Pillar Church Planting Story

When we look at the church in America at the beginning of the 21st Century, we see a shrinking church.  Although America and the West have a rich history of Christianity and helping to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, today North America and Europe are the only two continents in the world where Christianity is in decline. In 1900 there were 28 churches for every 10,000 people in America. Just 100 years later that number has been decimated to 11 churches for every 10,000 Americans and continues to decline. According to the United States Census Bureau Records, every year more than 4000 churches close their doors compared to just over 1000 new churches starting!
 
Milwaukee is no different. Like many other American cities, Milwaukee is seeing a diminishing Christian population.  According to the 2020 US Census Data Report, only 10.9% of the population of Milwaukee County are Evangelical Protestants, with 60% having no religious affiliation at all.  The younger the demographic, the higher the percentage of those with no church affiliation.  How can the church meet this challenge? How will the gospel go forth so that men, women, and children will come to know their Savior?
 
We believe the best strategy is to plant churches.  As the well known missiologist Peter Wagner in his book Church Planting for a Greater Harvest has said, “The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting new churches.”  We hope that in the years to come, we will see more and more gospel proclaiming churches planted in the greater Milwaukee area, so that more and more people come to believe in Jesus. 
 
But, church planting is not just about evangelism; it’s also about discipleship.  And discipleship is best fostered in the context of church community. Jesus began this strategy with the apostles in Acts, and throughout history it has been the only way the gospel of Jesus Christ has flourished on earth. We do not want to see people merely come to faith in Christ, but to live joyfully in obedience to Him and meaningfully connected to other believers.
 
Pillar Church is part of a church planting strategy in the greater Milwaukee area that began with Redemption Church and Pastor Danny D’Aquisto in 2019.  Danny was sent out from Grace Church in Racine, a 100+ year old church, to plant Redemption Church in the Milwaukee area.  From day one, Redemption's vision was to be a church that planted churches.  When Redemption Church reached its building capacity in 2022 one of the elders, Greg Alles, was asked to prayerfully consider leading the first church plant from Redemption.  
 
After a 6 month period of prayer, Greg and his wife Lisa accepted the call to plant a church in the Milwaukee area. They went through a rigorous assessment by the North American Mission Board and were given the green light to move forward in October of 2023.  After a few months of sharing this new vision with the Redemption Church family, 23 members joined the church planting team in January of 2024, with the goal of starting public services in September 2024.
  
After a lengthy search, God opened up a door to purchase a recently closed church on 78th and Center, right along the border of Wauwatosa and Milwaukee.  The previous congregation and denomination rejoiced at knowing that the church building would continue to be a witness of the gospel in the neighborhood.
 
Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”  It is our belief that the Lord is sending us out into this mission field, and we hope to be faithful to Jesus and His Word for many years to come in the Wauwatosa/Milwaukee neighborhood. By God’s grace, and if He so blesses and wills, we hope to continue planting more churches in the greater Milwaukee area in the years to come.  We pray for God’s grace to our city and nation and the revival of His church in America.