Fall 2017
A JOURNEY TOWARD HOPE
Planting Pastor Shares Vision for New Mtn. View Church When Phil Cannon and his family moved to Mountain View in 2011, they chose the neighborhood because it was an affordable place to buy a home for his growing family in the Anchorage area while serving on staff with First Covenant Church. This September, Phil embarks on a new ministry as he transitions to become the planting pastor for Mountain View Hope Covenant Church. In a recent interview, Phil shared a bit of the journey his family has been on in this new call as a church planter and more about how his “heart began, over a long period of time, to long for a ministry rooted in the neighborhood.” According to Phil: “During the first few years we lived here, we didn't fully engage in life in our neighborhood. We ate in our home, slept in our home, we entertained our friends from other parts of town in our home, and we hung out in our fenced-in back yard. We didn't really engage with our neighbors that much. When we did, we were met with mixed responses. However, with time some things began to change. “The simplest change happened when our kids started attending the neighborhood school. Suddenly, our kids had friends who waved and shouted ‘hello’ whenever we'd walk past their homes. Our boys started playing tee-ball and baseball, which led us into friendship with the neighbors whose kids were also on the team. “In 2015, after the massacre of 9 black people in the AME church in Charleston, the Lord convicted me that these things are made more possible, because we don't know one another,
The Cannon family: Phil, Kate, Isaac (8), Madeleine (11), Wyatt (7) and Nora (4).
making it easier to objectify and stereotype other people. God led me to invite my neighborhood for hot dogs and Kool-Aid— just as an excuse to get to know one another. We didn't know who would come, and we threw it together very quickly. We knocked on doors of homes in a three-block radius and passed out simple invitations. That same day, we had 60
“I began to share with the conference superintendent, Curtis Ivanoff, and other denominational leadership about this growing desire to plant this church, and last fall I was able to go to the Covenant Church Planter Training. Also, Kate and I were both evaluated at a church planters' assessment center. The doors seemed to be opening. We were thrilled when First Covenant Church voted this summer to participate in the ministry as a parent church. “We are hoping to plant the kind of church in Mountain View that will seek out the pathways to making a real difference in the lives of our neighbors —for their sake and for God's glory. people in our yard, sharing food, meeting each The phrase that keeps coming back to me is other, and beginning relationships. ‘Neighbors helping neighbors, pursuing Christ “I started attending community council and his kingdom.’ meetings and looking for opportunities to serve “Mountain View already reflects God's where there were felt needs and seeking kingdom in many ways. Where it doesn't, we will partnerships with those agencies in the seek to follow Jesus into the kind of ministry community who were committed to making that ushers in his kingdom ways and values more Mountain View a better, safer place to live. and more into the homes, families and lives of “After some time, it began to feel odd for me the people. My hope is that this church would be to leave the neighborhood every day to drive to known as a kind and generous neighbor who my office, only to return at the end of every day, loves like Jesus.” largely unaware of anything that had happened Phil is actively engaged in fundraising, in our community. strategizing, seeking partners and building a core “A significant turning-point occurred as a group that will help launch this new church. vision began to grow in my heart and mind of a A preview service will likely begin after the church where neighbors worship with their first of the year, followed by more regularly literal neighbors...where the people OF the scheduled group meetings. community worked together to see God's To follow updates on the church and more kingdom become more real IN their community. info about Mountain View, check out their website www. mvhope.org.
First Covenant Church congregation prays a blessing over Phil Cannon and his family as he concluded his service there to plant Mountain View Hope Covenant Church.
The most recent census data lists Mountain View as the most ethnically diverse zip code in the country.
From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:16