CPAC, Day One

August 18, 2009

36963900_4106e91ed1<Image courtesy of Clearly Ambiguous>

Today was a great ‘introduction’ day—the three couples here for Assessment got a chance to get to know each other, and we were given a glimpse of the process involved in CPAC before jumping in headlong.  Before we go any further, though, it’s worth noting that it was communicated time and time again that this process is much more about discovering who God has created us to be and to find the best ministry fit than it is about any kind of pass-or-fail scenario.  The advice given to us: have fun and enjoy the incredible gift of having three days full of people taking the time to help us understand who we are and how God may be leading us.  Sounds like very wise advice to me.

We began with each potential planter delivering two messages: five minutes to a ‘room of unchurched people’ on why they should consider Jesus, and five minutes attempting to convince someone to join you in a ministry endeavor.  Following their ‘talks,’ each couple had a few minutes answering questions in front of the group.

That led to our first interview time—each couple was assigned an assessor and was privately interviewed for about two and half hours (there will be more interviewing tomorrow).  The ‘interview’ was a lot like filling out a verbal questionnaire about past experiences.  What is likely to be is best found by what has already been; in other words, how someone will act/react/perform can be pretty well predicted by how they’ve acted/reacted/performed in the past; so the assessors use questions that help identify themes and constants throughout the life of the potential planter.  The times of interview, so far at least, haven’t been overly uncomfortable or super invasive, but very conversational in tone.

After our interview sessions, everybody regrouped for supper (us ‘assessees’ all sat together to enjoy some more get-to-know-you time and conversation—it’s amazing to spend time with people who are so passionate about what God not only can do but desires to do in our world.

But now it’s time to get some rest—tomorrow will be a long, full day.  All of us are excited to see how God uses this time to prepare our ‘next steps.’  But before I head to bed, I would like to make a request of those who may happen to be reading this—all of our talk today has been focused on being used by God to advance his Kingdom and the glory of his Great Name, and I’m reminded of one of Jesus’ commands in terms of what we should pray for.

Matthew 9:

35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.“

So, my request is that you would ask the Lord of harvest to send out workers into his field.  A bit of warning before you do that, though: you just might find yourself being sent into that very field… across the street or across the globe.  And maybe part of that journey for you is taking part in an assessment much like this one…

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This entry is also posted at theydidwewill.blogspot.com, the blog of the Church Multiplication Task Force of the WPA District of the Wesleyan Church.

By JeremiahGomez | Posted in Assessment Center | Tagged , , , | Comment (1)

My Prayer for Today…

August 18, 2009

Lately at the beginning of (and often throughout) each day, I’ve been praying something like this:

God, make me a fool so You can shame the wise.
Father, please make me weak, so as to shame the strong.
Make me lowly and despised, as we watch You shine above the created order.
Help me to boast only in You—because You and Your righteousness are the only good in me; may I be mindful of who I was when You called me: unwise, influencing nothing, and of humble birth.
All I have and all I am is in You.  Through me and my life, please proclaim the crucifixion and make known Your great love, power, and righteousness.

Thank You for making me Yours.

Now, I just hope I have courage and steadfastness as it is answered.

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C.P.A.C.

August 17, 2009
146353219_172777c489<image courtesy of billy verdin>

Beginning Tuesday, Sarah and I will be attending the Church Planter Assessment Center as part of a potential ‘next step’  (a special thanks Western PA District of The Wesleyan Church, who is investing the cost of attending CPAC in Sarah and me); we’ll be there with two other couples, including Rick and Eunice Cox, who are also from the WPA District.   If time and energy allow, I’ll be posting reflections of the day’s activities each evening (be warned, it may be nonsensical gobbeldy-gook or nothing more than a terse sentence); hopefully, if you’re thinking of being assessed, it will help answer some of the questions you may have.  It will also be a good read (I’m hoping!) for those of you who are curious about the planting and pre-planting processes we use.

In the meantime, it might be helpful to know what the Assessment is all about.  Here’s how the Assessment Center describes itself:

We are confident that this will be a powerful and highly worthwhile personal experience that will provide you with greater self-awareness about your ministry strengths and gifts, as well as your potential for church planting success. You and your sponsoring district or parent church will receive an objective, team-based evaluation to help you both make the wisest possible decisions about your church planting leadership.

In other words, the people of the Center look at the likely success of an individual or couple as the ‘lead planter(s)’ in a new church.  The result of a fairly intense, multi-day process is an evaluation focused simply on the likely success of the potential planter articulated as a “Green Light,” “Yellow Light” or “Red Light.”

Red Light… is an indicator that the potential planter is not likely to find themselves effective in a planting environment right now.

Yellow Light… indicates the potential planter is more likely to find success in a planting environment if certain growth areas are given due attention.

Green Light… indicates that the evaluators feel the planter is likely to find success/effectiveness in their endeavors.

It’s important to note, again, this relates just to church planting  and isn’t a judgment on people, personalities or ministry calling; it is meant to help potential church planters and the districts, churches, and individuals which invest in new churches to thrive.  A ‘Red Light’ shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing, but more as an aid in discerning whether or not planting is the right ministry path for someone right now.  A ‘Green Light’ doesn’t mean one person/couple is ‘better’ than another, but that they seem to have the gifts and personal traits that tend to be found in effective church planters.  A ‘Green Light’ isn’t a guarantee of ‘success’, either.

This all helps to make sure that someone isn’t setting themselves up for failure, and that they are designed for/capable of handling the unique stresses, pressures, and situations that are involved in attempting to launch a new, Kingdom advancing church.  From the outside, it looks like a great opportunity for someone with potential to be a planter to find out if planting really is the right step for them.

If YOU feel like God might be leading you into the direction of planting a church, you should connect with Shawn Cossin and surf on over to Uought2.org.  And, maybe one day, we’ll see YOU at assessment!

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This entry also posted at theydidwewill.blogspot.com, the blog of the Church Multiplication Task Force of the WPA District of the Wesleyan Church.

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Some of My Own Journey

August 13, 2009
Help the Horse<image courtesy of Mykl Roventine>

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My Grandma used to have a little plaque on one of the walls in the room I slept in when visiting her.  On it was the cartoon image of a teddy bear riding a rocking horse with the following phrase written out in script:

Faith Isn’t Faith Until It’s All You’re Holding Onto.

How I’ve grown to loath that little plaque.

Mostly because it had some level of truth in it and I find myself wanting the kind of faith that is soft and fluffy and convenient and doesn’t cost anything but gives everything.

But I guess that wouldn’t be ‘faith’ so much as ‘looking to be coddled.’

It’s said that when you read something, you learn more about the person doing the writing than whatever subject presented.  If that’s the case, it’s probably pretty obvious by looking at the central theme of my blog posts as of late that my (and Sarah’s!) journey has focused a lot on (re)learning what faith is and how it needs to be playing out in our lives right now.

At the beginning of May, we felt pretty clearly led by God’s Spirit to leave my then-current position as pastor of Carlisle Wesleyan.  There were quite a few ways we were led to that decision, but it sure didn’t make it any easier to ‘pull the trigger’ by signing a resignation letter with no ‘next step’ clearly outlined.

Since that time, I’ve been Mr. Applicant—applying to job after job after job in the ‘non-churchy’ world and looking at various potential opportunities in the church world.  Long story short: I’m still very unemployed.  We’ve received clear “don’t go there” leadings from the Holy Spirit with ministry opportunities, and haven’t garnered a lot of interest with organizations wanting a twenty-something minister to come work for their company in another role.

There have been moments when it’s been tempting to despair, but what I find amazing is the continued sense of God’s presence with us.  Though nothing is clear about tomorrow, we have had a deep sense of peace and comfort.  I told someone the other day that I know me and how I ‘should be’ reacting to where we are: freaking out in a way that makes “going postal” look like a group of church ladies scrapbooking in the basement on a Thursday night.  But I’m not.  We’re just trusting.

We have nothing to hold on to but the God who is leading us.  We have nothing to cling to but our Father.  So, we’re choosing to have the same trust a small child has in their parent–that the parent will do everything they said they would, and that we, as those children, are safe, secure, and able to rest knowing our Father has everything taken care of.

So here we are: without any crown of success or example of personal greatness; humbled and waiting.  We’re learning what it is to ‘hold on’ without knowing the length of the wait or what we’re even waiting FOR.  We’re learning what faith is in a way that, in the reality of other situations faced by many, isn’t a very big mountain at all… but to us seems huge.  We’re learning in this comparatively small way, what it is to live a life that really isn’t our own.

For the record, though, I still hate that stupid plaque.

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