Today we’d like to introduce you to Nathan Gumbiner.
Hi Nathan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Connect Church started on Easter weekend 2022 in the Frisco Family YMCA. Born out of a passion to see the Kingdom of God expand, our family moved to Frisco, TX in July of 2019. This passion started for me while I was still in Bible college in 2007. I began to think and dream of what it would look like to plant a church. Many people were instrumental in helping to see that vision accomplished.
We were sent from EastLake Community Church in Moneta, VA and we had grand plans of launching in the summer of 2020 but the pandemic set us back.
Allyson, my wife, was teaching at Temple Christian, and I got a job at Scheels while we pressed pause on the church plant.
In 2021 our launch team began to take shape. We had team members begin to move to Frisco from Virginia, Indiana, and Ohio. God began to bring us people that we were working along side in our day jobs and soon enough Connect Church was launched.
We’ve seen God do many great things in our story. He has given us great connections with people in our city and we’ve seen many people come to faith in Christ and be baptized and discipled. We’ve seen God provide when we needed a location. We’ve watched Him do the impossible over and over and it’s only just the beginning of what God is going to do through the ministry of Connect Church.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a smooth road. We struggled to know whether or not to leave once the pandemic hit.
My wife’s mother was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer about a year after we moved to Texas. She fought a strong fight for 3 1/2 years and passed in April of 2024. Navigating pastoring a church while my wife and children traveled back and forth to Virginia was extremely tough.
We’ve had launch team members face many personal adversities and as a church we’ve seen dear friends move away as they get transferred or need to deal with family issues.
The road has never been easy but God has remained steadfast in his faithfulness to us.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am the founding and Lead Pastor at Connect Church Frisco. We are a family of believers who are simply about connecting people to God and each other. We do that through three main values:
Connect to God – through worship and prayer
Connect to Others – through building strong relationships and being involved in our community
Connect to Our Calling – through evangelism and Kingdom expansion
We believe when these three values are done in the correct order we can Change the World for Jesus.
We are a family focused church. I’m most proud of our team and what we have accomplished in just 3 1/2 years.
We are not huge. We don’t want to be a mega church. We want to be a strong, healthy local church. We often say not all growing things are healthy but healthy things grow. We are going to focus on unity, health, and depth and allow God to take care of the breadth of our ministry.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I believe in church work there is a huge aspect of the work of the Spirit of God in my life and ministry. If I make ministry about myself or my name then it’s not about Jesus. Surrender and humility to the work of the Holy Spirit in my life are probably the most important thing I can do to be considered “successful” in ministry.
Pastoring is not about making money, having the biggest church, or best facilities. It’s about loving and shepherding people so that you can walk with them on their journey to Jesus.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://connectfrisco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/connectfrisco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/connectfrisco
