Earliest 2nd Birthday EVER!

 We launched “publicly” on Palm Sunday, 2006 (that was in April!)  This year, Palm Sunday came on March 16 and caught us all by surprise!  It wasn’t the huge “bash” I had hoped for (that sort of happened on Easter with our best ‘post-launch’ attendance ever).  It really became a day of reflection for me personally to soak in the fact that we have been at this for over 2 years. 

Two years is really the length of time needed to  get all the “systems” in place (I don’t want to sound like a “wonk” here, but what I’m about to share took up so much of my time and attention in the first years.)  Here’s what I’m trying to say: by two years, the core church convictions should be rooted in everyone, the key assignments for weekly operations should be in place, and the default protocols for management should be guiding the ministry.  Did you understand that?  It basically means that the engine should be hummin’ and only requiring a little tinkering — no overhauls! (An overhaul after two years would mean needing another two years to get humming again!)

I mention this here because my work is becoming more manageable because of the aforementioned hum.  Despite the fact that there are still people needing visits, counseling, and prayer; and programs needing attention and oversight; the daily grind of “running the church” is noticeably less grinding now that everything and everyone is pretty much in place.

One thing that focused this for me was a presentation that I made at our “mother church” a few weeks ago.  I was given the opportunity to share the convictions of our church and the lessons we have been learning along the way.  Speaking to a group of people about our ‘reason for being’ focused my thoughts again on why we launched in the first place — and it was not to “manage a ministry!”  It was to proclaim Christ, to seek His presence in worship, and to make disciples (but these priorities are easily eclipsed  by so many ‘devils in the details.’)

By God’s grace, we are going to hit year three (by the Constantine’s Calendar, not the Jewish Lunar one) with new members joining, new opportunities to expand our reach, and new programs to tinker with as we seek to establish a church that reflects the visible manifestation of God’s rule — even at our young age.