IKSKILE CHURCH
IKSKILE, LATVIA
Vision
Ikskile
- A town close to the capital of Latvia, Riga, with some 8 000 inhabitants, mostly young families
- A quiet and peaceful place to live with a good infrastructure of sports, education, and open-air cultural events
- Historically significant place: the church was built here in 1184 by a German missionary Meinard who was the first to preach Christianity in Latvia
- A Lutheran and a Roman Catholic church
- Some 30 evangelical Christians who live in Ikskile attend churches in other towns and cities
Team
The team leader Elmars Plavins has a calling and gifting of an apostle, evangelist and developer. He has planted a Baptist church in Skriveri and he has been a pastor for some 25 years, first in Ogre Trinity Church and then in Riga Golgotha Church. Recently he left his position as the Chief Army Chaplain where he served 15 years and developed the entire chaplaincy service from nothing to 15 trained staff.
Our church plant is just starting its life together. Our priority is to build the core team and connect with local people. There are 15 people in our core team now. Some 5-6 of them will become members of the church Board. We are actively reaching about 20-25 people. The team participates in M4 Team Process starting in the fall of 2022.
Plan
Plan for the next 12 months
- Officially establish Ikskile Baptist Church with 25 members
- Establish a Sunday school team with 4-5 people who regularly help children to know and grow in Christ
- Organize 12 missional community-type events for reaching the unreached local people
- Regularly, 2-3 times a month, organize creative art and crafts education classes for all generations with the purpose of sharing Christian values and message
- Organize 5 social projects to practically serve local people in need of reconstruction, maintenance of their houses or facilities, gardening or other needs
In the near future
We see ourselves as a local evangelical church which:
- Is known in the town by our hospitality, works of service and love towards all generations
- Has developed a home group network where groups are led by disciples of Christ who makes disciples
- Has a weekly Sunday services with 50-70 people on a regular basis
- Is not only an organized but also an organic body where people live out their faith in Christ in their everyday life and a body which operates as a missional community reaching our neighbours for Christ
Recommendation from the M4 Latvia leader Kaspars Šterns
I see great potential in the Ikskile church plant. There is a great need to plant a church in this growing town with many young families. One of the blessings is that they have a good and strong core team. They are also surrounded by other families which are ready to join them in building the community. I strongly recommend Elmars Plavins and Ikskile church plant.
Affiliation
Our mother church is Ogre Trinity Baptist Church located 7 km from Ikskile, and it is part of the Union of Baptist Churches in Latvia (UBCL). Church planter Elmars Plavins is a pastor ordained by the UBCL. The church plant will be part of the UCBL and is established with its strong support.