Location: Longmont, Colorado

Presbytery: Midwest

Organization Date: Dec. 2, 2003

Membership: 53 (44 communicant, 9 baptized)

Pastor: Marty Wilsey (wife, Barbara)

History

When they moved from Winchester, Kan., to Colorado in the early 1990s, Mike and Alice McDaniel bought a home in Longmont and had a vision for outreach in their new hometown. While members of the Westminster, Colo., RPC, they hosted Bible studies for about four years, supported by Don and Sarah Willson, also from the Westminster congregation. In late 1998, fueled by sorrow at the closing of the Greeley, Colo., RPC, interest in Longmont began to grow.

The availability of Marty Wilsey to provide weekly preaching, along with interest in the effort by three other families at Westminster RPC resulted in action by the session to start weekly evening services in May 1999. The Westminster RPC’s commitment to new work in Longmont at the same time it was considering construction of a new building was a stretch of faith, but one that the Lord blessed abundantly.

Morning services started in October of that same year. Blessed with involvement by three ruling elders and one deacon from Westminster, the Longmont group functioned as a stand-alone fellowship from the beginning. By June 2003, with the Westminster RPC building program well under way, the time had come for the daughter to leave home; Longmont was organized as a mission church, under the leadership of a presbytery-appointed commission.

One of the first newcomers to the Longmont RPC was Tim Gates, a disk drive engineer at Seagate. He viewed finding the church as God’s providential answer to prayer. A gifted man, Tim had particular interest in helping the fellowship find a more permanent meeting place. He attended meetings for prayer and discussion about where God was leading the church to settle. At that time, Tim was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and died six weeks later. His bequest to the church to help buy a church building was the first of two providential events that led to the purchase of a building in November 2003, less than a year after Tim went to be with the Lord. The second was the provision of proceeds of the sale of the Greeley church building for a Longmont building. God used these two heart-wrenching sorrowful situations—the death of a young man and the death of a congregation—to bring life and blessing to the work in Longmont.

Ministries

At the first congregational meeting after its organization as a particular congregation, the name Salt and Light Reformed Presbyterian Church was chosen to reflect the fellowship’s understanding of its ministry to the community and world. The congregation has a strong focus on Bible study, fellowship, and service to friends and neighbors.

Ministries include a midweek Bible study, a men’s study, a young adults study (in conjunction with the Westminster RPC), various women’s studies and activities, and other activities as the opportunities arise.

The congregation supports three of its members who are involved in missions: Dick and Susan Mueller have worked for many years with the North American Branch of Wycliffe, and Janeen Mills works with the Navigators ministering to Far-East college students who attend university in New Zealand.

Requests for Prayer

• The membership of the church lives in three geographic areas: Longmont, north, and south. While the love and unity of the congregation is not affected by it, fellowship is not always easy between groups.

• Pray especially for the evangelistic ministry currently taking place through the men’s Bible study.

• Pray for opportunities for ministry to families with children.