- Church planting & multiplication
Life in Daybreak, Utah, looks to be going according to an excellent plan.
The community's homes have been painted just the right color. The spacing between fence pickets is visually pleasing and mathematically precise. Best of all, nearly every decision has already been made in the master-planned town of 38,000 residents.
All people have to do is fit in and follow the plan. But many Daybreak citizens can't be perfect, so a team started Neighborhood Church.
"We define our target as the person who's trying to measure up and finding that they can't," pastor David Henderson said. "There are whitewashed fences but a lot of brokenness inside."
The most religion sometimes creates the least-reached
Utah is America's most religious state and has a culture that values looking good and having a well-ordered life. But people in Salt Lake County, where Neighborhood Church is, are the state's least religious people.
Neighborhood Church intentionally created its culture to warmly accept people who can't sweep questions under the rug or pretend everything's going well. Roughly 25% of Henderson's neighbors identify as dechurched, unchurched or someone with no religious connection.
But they're only a short drive from Utah County, which has the state's highest concentration of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints members. This creates a spectrum of different commitments to faith.
Some left the LDS faith because they found it false. They are often opposed to trying anything else, Henderson explained. They may need six to eight years before they try another church.
"We never know where in that six to eight years someone might be," Henderson added.
Others in the city still attend an LDS sacrament service every Sunday. But they haven't bought into the teaching or believed for years, he said. Others are still open to God even if they don't worship every Sunday.
"We might be their first conversation, or, Lord willing, we might be the last conversation that helps them across the line of faith," he said. "We're building a community where you can belong. We just want to learn to follow Jesus together."
Two significant hurdles hinder people needing Christ
People who choose to leave the LDS church, especially for another church, often face family rejection and persecution for leaving the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A second spiritual barrier arises because so many Utahns have absorbed a performance-based path to God, which makes them drained and discouraged. Henderson had a similar experience growing up in Philadelphia.
He was earning As in high school classes, leading worship at youth group and facilitating a middle-school discussion for the church. But he realized one night he was ready to walk away from it all. He felt he'd been doing all the right stuff yet didn't acquire God's favor and honor.
That night, while listening to music and being honest with other believers, Henderson realized he could never earn anything from God. Instead, God freely gives his love, favor and honor.
"I realized I was self-righteous," he said. "I was just as messed up as the next guy."
So, he accepted grace and deeply understood the love and mercy of God despite his struggles and imperfections.
The perfect place for a grace-giving pastor
That experience with his inadequacy and God's kindness shaped him to serve those who know they can't live according to a master plan. Neighborhood Church applies James 1:26-27 by serving people who can't care for themselves.
"We want to serve you and invite you into community," he said. "Your life might be messed up right now, but we've been there too — and we are there right now and we're OK to admit that."
That gracious culture enlivens Sunday morning worship services, Tuesday night neighborhood groups, community service projects, summer cookouts and parties. People are choosing Christ; at the church's first service, six people said yes to Jesus as Lord.
To help even more people meet Jesus, Neighborhood Church hopes to start a congregation in each of Daybreak's villages. Each village could benefit, Henderson said, from having disciples who make disciples through close relationships on every block and street.
Every one of those blocks might be lined by houses beside perfect yards with curated colors for their front doors. But inside many of those homes are people who know nothing of God's master plan for faith in Christ that blesses families.
Despite the outward beauty and order of Daybreak homes, Henderson said peoples' lives also have cracks in the foundations and many imperfections. Neighborhood Church knows they have a simple response motivated by the gospel: befriend those near them with the unconditional love of God.
That's precisely what Stacy and Toto Sithammavong experience. They're on the core team of the new church, striving to help people who question religion and struggle to live according to perfect standards.
"You don't have to measure up,” Stacy said. “Come as you are. We will love you, and we will walk with you through this."
Converge's 10 districts have committed to deploying 312 church planters before 2026. Read more inspiring church planting stories and learn about the goal to send out 312 church planters in five years.
