Last Friday night Cheryl and I were invited to dinner at a woman’s house that attends our church. She had previously attended The Gathering in Nashville, but the drive was wearing on her each week, so she was excited to find a similar church closer to home. She wanted us to meet her former pastor and his wife, David and Paula Foster. I cannot accept every invitation, simply because there are too many in a church our size to accommodate them all, but I am glad I accepted this one. David is a great leader and church planter. I had met David several times, but never spent any time getting to know him.
I had a great conversation with one of our original core members this morning as he stopped in to say hello. We were reminiscing about the first four years at Grace Community Church. Our anniversary is in September. God has continued to amaze us with His presence. Last Sunday we had a 43% increase in attendance over the same day in July last year. Wow!
I love shirts that do not have to be ironed. I travel a lot and right now the nylon, breathable shirt appears popular, at least among my age, and so I can be “in style”, comfortable and basically wrinkle-free with little effort. I have to confess to something, however. My style is usually determined by what other people do not want. I choose to dress primarily in rejected clothing! You see I am hugely price conscious. I love new clothes, but the thoughts of spending more than $10 for a shirt bothers me, so if it’s on sale for $6, I tend to like it even more. I have often wished there were a store for folks like me that sold only the clothes others didn’t want…the rejects…at dirt cheap prices.
I decided my 18 year-old son’s latest post was important enough to steal it from him. I only wish I had written this first. Great thoughts. Nate has led in our student worship area for the last couple years and done an amazing job. Our church is going to miss him this fall as he begins his college days at Moody Bible College in Chicago. You can follow Nate’s thoughts at his blog Moons from Burma.
For over a year Grace Community Church has partnered with City Church in Klaipeda, Lithuania. This partnership has at this point consisted primarily of frequent Skype or Tokbox conversations between me and Pastor Saulius of City Church. I love to invest in other pastors and churches and this provides a wonderful opportunity to learn from each other.
My 18 year old son Nate is serving as an intern this Summer for Michael Bayne our family minister working primarily with middle and high school students. Recently he took it upon himself and made this video announcement to send to the students. It reminds me that the methods of communicating with our people are changing every day. Are you staying current? Does your church use Facebook, Twitter, text messaging and video messaging to stay current?
Summer is often a time for church leaders (unless you are youth leaders) to take vacations, chill out, and rest up. While I agree with that need, the fact is that fall gets here quickly and we need to be prepared for one of the best growth opportunities of the year.
Sometimes we keep doing what we are doing because God called us to do it, not because we are popular, the work is easy, or even that we are being well received at the time. Being obedient to the call of God is sometimes painful, unpopular, difficult, and seemingly unrewarded (at the time).
At the same time, our church has continued to grow and the needs for our ministries are greater than ever. This season has forced us to find ways to do more with less. We need to continue to train our people, learn new ways of doing things and keep up with current trends, but we can no longer afford to attend all the conferences we once could.
I work with lots of church plants and young ventures. I love the enthusiasm and momentum an organization has early in its life. I hope to always be a part of starting something. As I’ve gotten older, however, I’m equally as concerned about sustainability. The right energy and vision will create growth fast, but building an organization that lasts requires having a plan for maintaining viability.