doing.” But they’ll be the first to say they would rather be following God at warp speed than waiting for Him to reveal His dream.

Visit bloom online or in person if you are in the Regina area and looking for a community of faith.