Church planting is in my blood. It didn’t occur to me until recently, but shortly after my mother came to Clarksville she was a charter member of a local church. They are celebrating their 50th anniversary today. Shortly after this my mother married my father and became a Baptist, but she has always loved her Lutheran heritage.
Last Sunday I preached a message on the difference in having circumstantial faith and in trusting God completely even when everything around us screams otherwise. (You can watch that HERE.) Cindy Winters, the widow of Reverend Winters, is a perfect example of this kind of steady faith. She takes a tragedy and uses it as an opportunity to share her faith in Jesus Christ! Wow! Listen to her story. She gives the recipe of going through the worst times of life.
We started, as most church plants and new organizations do, with loose rules and fun times. There were just a few of us and we didn’t need much in the way of structured systems. In fact, some of us were running from the strict structure of larger environments. What we have realized, as we’ve gotten to be one of those larger environments, is that we need more structure in place in order for growth to continue. We need some rules to help level the playing field among staff and volunteers, making things fair for everyone, improve accountability, and insure we are good stewards of the resources entrusted to us. We need to use words like policies and manuals and enforce office hours and do staff evaluations and offer constructive criticism and keep an organizational calendar and….well, you get the idea. We have to put on our big boy clothes and be a real organization.
Recently I wrote this post about the increase in stress as our church continues to grow. Several responded via Twitter and Facebook that said things like “You don’t seem to get stressed about anything” or “I wish you would give us details”.
Did you know Detroit is printing its own money? Karen in our office sent me an article today that made me think about our economy. Apparently Detroit, a city which has been devastated more than most by the current economy, has taken things into its own hands. They are printing their own currency.
I often hear church planters say to expect to lose half the original core members within the first year of a new church plant. While I agree that is the trend, I don’t think it has to be that way. I am now in my second plant. With this second church we went about the core selection in a very methodical way, fully intending to keep all original core members if possible.
Sorry to pimp my sons on this blog, but it is my blog. My boys need a job this summer. Are you hiring?
Cheryl and I were driving in Nashville today and she said, “Speed limit strictly enforced” as she read a sign on the roadside. I knew what she meant. She thought I was driving too fast. I Twittered this comment and got several comments on Twitter and Facebook from other women regarding their own tactics to subtly tell their husband they are driving too fast.
Several years ago I decided to try this with my time. For one week I kept a journal of everything I did with my time in 15-minute increments. At the end of the week I was able to see places I was wasting valuable time and place which needed more time allocated to them.
It’s interesting to me that a president will put himself this openly in front of people. This is certainly a new day in politics. In our country’s history there was a day when we would not have seen the leader of the country in such a casual setting. I personally admire the leadership principle that appears more approachable and real, but I know also that when a leader does he or she opens the door to criticism. Obviously this president is very popular at this point. Will this last for him, in your opinion? Does appearing on Leno help or hurt his chances to maintain his high approval ratings?
