God often uses ordinary means to accomplish his extraordinary purposes. Mosaic’s story is no different.

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Proverbs 16:9

Around a fire pit at a family Christmas party, Greg Brown and Brandon McPherson connected by an act of God’s simple providence. For several hours, to the unfortunate neglect of other guests at the party, they talked about church, theology, and ministry; and found a mutual love for the doctrines of grace.

Over the next several years, Greg and Brandon continued to meet for the sake of mutual edification, prayer, and admonishment. Being pastors at different churches, they understood that it was good—even necessary—to have fellowship with pastors of other churches who could speak the truth in love with an understanding of all that pastoral ministry entails.

In due time, God made it apparent that Mechanicsville needed a reformed baptist church of its own. Both Greg and Brandon found themselves in fellowship with an increasing number of people in and around Mechanicsville who desired to “do life” in a local, solidly reformed church.

In the summer of 2018, Greg, and his wife, Ashley, traveled to Nashville and took time to intentionally rest and plan for the future. Having a tremendous love for the local church, they discussed the possibilities of church planting, yet it was only an inkling of a possibility. It seemed far off, if it was going to be a reality at all. Likewise, Brandon, and his wife, Kelsey, had committed themselves to the idea that church planting wasn’t something that would happen in the near future. But God’s ways aren’t our own.

Just one year later, in the summer of 2019, Greg and Ashley found themselves in a confluence of circumstances that can now only be seen as God’s gracious providence. After an extended period of rest, perspective-gathering, council, and careful prayer, it became evident that God was clearly (and “loudly”) calling them to a new season of ministry — a season of church planting. Simultaneously and independently, God made it clear to both Greg and Brandon (and their families) that church planting was no longer a “possibility” or an “idea”, it was a clear calling, not for the far future, but for now.

None of us know what God has in store for Mosaic Church, but we do know that he is, and will be, faithful. This is his story. His timing. His plan. His ways aren’t our own—they’re far better than we could ever imagine.

WHY MECHANICSVILLE

Mechanicsville is near and dear to our hearts. We believe this love for our area has been cultivated by God for the purpose of planting a church. After finding out nearly 45% of Mechanicsville was completely unchurched, we knew there was a deep spiritual need in our community.

We sincerely believe the local church is most effective when it is just that: local. Mechanicsville is our home. While each of us may have jobs or recreations that take us into other parts of the greater Richmond area, our home—our community—is Mechanicsville. In the New Testament, the apostles and their fellow ministers left us a pattern for planting local churches, and while modern travel and communication have made regional churches more possible, we believe this pattern is still more effective, even in our more technologically advanced age.

BEHIND THE NAME

In Japan, there is a process known as kintsugi, in which a skilled artist repairs broken vessels. Using powdered forms of gold, silver, or platinum mixed with resin, the artist takes the pieces of the broken vessel and carefully repairs it, creating a beautiful pattern from something that was broken beyond recognition. In fact, these mosaics made from broken pottery often become more highly prized for their filled-in cracks than the original vessel.

Likewise, we believe that God takes our broken, sinful, and depraved lives and restores us by his mercy and grace in Jesus Christ. In doing so, he makes our lives less about who we once were and more about the precious grace that he uses to forgive our sins and adopt us into his family.

We are each a mosaic of broken pieces, taken from the depths of depravity and restored to the heights of grace. But it doesn’t stop there.

When God grants us mercy for our sin and gives us grace to become children of God, he brings us into community with fellow believers in the Church, and he gives us gifts with which to serve our brothers and sisters in Christ. This, too, makes a beautiful mosaic of different gifts, talents, abilities, resources, cultures, and life experiences that he allows us to use for his glory and our good.

That’s why we’re called Mosaic Church.

HAVE QUESTIONS?

It’s hard to put everything you could possibly want to know on a website. We’ve done our best to lay out the basics, but we’d love to connect with you on a personal level. If you have any questions, send an email to hello@mosaicrva.com.