Clarity of Direction

Joan and I went up to the Eastern NY Wesleyan Headquarters this past Friday and Saturday to meet with Pastor Paul James and the district board of administration. They asked me to pastor at two churches north of Albany on an interim basis while the district is preparing for a church plant in the Clifton Park area. I accepted the offer and we will begin on July 12.

The two churches are Northway Christian Fellowship (a Wesleyan church) in Chestertown NY and the Fort Miller Wesleyan church. Both of the churches have been without a pastor for a while and need someone who will come and help them become solid, healthy churches. There are challenges that are unique to each church and it will be the first time I have ever had to think about two different situations simultaneously (actually kind of interesting).

Jon Wixson, a licensed minister in the Horseheads church, has decided to come along with us on this adventure, and we are hoping that he can be the on-site pastor for the Chestertown church while the Swansons live at the Fort Miller church. Jon is coming on faith - he will need a job and housing. This experience should be great for him, and he will be an excellent stabilizing force for the Northway Community Fellowship.

Our intention is to continue praying and planning for the church plant near Clifton Park. We do not know exactly when that will happen but this interim ministry at these two churches gives us a little breathing room to prepare for the church plant. Our intention is that when we leave these churches they will each be able to support a full-time pastor. This also gives us an opportunity to become more familiar with the area and develop contacts. God is leading us every step of the way.

Jake and Julia (funny)

Jacob is 11 and he is a morning person (for right now, we'll see how the teen years go). Julia is 5 and she is not a morning person. Well, Jacob woke up his usual chipper and talkative self this morning and at one point he was looking in a mirror and he exclaimed 'Am I a genius, or what?' It was silent for a moment and then I heard a little tiny voice call out from under her covers 'what ..."

I love Community Wesleyan Church!

Wow, it felt so good when I wrote that blog title. Because it is the truth. We have developed so many wonderful friends, co-workers, 'grandmas', 'grandpas', 'uncles' and 'aunts' here. It has been a privilege and a joy to be part of what God has done in and through this church in Horseheads, NY. We will miss the church very, very much.

As recently as the past Sunday we saw God moving in lives again. 5 people were baptized this past Sunday and their testimonies of God's forgiveness, healing and mercy left nearly everyone in tears. One of the people being baptized was talking about the church and he said that he was blown away by the love he felt here. He said that he came initially because someone 'forced' him to come, but then he realized that the church had something he did not have and he wanted it. He came to understand that 'it' is the peace and joy of knowing God our Father through his Son Jesus. I have heard that same story dozens of times, what a great testimony!

This past Sunday there were well over 200 people at CWC praising God in song, giving out hugs and handshakes, reading God's word, developing Christian relationships and growing in their relationship with God. What an awesome time, what an awesome place. There is a song that has come to my mind over and over again as I have prayed for CWC over the years.

You are awesome in this place mighty God,
You are awesome in this place Abba Father,
You are worthy of all praise,
To you are lives we raise,
You are awesome in this place mighty God.

That song says what should be happening in every church. The church should be a body of believers where God is lifted up and where believers are committing themselves to God's leading. An unbeliever should leave church in awe of what God can do in lives and what God can do through lives - 'ordinary people who serve an extra-ordinary God'. I firmly believe that CWC is that kind of church and that they will continue to be that kind of church. I cannot wait to hear how God continues to move in hearts and lives over these next years. I love this place!

Meeting this Saturday

This Friday (May 8, 2009) Joan and I will be traveling to the Albany area to attend a meeting on Saturday at the Eastern NY headquarters. At this meeting the district board will be discussing various ways that we could be used in ministry. Eventually we will be planting a church somewhere around Clifton Park, NY, but we might be able to help the district out in some other places along the way. I will post specifics once we have them.

We are very excited about the upcoming transition to the Eastern NY district. I am not saying anything bad about the Central NY district, I have felt very well supported and accepted in this district. It is just exciting to be taking on a new challenge and a new opportunity to be used by God.

In my next post I will be talking about our current church Community Wesleyan Church in Horseheads, NY, but I will just state now that I feel the same way about Community Wesleyan, I have really enjoy our 13 years here and it has been a joy to be part of God's work in the church and through the church.

A few years ago a family came to our church and I was so excited that they chose to join the church. They came for several months and then one Sunday the father came to me and said that they were leaving the church to go help at a church plant in the area. I was really thrown because this did not fit my idea for my church. I said all the right things to him, but inside I was frustrated. He basically told me that Community did not need his family and the other church did. As I struggled through those emotions over the next weeks I realized that I needed to develop more of a Kingdom mindset. The church plant did need that family more than we did and the family wanted to be an integral part of a church's ministry.

Just a few years later I find myself explaining the same thing to many different people about our family. Yes, I love this church, but we sense that there are other people in other places that God is calling us to. Hard to explain, hard to understand, but once God makes something clear there is only one reasonable response. "Here am I, send me."

Assessment Results

We found out that we meet the qualifications to be church planters. The assessment process is over and now we will move on to church planter 'boot camp' within the next couple of months. Boot camp is usually a three day affair which teaches you about how to plant a church. They take you through the process of planning, building a team, developing leaders, advertising, etc. for a church plant. After boot camp we are supposed to get linked up with an active planter to be mentored by them.

This makes it pretty certain that we will be planting north of Albany. There are other steps that need to be taken by the Eastern NY District Board and other committees, but from our side of the deal we are ready to be planters. We look forward to gathering a team of co-workers, developing a strategy, establishing relationship and Bible studies, and praying for God's timing in beginning this work.

Please pray that God's will is understood as these boards and committees meet to figure out if this is the right step for the ENYNE district now. Our prayer is that a church plant could be like a breath of fresh air and a picture of new life and hope. We would want to be 'sent' by district churches that would be willing to pray, plan and partner with us. Hopefully we would be given the opportunity to share our vision and mission with several different district groups and churches. Churches need to plant churches. Hopefully we can be the first of dozens of churches the ENYNE plants in this new millenium.

"Believers have gotten out of the believer multiplication business, so churches have stepped in to multiply believers. This has resulted in churches getting out of the church multiplication business, so districts have attempted to multiply churches. Believers need to multiply believers and churches need to multiply churches."

Tom Clegg in Five Things Anyone Can Do to Help Start a Church
by Phil Stevenson (Wesleyan Publishing House).

Becoming Clearer

Joan and I just returned from Lansing MI at about 1:30 this morning. We traveled out there with Pastors Paul James, Dean Brown and Sam Stovall. It was great to rub shoulders with them on this trip. One thing I am finding about Pastor Paul is that he really enjoys a good road trip. This was my third with him in six months.

The reason we were in MI was to be assessed by a church planting assessment team. They asked Joan and I about three hours of questions about our relationship, how we see the church and God, and how we have ministered in specific situations. We actually enjoyed the process and we can't wait to hear the results.

On our trip we were able to talk with a pastor who is currently ending his second year of church planting near Lansing and we found out that Dean and Paul had been church planters as well. As we talked to them about church planting it became obvious that this was or is a life-altering decision for each of them. It left each of these families more dependent upon God and the body of Christ than ever before. It was a time of growth and maturing for each of them. They described church planting as some of the most challenging and yet worthwhile years of their lives.

If we get the green light to be church planters we would then go to a three-day church planter "boot camp" and be trained in how to make something out of nothing - sounds interesting! Joan and I are both excited about this possibility. Then we would begin to gather our team of pray-ers, give-ers and go-ers. I will post an update once we know for certain whether we will be planting or not.

Riding in the Car with Kids (funny)

The other day I was driving with Jake and Julia and both of them said something that made me laugh.

Julia is 5 and she is sounding out words and trying to unravel the mysteries of letters, spelling, etc. She often says things like "'Dog', 'what letter does that word start with?' 'D-d-d-d-d' - 'D!'" She was sounding out the word 'street' and she said "'Street', 'what letter does that word start with?' 'R-r-r-r-r' - 'F!'" Obviously she has more to learn.

A little later on Jake and I were talking about the fact that we were going to be moving to the Albany area and he asked me if they have lacrosse there. I told him that they do and explained the various options there. Then I said that they have football too.

He said to me 'I hope it isn't vegetarian football". I was taken back a bit and I asked him to repeat what he said, and he repeated, "I hope they don't play vegetarian football!"

I asked him with a little chuckle in my voice, "What is vegetarian football?"

He said, "The kind of football where they don't hit each other." My chuckle turned into a belly laugh.