Discipling is living out your purpose: Brendan Pittiglio

Brendan Pittiglio joined the Marine City, Michigan outpost in the summer of 2020. As a pastoral intern with Crossroads Community Church, he initially connected to the outpost’s weekly bible studies on the sidelines. After a while, he was asked to lead the studies.

As the meetings continued, participation multiplied. “We started to grow in number,” Brendan said. “People were getting lots of purpose and community out of the gathering...We saw God using the outpost for good things.”

The outpost’s first official service happened this May, with a short teaching message, prayer time, and a shared meal and fellowship.

Now, almost a year later, the outpost leadership has decided to move toward becoming a formally recognized church.

The weekly gatherings already constitute a church, Brendan said, but the formalization would establish it to operate independently. “That’s our goal: multiplying outposts.” For now, the smaller gathering allows the congregation to connect more personally. “Because it’s so small, it’s tightly knit in a way a larger congregation is not.”

Throughout the time he’s spent at the outpost, Brendan said he’s learned that reliance on God to direct and complete His own work is key. “I’ve learned that we don’t really do most of our ministry—God does great things through limited resources and inform people.”

And, he continued, what began as “just as a few men prayer walking” has become something that even those few initiators never expected.

Personally, Brendan said he’s found “a sense of purpose that is fulfilling on a deep level,” by discipling at the outpost. “This is a good way to live out your purpose,” he said. “So you walk around with a feeling of emptiness like there’s a void in you...say you come to Christ and He is your meaning—working in an outpost is a great way to feel as though you are living out your meaning.”