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Two Questions With Jimmy Nimon of Lifeway Church
November 9, 2016

We recently took a survey of portable church pastors around the country to find out what was ONE THING they would do differently if they were to start over again, and what was ONE THING they did well when planting their church. Today, we want to introduce you to Jimmy Nimon of Lifeway Church. Enjoy!

Lifeway Churchjimmy-nimon-lifeway-church-2 | Pennsylvania

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Pastor Jimmy Nimon had a dream in his heart to plant a church that helps people become more fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ built around authentic relationships. With a passion for worship, prayer, preaching the good news of Christ, making disciples, and impacting the surrounding community, Lifeway Church was born. Ephrata Community Church sent out the 68 adult members of the launch team and also gave significant time, energy, and money to make the establishment of Lifeway Church a reality. We will forever be indebted to their kindness and generosity towards us. On September 20th, 2015, Lifeway Church launched with 249 people in attendance. Since then, we have seen many people surrender their lives to Jesus Christ. With small groups around the region that we call Life Groups, our congregation is growing in Christ and doing life together as we seek to advance God’s love and will in the Lebanon County region and beyond. While Lifeway Church is intent on being located somewhere between Annville and Palmyra, Pennsylvania, we are enjoying growth in our worship gatherings at the Regal Cinemas in the Lebanon Valley Mall.

 

Given the experiences and knowledge you have now as a church planter/pastor, what is the ONE THING you would do differently if you were starting over again?

 

I really felt like we started right in general, and our results seem to show that. One thing I would say to all people considering planting a church is it always takes more money than you think it does, so plan accordingly. Consider your budget, then double it.

 

What was ONE THING you did well when planting your church that you would highly suggest to other planters?

 
We took our time. Time is your friend if you are using it wisely. We took more time in planning, clarifying the vision and values, meeting with people to cast the vision and recruit the launch team, and building relationships in the community. Our plant was about a three year process from me sensing the calling, choosing who to partner with in the coaching process, and fundraising. Fundraising is directly connected to your vision and values being clear and relevant to the community where you are planting and to the donors you will ask to invest in the vision. We raised about $220,000 in 7-months. You will be tempted to think you will lose momentum if you do not launch fast, but this helped us. We live in county of 120,000 people. We started with 67 adults on our launch team, and have about 225 people in regular attendance a year later. Since, you will need volunteers to serve in setting-up, serving, and tearing down your portable worship equipment, you need a system that makes it EASY for them to serve. I highly recommend Portable Church Industries to that end, though their may be other services. Portable Church Industries sent a representative to meet with us, hear our vision, evaluate our worship space, give us advice, and present us with a proposal for our needs. This was a custom experience based upon our vision, values, and needs for our space. Some of you will want better lighting. Others will prefer better sound. When you are operating on a limited budget, a professional who can help you maximize your spending on the equipment that matters to you most is ESSENTIAL. Portable Church came out and trained our volunteers in 2 days, and we up and running with almost no hiccups in the following weeks. I have other pastor friends who are portable churches as well, and they are amazed at what Portable Church Industries has done for us. You will be blown away by how organized their system is, and it makes it easy to train new people later. Finally, if you are in a situation to work with a sending church who loves you and cares for your success, this is absolutely the best way to go. Don’t go alone if you don’t have to. Take the time to build trust and let them send you out and get involved in the planting process. I guess that was three things.

 

Jimmy Nimonjimmy-nimon-lifeway-church-1

Find him on Facebook!

Jimmy Nimon is the founding and lead pastor of Lifeway Church.

Jimmy, along with his wife, Lydia, have a passion to reach the lost with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ, equip God’s people, develop leaders, and plant life-giving churches.

Previous to establishing Lifeway Church, Jimmy founded and led the Gateway House of Prayer, a 24/7 worship and prayer center that is committed to honoring Jesus Christ and praying for transformation the Lancaster County region.

During his time leading Gateway House of Prayer, Jimmy was gripped with the need to make disciples with practical training methods. He has created three discipleship programs as well as helped develop the Kingdom Ministry School.

Sensing a call to plant a praying church that reaches the lost and disciples the “found”, Jimmy and the other 67 adults of the Lifeway launch team have put their prayer and service into the Lebanon County region.

He also serves an Advisory Team member of HarvestNET International which partners with other churches and ministries to fulfill the Great Commission.

Jimmy and Lydia have five children and two grand-children and reside in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.