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25 May 2011

Church Planting Path

Courtesy of the Evangelism & Church Growth Department of The Wesleyan Church One of the great privileges I have already enjoyed in life is being involved in church planting, most recently as co-planter of The Bridge. Though my family and I are transitioning into a new season and place of ministry, church planting will remain an important part of how we serve the Kingdom of Christ. I am especially glad to serve in a district within The Wesleyan Church that places such priority on church planting–not because it’s a hot new fad, but because they passionately want to see people come to know the hope and life of Jesus. We recently posted the above photo (you can download the .pdf version here) at theydidwewill.blogspot.com — it’s a different way of looking at the church planting process within The Wesleyan Church and serves as a good reminder that seeing new churches come to fruition is a continuous journey and an adventure. (more…)

24 May 2011

Parenting & Church Planting: Jerk

image: Flickr|OakleyOriginals I love my kid. I tell her that every day and do my best to demonstrate as much… though I’m not sure just how much is comprehended yet by her little mind. I’m sure there are times, though, that if she could form the words or comprehend what they mean, she would express the thought that I am a jerk. Sometimes I let her stay in a place of frustration. Sometimes, I let her cry a bit before rescuing her from the thing she’s crying about. Sometimes I know exactly what her problem is and how to make her happy but wait to act. Jerk. I know. But, at least in the philosophy and praxis of parenting Sarah and I are developing, there are times when even at this stage there are teachable moments or developmental progressions taking place and letting Jubilee work some things out on her own is healthy and okay. We’re not expecting advanced (more…)

Tags: church planting, Leadership
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23 May 2011

Parenting & Church Planting: Puke

One. Proud. Papa. I can’t remember the last time I left my house without some spot of baby puke somewhere on my person. (That’s a lie. I actually can remember: it was the day I left the apartment to bring Jubilee home from the hospital.) Each morning I carefully examine my clothing, take the kid (who has been carefully secured into her car seat) to the car, drive to the sitter’s place, and arrive at our destination only to discover that somehow between the ‘close examination’ and ‘arrival at our destination’ stages of the day, new puke is contaminating some article of my clothing. But I’ve also discovered how understanding people are: the consensus seems to be, “You’re the parent of an infant. Infants puke. Wear it as a badge of honor; they’re only this young once.” I’m more worried about the goo on my shirt than anybody else is, and they see it as happy evidence that I’m (more…)

Tags: church planting, Scripture
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19 May 2011

Parenting & Church Planting: Stop

They warned us it would happen. It was almost guaranteed. In our birthing classes, those of us who were active as ‘support people’ were given instruction on how to help an in-labor mom move beyond that point in the labor/delivery of a baby when she wants to quit. The gist was that it gets too hard, too exhausting, too much for mom to keep going and she will become convinced that the birth can progress no further. I know my wife wanted to quit at points, but the funny thing about delivering a baby is it’s kind of hard to stop part way… I can’t blame her for wanting to stop; while I don’t have first-hand experience, giving birth sure looked like a lot of work (something about why it’s called ‘labor’). After about three and a half hours of pushing (and many more hours of hard labor) in the process with our daughter, my wife felt like she couldn’t do (more…)

Tags: church planting, Encouragement
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28 Jan 2011

Favor: Post 5 (of 5)

In March of 2010, we hosted a Prayer Walk(athon) in Pittsburgh (the above image is of most of the participants). Rick (Lead Planter) designed a couple of these as significant fundraisers allowing The Bridge to have the ministry dollars needed to carry us through the year. He would later share that he sincerely, genuinely sensed $30,000 would be raised for ministry purposes. It was also a tremendous way to build interest and momentum for church planting in Pittsburgh. The people who participated in the Pittsburgh Prayer Walk(athon) contributed in a big way. But by the time all of the fundraising was calculated, less than $7,000 had come in. This was enough to cover ministry during the summer and provide a number of opportunities to connect with the community. But it wasn’t $30,000. And we still had the biggest event of the summer to be cared for as well as making sure a facility could be rented for preview, launch, and (more…)

Tags: church, church planting, Encouragement, faith, Family Fun Day, Holy Spirit, Leadership, outreach, Pittsburgh, The Bridge, Western PA District
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27 Jan 2011

Favor: Post 4 (of 5)

THE CALL. For our pre-launch gatherings,we found the perfect place to meet. It was the ‘dream location’ for any church plant: a community hotspot, modern facilities, plenty of room to grow, plenty of parking, an area for connection, rooms for children’s and nursery ministries. Perfect. We might never leave. But as we looked at what the cost would be to stay in that facility following our Grand Opening when we moved from monthly to weekly gatherings, things looked impossible. We asked God to please provide what was an overwhelming amount for our perfect place to meet. One day, the phone rang. On the other end was a representative from 3 Lakes Golf Course with an offer: Rather than paying hundreds of dollars for a few hours on Sunday, what if we payed a quarter of the cost for an entire day at their club house? With a fully stocked nursery? And a dedicated children’s ministry area? And all the space (more…)

Tags: church, church planting, Encouragement, faith, Leadership, Pittsburgh, The Bridge
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26 Jan 2011

Favor: Post 3 (of 5)

LEAP OF FAITH. “Either we sell the house, or Sarah gets a job. We can’t move to Pittsburgh until then.” Of course we couldn’t move ‘until then.’ It was the only way ends would possibly meet. It made practical sense, so we dedicated time to trying to sell or rent the house and hunt for work. But after a couple months, neither the house sold or rented and my wife, Sarah, had yet to get a call for potential employment. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the moment, on my way to the ‘Burgh to look at potential apartments for us, when God clearly spoke to me that he had called us to Pittsburgh and we needed to be *IN* Pittsburgh. I immediately called my wife from the car and said, “I think I’m going to find our new home today, and that we need to move as soon as possible; are you okay with me signing a lease even (more…)

Tags: church, church planting, courage, Encouragement, faith, Leadership, Pittsburgh, Prayer, The Bridge
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25 Jan 2011

Favor: Post 2 (of 5)

This post is part of a series celebrating some of the incredible ways God has shown his favor in planting The Bridge. You can read the first post here. “Family Fun Day” was the high-water mark of our summer ministry season in 2010. If you read yesterday’s post, you saw some of the cool ways God made a way where there was no way in securing a location at the right time. But one of the most exciting aspects of the day was seeing how churches from across our district partnered together to see incredible things take place. Here’s an excerpt from an article I wrote earlier about the day: …during The Bridge’s summer outreach event, a free “Family Fun Day,” held at the end of August when ten of the District’s 28 churches helped provide over 100 volunteers, funding, food, and other supplies which made the day a great success. The Bridge had 425 present at the event, providing (more…)

Tags: church, church planting, courage, Encouragement, faith, Family Fun Day, Holy Spirit, outreach, Pittsburgh, Prayer, The Bridge, Western PA District
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24 Jan 2011

Favor: Post 1 (of 5)

The Bridge is having a Grand Opening Celebration this weekend (it’s our ‘official launch’ for those of you who prefer church-planty lingo) and we are incredibly excited. It’s hard to believe the day will actually be here — especially when you stop to consider that a year ago neither the Coxes nor the Gomezes had yet become residents of Pittsburgh and our Launch Team could have been described as ‘embryonic’ at best! In preparation for and celebration of this weekend, I am making it a point to share some of the ways we have seen God’s favor in the adventure of launching The Bridge. So, I’ll be posting one example of this each day from now to Sunday. Here’s today’s: The Park At the end of August, The Bridge was hosting a “Family Fun Day” as a way to connect with the community. More details about the day will be included in tomorrow’s post, but the biggest hurdle early on (more…)

Tags: church, church planting, courage, Encouragement, faith, Family Fun Day, Holy Spirit, Pittsburgh, Prayer, strength, The Bridge
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15 Jan 2011

The Rest of January

The rest of this month is going to be pretty busy as we prepare for our official launch/”Grand Opening” of The Bridge and spend time serving our community. We will be hosting preview services, topping-off washer fluid for motorists at local gas stations, hosting a blanket giveaway, and, of course, launching! In between we’ll be canvassing neighborhoods, inviting friends and neighbors, sending out postcards, and doing whatever else we can to get the word out to the community. We have seen the Holy Spirit go before us in amazing ways, and in the next post, I’ll share some of the highlights of how he’s shown us his favor (it’s probably going to leave you speechless). In the meantime, we are asking you to keep the following events as points of serious prayer throughout the month: Saturday, January 15 — Washer Fluid Top-Off (Exxon @ 7409 Saltsburg Rd, Penn Hills — click for map) from 10 am – 1 pm Sunday, January (more…)

Tags: church, church planting, JourneyNotes, outreach, Pittsburgh, Prayer, The Bridge
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