Long time coming

Well I've been out of it for quite some time. Good grief I'm one of those people who has a blog but has not updated it for a long time.

I know that part of my hesistation in writing is the fear of really being honest in my writing. Have you ever read a deceased person's journal? Have you ever thought while reading it, "Did they mean for me to read this?" But at the same time you find yourself incredibly moved by what they are saying or how they lived. Maybe most writers find it difficult to just lay it all out there for others, I don't know. I do.

My last post covered the fact that our assistant pastor has resigned and is moving. This Sunday is his final Sunday. If I were to be honest (and I will be) it has been a hard transition. There are many reasons why it has been hard but one in particular is how hard it is to pastor the size of church I pastor. We run around 250 or so...at least lately...and summer might change all that. But everything I experience and everything I am reading about churches like ours tells me that this is a difficult size church.

My greatest hope for my church would be the further empowerment of people to do stuff. (In church circles this is called discipleship.) Plain and simple, I want people to do the work of the church. Acts 2, Ephesians 4, et al., all speak about role clarification. I'm finding great pressure to be the "everything pastor" in a church that is too big for an everything pastor.

We are not going to hire a specialized minister for our next hire. We are taking our time and praying for a person who will come to be a "leader of leaders" as I call it. I'm looking for a person who gets excited about leading other people, holding them accountable, and getting other people involved in serving. We must grow wider at our base or the top will keep getting too dull.

I keep wondering who I know that could be this person. I'd love to hire someone I already know and trust but just haven't come to that name yet.

If you're interested in the position, email me: peter@nbwesleyan.org and I'll get you a job description.

Ch-ch-changes

David Bowie sang it.
The rest of us live it.
Changes.

Tony Parsons, our Assistant Pastor, officially resigned this past Sunday. In August it would have been 3 years that he and I have served together. He has accepted a Youth Pastor postion at a church in North Carolina. June 1 will be his final Sunday. For those who read this and know him, shoot him a line of encouragement and prayer at tony@nbwesleyan.org.

I'm optimistic about the next steps for our church and for the student ministries of our church. I"m determined not to hire in a hurry or under pressure. I believe God will direct me and the leaders of our church in the right direction.

More changes to come...

Autobiography

I'm reading an autobiography of a women who loved and lived in Africa, I Dreamed of Africa.
Last night as Sarah and I were in bed reading I told her that in reading this book I keep wondering where it's heading. But then I realized it is the story of one woman's life so it's simply heading through her life.

...from there it went downhill...

While I was in college I thought it might be a cool idea to write my life story. My plan was to give it to my parents as a gift at some point. I told Sarah that I'd once thought this and she erupted in laughter! :) At first I thought it just kinda tickled her a bit but she laughed for several minutes while pushing out words like, "That's the funniest thing you've ever told me" and "Only your parents would think that's the best gift ever"--which is true.

Her laughter caught me and eventually were both laughing.
I told her I was going to blog about this. I also feel like I should tell her that my next attempt at my autobiography will be dedicated to her.

By the way, the first attempt didn't make it too far. It is probably still on some harddrive of the now antiquated computer that reside in the basement computer lab of the old science hall of Indiana Wesleyan University.

If anyone ever comes across it let me know.