I got back home from Shorewood yesterday after driving on wind swept & snowy roads. Glad I made it back in one piece.
The Epoch class I had hoped to attend was canceled on Saturday due to the lead teacher, Sean Benesh’s son getting sick. Glad to hear he’s not too serious.
Anyway, my friend, Shane, was able to see the area for the first time. He is strongly considering moving his family up to Shorewood with us in order to plant this church. He and I got to see a couple of things.
First, Shane was able to walk into a fitness gym and get offered a job. He’s got personal training certification and several styles of martial arts at his disposal. So in an exercise crazed area, he’s got in demand skills—wish I could say that! He also plays the drums. I took him into a Guitar Center and watched him play and drool over the drums.
The other good thing he was able to see came as we went to dinner. Before dinner we were at the Joliet mall looking around. In the bookstore, he bought a copy of The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel. As we were getting out of the car to go into Steak & Shake, I had the impression that I needed to take the book in with us. I ignored it and got out of the car. After about 3 steps, I stopped and went back for the book. After getting it, I told Shane, “I’m bringing this in, hopefully as a conversation starter. I’ll take a book in with a good title like this or Disappointment With God by Philip Yancey and put it out and hope for a conversation.”
He thought that was a good idea. The cooler thing was less than 10 seconds after sitting down, our server showed up, noticed the book and asked, “Is that a good book?” She proceeded to write down the title and we talked a bit about her life and faith. I asked if there was anything we could pray for her about. She said she’s pretty stressed, her family is strained and/or separated and she only gets to go to church with her father when she’s with him. She’s a junior in high school and is working to 10 or later at night and too tired to do homework. Please be praying for her, her name starts with a G. I wrote her a note and thanked her for being a blessing to us. I also told her to watch out for The Pursuit to open up in the next year or so.
Shane really needed to see those two things happen: the job and the book. He has only been a Christian for a year and needs a lot of intentional discipleship. Right now, he is eager to serve. But he was able to see that he does have skills to offer and that God can move and work right before our eyes. Shane is both thrilled and terrified of moving up to Shorewood. It’s going to uproot his family, it’s away from his life-long home town. He needed that confidence boost from God and he got it. It was great to see and be a part of. Please be praying for Shane and his family as they consider this radical move with Vicky and I.
As we’re moving forward with The Pursuit, please be praying for us. The hard work is coming: finding a place to meet—establishing an identity for the church, finding a core of people and securing funding. But I know our God is faithful and that all the resources and things we need are already in place or being placed for us.
Lord Jesus, it is a joy to see Your Hand at work. Thank you for this demonstration of Your faithfulness.
Pursuing Answers to Questions of Faith & Life,
Kelly
The Pursuit Life
Showing posts with label church planting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label church planting. Show all posts
Monday, February 23, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Need Help-- Logo Design for Church Plant
A couple of posts ago, I let everyone know that my family and I are planning to go up to Shorewood and west Joliet, IL in order to start a new church for an area that has grown by over 100,000 people since 1990. It is an exciting time when we can dream what it will all look like. Our church will be called:
The Pursuit
A Love Worth Pursuing
A Life Worth Living
A Faith Worth Dying For
We've done a lot of planning and creative design. I have a logo design but I don't have the computer expertise, the right programs or the design contacts to turn the idea into a professional emblem for the new church.
Does anyone have such expertise or have a contact that would be willing to work with me on this project?
Kelly
The Pursuit
A Love Worth Pursuing
A Life Worth Living
A Faith Worth Dying For
We've done a lot of planning and creative design. I have a logo design but I don't have the computer expertise, the right programs or the design contacts to turn the idea into a professional emblem for the new church.
Does anyone have such expertise or have a contact that would be willing to work with me on this project?
Kelly
Friday, January 30, 2009
A New Direction-- Church Planting
A New Direction
Back in July I stepped down as the pastor of University Baptist Church and put my house up for sale, assuming that I would be searching to become the pastor of another established church. One thing was not on my mind: Church planting. It was too uncertain, too difficult.
But then a combination of things began happening. First, our house didn’t sell—and hasn’t sold (big prayer request) so moving on from Macomb has taken longer than expected. As a result we have had a longer opportunity to reflect on where God is taking us. If our house had sold quickly, or a new ministry position would have expressed interest relatively quickly, I would not have considered CP as a viable option.
Second, in our search for a new ministry position, it has been very difficult to find churches within the SBC that fit the style and kind of ministry that I am more energized by. Many churches can be described as “stifling” to new ministry perspectives. For new pastors in an existing church; changing a pre-existing church culture takes trust, transformation and especially time. Even then, any transition is often not pleasant. A repeated pattern is long standing members leaving the church they grew up with in bitterness at the new direction. On one hand, I like and agree with by Ed Stetzer’s oft used quote that churches will remain the same until “the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.” On the other hand, I am disheartened and saddened by it as well. Pain and broken relationships are practically guaranteed.
Thirdly, was the strength of the church planting staff that has been put together here at the Illinois Baptist State Association: Charles Campbell, Eddie Pullen, Chris Wright, Sean Banesh. I doubt we would have been willing to move forward without the innovative staff being added to the church planting effort. By all accounts, Illinois seems to be ahead of the curve when it comes to church planting and a willingness to try innovative ministry.
So here we are. Just this weekend, 1/25/09, the family and I took a trip up to Chicago to look over a couple of CP locations. We didn’t connect with the first on Saturday, but we really did on Sunday with the area around Joliet, IL, particularly Shorewood, IL. So much of this community is new: new homes, new businesses; all within the last 5 years. The county is one of if not the fastest growing counties in the US. The churches that are there have been there since the 50’s & 60’s and are resistant to the newcomers who have changed their small, country town to a bustling, crowded, trafficked, suburb.
The way the population is growing, I’d figure that if all the area churches were reaching 300 people, there still would be a great number unreached by any church. Unfortunately, that scenario is not true—90% of the churches are not reaching more than 70 and of those most of them have lived in the area for a long time. New work is needed. And I’m excited to be a part of it.
I’ve been working on a church name for a while, and since seeing the area, it fits perfectly. Already, God has helped us develop a motto for the church and just this morning a logo design.
We’re calling it:
The Pursuit
With the phrase:
A Love Worth Pursuing
A Life Worth Living
A Faith Worth Dying For
The logo still needs some professional work and we’re looking for partners to come along side us in planting The Pursuit in Shorewood. So please keep praying for us as we are led to go in this New Direction. And please consider partnering with The Pursuit to reach a rapidly growing community.
Pursuing Answers to Questions of Faith & Life,
Kelly
Back in July I stepped down as the pastor of University Baptist Church and put my house up for sale, assuming that I would be searching to become the pastor of another established church. One thing was not on my mind: Church planting. It was too uncertain, too difficult.
But then a combination of things began happening. First, our house didn’t sell—and hasn’t sold (big prayer request) so moving on from Macomb has taken longer than expected. As a result we have had a longer opportunity to reflect on where God is taking us. If our house had sold quickly, or a new ministry position would have expressed interest relatively quickly, I would not have considered CP as a viable option.
Second, in our search for a new ministry position, it has been very difficult to find churches within the SBC that fit the style and kind of ministry that I am more energized by. Many churches can be described as “stifling” to new ministry perspectives. For new pastors in an existing church; changing a pre-existing church culture takes trust, transformation and especially time. Even then, any transition is often not pleasant. A repeated pattern is long standing members leaving the church they grew up with in bitterness at the new direction. On one hand, I like and agree with by Ed Stetzer’s oft used quote that churches will remain the same until “the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.” On the other hand, I am disheartened and saddened by it as well. Pain and broken relationships are practically guaranteed.
Thirdly, was the strength of the church planting staff that has been put together here at the Illinois Baptist State Association: Charles Campbell, Eddie Pullen, Chris Wright, Sean Banesh. I doubt we would have been willing to move forward without the innovative staff being added to the church planting effort. By all accounts, Illinois seems to be ahead of the curve when it comes to church planting and a willingness to try innovative ministry.
So here we are. Just this weekend, 1/25/09, the family and I took a trip up to Chicago to look over a couple of CP locations. We didn’t connect with the first on Saturday, but we really did on Sunday with the area around Joliet, IL, particularly Shorewood, IL. So much of this community is new: new homes, new businesses; all within the last 5 years. The county is one of if not the fastest growing counties in the US. The churches that are there have been there since the 50’s & 60’s and are resistant to the newcomers who have changed their small, country town to a bustling, crowded, trafficked, suburb.
The way the population is growing, I’d figure that if all the area churches were reaching 300 people, there still would be a great number unreached by any church. Unfortunately, that scenario is not true—90% of the churches are not reaching more than 70 and of those most of them have lived in the area for a long time. New work is needed. And I’m excited to be a part of it.
I’ve been working on a church name for a while, and since seeing the area, it fits perfectly. Already, God has helped us develop a motto for the church and just this morning a logo design.
We’re calling it:
The Pursuit
With the phrase:
A Love Worth Pursuing
A Life Worth Living
A Faith Worth Dying For
The logo still needs some professional work and we’re looking for partners to come along side us in planting The Pursuit in Shorewood. So please keep praying for us as we are led to go in this New Direction. And please consider partnering with The Pursuit to reach a rapidly growing community.
Pursuing Answers to Questions of Faith & Life,
Kelly
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