Easter Sunday 2016 marked the beginning of my tenure and relationship with the congregation at Randall Church as Lead Pastor. When I was called, it was understood by all that this would be a church in transition, a church with a beautiful heritage of faith that needed to be revitalized for the next generation. We made a few minor adjustments to start, but in August 2016 we looked at the fall with great expectation, hiring two new staff members, Mario Delgado and Bryan Long. Where have we gone since then?
The Short Game: The Last 6 Months
One theme that remains consistent in the life of a church going through tremendous transition, is that change will always be happening! Can you believe it is already 2017? Can you believe that we have already run two cycles of Sunday Electives since August? That we have two new staff members completing now six months of ministry with us? That we journeyed through 26 weeks of sermon series on Forgiveness, Finances, the books of Ecclesiastes Ephesians, and now continuing in Hebrews? That we have organized ourselves in care corridors to disciple and encourage one another as well as meet practical needs in our community? That our enrollment in Randall Kids is at an all-time high in recent memory? Can you believe that we baptized four in the last six months, and voted in two sessions of DNA membership to our church? While change is difficult, God is at work, and it has been an unbelievable ride!
The Long Game: Church Revitalization
Tom Cheyney, author and speaker for church revitalization says this: Revitalization and transformation is difficult. If it were not so difficult you would already be doing it! Church revitalization takes some time. Nearsighted consultants believe it can be wrapped into a six-month period. I have discovered that if you are not willing to invest a minimum of 1,000 days you should not get into the effort of revitalization and renewal.
As a leadership team, we are taking church revitalization seriously. Guess what 1000 days from my start date of Easter 2016 is? I didn't know, so I figured it out today. 1000 days lines up exactly to Christmas Eve 2018. So there is the target. I pray that you are in this for the long game with me. I pray that while you are excited for what God has done in the last six months, that you will have a Holy-Ghost-longing for what he will do with a revitalized body of believers. I pray that we will not short-circuit the process and begin patting ourselves on the back too soon. Why? Because I truly believe that the best is yet to come!
I believe that if you are every man, woman, and child within our church's geography, that you will have an opportunity to find your place UPward in Christ, INward in the Church, and OUTward in the Community.
That is what a truly revitalized church looks like.
Start the countdown. Start praring with us. Let the revitalization start with me.
0 comments:
Post a Comment