9 minute read
FIREHOUSE: There's Got to be More!
by Pastor Heather Boss
The Beginning
“There’s got to be more,” Pastors Daren and Denise Dabrowski (pictured at right) prayed over ten years ago while driving through the streets of Chicago. More to life, more to ministry, more to advancing the Kingdom of God. Little did they know how literal our God truly is. Just a few short weeks later they met a gentleman who was connected to the Churches of God, General Conference, and he told them about a church planting opportunity in none other than the City of Moore, Oklahoma. God had heard their hearts cry and opened the door for more in Moore!
Soon they began the process of applying to be the church planters for Moore. This involved application essays, interviews, and many prayers as there were many other church planters vying to have this same opportunity. The Western Region Administrative Council reached a decision and agreed that Daren and Denise were their choice to send to fulfill this mission and plant the church. The wheels were now in motion, and nothing could stop them from marching full force into the call of God on their lives.
Except an EF-5 tornado; or so many thought.
On May 20, 2013, Pastor Daren received a phone call from his daughter, who had already relocated to Oklahoma, stating she could see a massive storm building behind her as she made her way to work in Oklahoma City. Quickly another phone call came through from his frantic secretary urging him to turn on the T.V., and at their home in Chicago Pastor Denise watched the news in disbelief. All the while they were praying.
A massive, violent, deadly, and history-making EF-5 tornado plowed through South Oklahoma City and Moore for 40 minutes, leaving behind a 14-mile path of destruction, over $2 billion in damages and killing 25 people, including seven children, when it hit an elementary school located directly behind the location of their new church building. The City of Moore now looked like a war zone. The phone calls he received that morning were only the beginning. Calls began to pour in offering condolences and other locations within the CGGC that they could plant a church. The path the tornado was on surely had taken the building.
When the storm subsided, their daughter and her friend made their way to the church. They had to park a half mile away and walk as there was an excessive amount of debris in the streets. When they arrived to the property, they looked in awe. There in front of them stood the building, untouched by the storm. The home to the left had roof damage and a car on their property that once wasn’t there. The home to the right also had significant roof and window damage. However, what would soon become Firehouse Community Outreach, was there as if the hand of God was shielding it from the storm the entire time.
Disaster Relief Era
What was planned to be a church plant, shifted immediately into disaster relief for the community in which the Dabrowskis were being sent. Pastor Daren drove through the night that same evening to arrive on scene and begin the recovery process. Love from all over the country poured in; from finances, to missions teams helping people throughout the city. For the next year the launch of the church was put on the backburner as recovery of this desperate city was most important at that time.
The Launch
In April 2014, Firehouse Community Outreach held their first Sunday morning service. The room was filled with people from the community who had been reached through disaster relief, with people who would become integral parts of the church in the coming years and people who believed in the vision since the beginning. Flowers had been donated for the first service and the fragrance filled the air. There were baptisms and people who gave their hearts to God.
Throughout the next years Firehouse remained extremely involved in community outreach and ministering to community needs as they arose. Firehouse participated in community events, hosting events ministering to women who had experienced miscarriages or child loss, worship nights and even Passover celebrations! The church saw much growth and many people became disciples, being set free from drugs and alcohol, and other addictions.
COVID
Like many churches across the country, Firehouse Community Outreach had to close their doors for a period of time in 2020. Though they were not closed for nearly as long as most, the impact of COVID played a huge part in the size and operation of the church. With the doors closed Firehouse had to change how they reached the community and began to pre-record and do live services online; as well as doing many in home visits to ensure our congregants were doing well and staying connected.
Prior to COVID the age range of the church was mostly people over the age of 50. When the doors reopened that dynamic shifted as many older folks did not want to go out yet or felt more comfortable watching church online from home. Causing a decline in the attendance as we reopened the facility for in person meetings once again.
As things began to reopen and return to “normal”, Firehouse also saw an increase in attendance once again. This time however, the age range in the church shifted to mostly Millennials and GenZ and their children. With this shift a new community outreach opportunity opened up to the church.
Oaks Academy of Moore
After the tornado went through Moore in 2013 many families chose to move out of Moore. This forced the last Christian school in the city to close their doors forever, causing families desiring Christian education opportunities to look elsewhere. Fast forward to 2022, post-COVID and with the ever-increasing non-Christian worldview being forced upon students, the need for a Christian school was greater than ever.
In August of 2022 some of the families at Firehouse approached the leaders during a discipleship class with a concern about the upcoming school year for their children. Hearing the need, the leadership team knew that it was time to start a Christian school to meet the immediate need of the community. However, the school year was beginning in just one week and they had no finances, no teachers, and no idea how to begin; but God!
As soon as the need was spoken volunteers began to step up to help see this much needed vision come to fruition and the school was beginning to form. Teachers volunteered their time to teach the students, unpaid, for the entire year, people donated money to help purchase curriculum and other school supplies and students began to enroll! In a matter of only two weeks Oaks Academy of Moore was brought to life inside of the church building.
The 2022-2023 school year, though full of many learning curves, was an extremely successful year with five full-time students enrolled. The 2023-2024 school year is starting off on a high note already with eleven full-time students enrolled at the time this article was being written.
Also, over the summer of this year, Oaks Academy was able to host the first VBS! There were 23 children in attendance over the course of the week and 19 of them chose to either rededicate their hearts to God or accept Jesus as their Savior for the first time. It was such a beautiful sight.
Ten Year Anniversary
This past May, Firehouse Community Outreach celebrated their 10-year anniversary! Many folks who had been discipled through Firehouse sent in video testimonies honoring the Dabrowski’s and their family, as well as came and attended in person. It was a beautiful day of remembrance and a celebration of what is yet to come. And though it is easy to look back and see all that God has done and how His Kingdom is growing in Moore, and beyond, it is hard to believe that it has already been 10-years since Pastor’s Daren and Denise and their family have arrived in Oklahoma.
Exponentially Moore
Over the course of the last year I was given the opportunity to participate in an Exponential Cohort. This experience was designed to take our thinking from adding disciples to multiplying them, and I know that it did just that. The group met three times to learn and discuss how to take what we were being taught back to our home churches, communities, and regions. During our time together we were also given time and space to create a vision for how and what we would do to begin implementing what we had been taught so we could multiply disciples back home. The first two sessions left me scratching my head at how or what we should implement at Firehouse to see multiplication taking place. It wasn’t until the third and final session when I felt like a light bulb went off and the Holy Spirit illuminated the answer to me.
After what felt like an easy download of information and writing as quickly as possible on the little sticky notes I had with me, the vision was clear. In order to establish a culture of discipleship and multiplication, Firehouse Community Outreach was to reimagine and relaunch under a new name with a new identity and new DNA woven into the heart of the church. This relaunch will remove the old identity of disaster relief the community has only known us for and switch us out of living in “crisis/ survival mode” into exponential multiplication.
Returning home and sharing this vision with the senior leadership and the board of Firehouse allowed for them to see the heart of the vision. God was already speaking to them about shifting things at the church. This confirmation allowed for the first steps to be taken in that direction.
The Next 10-Years
Firehouse Community Outreach has made a massive impact in the Kingdom of God in the City of Moore throughout the last 10-years. Everyone who has been a part of this ministry in one way, or another has helped to share the Good New of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And for that we are forever grateful. With glad hearts we look back and thank God for allowing the Dabrowski’s and their family to plant a church in Moore. And with expectation Pastor’s Daren and Denise look ahead to the next 10-years as Firehouse Community Outreach transitions into the culture of discipleship and multiplication by relaunching under a new name and a new identity, allowing God to further grow our impact in this region.
