It seems like my graduation represented the opening of some kind of floodgate to evangelistic opportunities.

Last week, I had two people contact me through Facebook whom I didn’t really know that well, who came to me for advice and I was able to share much of the Gospel with each of them.  It was amazing.

Then around the same time, my sons got invited over for the first time to the neighbours who live kind of behind us.  They have a couple of girls (which kind of explains why they never got invited over – young boys and girls typically run in different circles with different interests), but this time they did and that opened up an opportunity to build a relationship with that family.  We sent them cookies as a thank you, and they lobbed back with some brownies (which Cheryl said were excellent) and we now have their phone number and their names.  Cheryl and I are plotting our next move…

Now, with our membership classes kicking up, Philip has put me in charge of our Gospel of John study, meant to introduce people to the truth about Jesus.  I will be leading an entire family through this class (a husband and wife, both of Catholic background and their two teenage daughters) and another lady I have known for years.

It is such an honour to be used for such a task.  But what I am really feeling the weight of is doing well – the one place where I have been uncomfortable with this journey towards church planting is bearing fruit in terms of sharing my faith.  I really haven’t had a lot of practice or opportunity in my life to date.  Recognizing that if you are going to start a church from scratch, you need to be telling people a LOT about salvation, has caused some trepidation.  So I pray that these opportunities would be blessed, and that my comfort would grow through these challenges to the point where it becomes second nature.  I want to plant a church that saves people, not a church that offers a “better brand” than the other churches in town and attracts disgruntled people who are looking to “get the most” from their church.

In visiting all these communities, we did repeatedly see some patterns.  Since the communities are all growing like gangbusters, we have definitely seen the truth of how new city planning leaves little room for churches.  When people say that the church is being marginalized, it truly is.  This was especially striking in Lethbridge but was evident everywhere – churches are being built on the fringes of cities, in the middle of farm areas.  Because city planners now make no room for them in the designs of new neighbourhoods.  New neighbourhoods are devoid of spiritual hubs, deliberately so.  It used to be that open lots would be left along the main thoroughfares because that was the lowest land value – no more.

The question then becomes, do you make an effort to focus on communities in older areas of town?  Two strikes against that – first, there are older churches there usually.  They may not be effective anymore (and that is a legitimate concern) but there is always hope for renewal.  Second, the people there have probably been in the community longer, have more connections and established social networks, which means making inroads is more difficult – more like a rural setting.

But, the new neighbourhoods – the ones in many cases still under construction – what about them?  They have nothing – no churches, perhaps except for Mormon churches – I think when an organization can just approach the city at the planning stage and say, “We have 3 million dollars and want a church in your new subdivision.”  Money makes it happen – but congregational church models like ours have to rely on building community first before building a building, which means by the time there are people there, the lots are all gone or increased in price because the neighbourhood has filled out.

The plus side about focusing on these new subdivisions is that there are few churches positioned to reach them, and the people there are generally newer to the community, have fewer social connections and are looking to build new relationships.  That makes them uniquely available to outreach efforts.

What occurred to us as we drove through a few of these was a mix of what Nathan Bryant told me when I visited him before Community of Hope launched, and what Philip has taught us about establishing a church culture.  Let me explain.

Nathan when I was visiting, was living out an experiment he said he found in a book called “The Connecting Church” by Randy Frazee (on my wishlist, by the way).  His premise is that if you have one planting family move into an unchurched neibourhood, their efforts will not yeild much fruit because there is an element of outsider in play.  They are the “religious folks” and are “different” so they are discounted and ignored.  Yet, if more than one family moves in at the same time, to the same local area, then they can form a network and begin to reach their neighbours as a team.  Now, there are more than one family working together to reach their neighbours, and they aren’t “odd” there are others too, and they can’t be set aside.   Also more touches relationally lead to more opportunities.  So there is that.

What Philip taught us about Community of Hope is that the core team is important because it forms the “culture”of the church.  In other churches, they try to move towards the type of structure we have, but it is met with resistance.  For example, small groups are rarely more than an afterthought, only participated in by a small percentage of the congregation.  Sharing meals together is a rarity in most churches in my experience, but in Community of Hope it happens every week.  When our core team forms a culture, then people coming in accept that culture as normal and integrate.

How do these two ideas synthesize?  Well, what if our core team are some of the first people into a new development?  What if our houses are some of the first ones on the street?  What if we adopt the idea of being the unofficial “welcoming committee” in our neighbourhood?  Every new arrival is self-evident – the house is built.  We don’t have to guess about when someone new is moving in.  We can serve them, helping get settled.  We can invite them to barbeques, invite their kids over while the parents get things in order, begin to create a culture of community and relationship right there on our street!  People might find it odd, but if that is what they get from several families as they arrive, then it must be accepted as the “norm” in this neighbourhood.  As others come, they do the same to them – and so on.  It is like transforming your community, except there wasn’t anything there to begin with so it is in fact easier.  And as these relationships grow and bloom, doors open to sharing the Gospel.

One objection to this strategy could be, “but new homes are expensive!”  Ah, but that is if you are thinking about doing this in Surrey!  It is different out here!  My cousins moved to Calgary about 8 or 9 years ago.  They told me that they were havin a house built for them.  I thought, “Man!  My cousin’s job must pay really well!”  They told me that in fact it was cheaper to buy land and build than it was to buy on the resale market!  Of course that was a while ago, but we took a boo at a couple of show homes, and that still seems to be the case.  A typical mid-scale development in Spruce Grove was priced around $350k, including lot, taxes in.  That’s a 1800 square foot house, not including another 700 square feet in the basement (which they will build out to suit for a bit more or you can do it yourself).  Other communities are even cheaper.  Given the markets and the slowness of the oilpatch right now, I almost expect to see more comedowns in price, making it even more affordable.

Having said all this, I am just putting this out there as an idea.  We don’t know who’s coming with us yet, or what their financial picture will look like.  There are lots more to discuss, but it’s a different idea, and one that sounds like it could be effective.

I was only semi-conscious at the Community Group Leadership meeting Monday night.

In one way it was a good thing.  For some reason I find it easier to worship God when I am so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open.  Maybe it’s because my mind doesn’t distract itself and I can focus on God better.

I was awake enough to be challenged by Pastor Philip and his words from 2^nd Timothy.  We have work to do.  The work of evangelists.  I need to give myself a shake and take seriously my role as shepherd of my group, making sure I am encouraging my group to growth spiritually.

I am excited about activating us to accomplish the work of God.  But first, we have another challenge in front of us.  We are merging our group with another one.  We will have four new members probably joining us this Friday.  I need to get people moving on that, and make sure everything is ready for the meeting to go smoothly.

I just tried googling this, and didn’t find a thing that was relevant.

My Pastor and mentor, Philip, suggested this to me a few weeks ago as a possibility when we begin to move forward with our dream of planting a church in Alberta.  He was suggesting that going bivocational would allow us to be more financially secure as we set down roots in the new community.

It certainly fits with my skill set – I am currently in a sales position for a company that makes real estate software for agents.  From the first week on the job, I was convinced that it would be easy to make money in real estate if a person simply used the tools we sell – that’s probably why I sell it well – I actually believe in the product.  But it had me thinking for a few years now that I could do well in that industry.  In addition, I already have some training in geography and mapping in Alberta, when I was in Forestry.  So I get that lingo.

The job has it downsides.  It is an on-call, 24/7 type job which can get very hectic if you get a lot of business.  But it is scalable and ultimately you set your own hours.

A couple other downsides are it would cost me money to get my license, and starting up as a realtor in a town you haven’t lived in it would seem to me to be a little tricky – local knowledge is an advantage in that job.

The upside is the chance to be out in the community all the time, getting to know the neighbourhoods, the issues, the things that make the community tick every single day, and earn money while I am at it.

It seems like such a good idea, I am wondering why nobody ever thought of it before.  But, it does pose more questions.  When is the right time to start chasing that license?  Would it be smart to get into real estate right now, or soon, and give myself a couple of years to learn the trade?  Or would it be better to plan to get the license just before or after the move?  Where am I going to come up with the money for the training?  Where am I going to find the time?

Talk about a recipe for growth!  I just started thinking about all the connections I am going to be maintaining this fall.  If God is in this, I can’t help but learn something this year.

One thing my leadership courses taught me at ACTS was mentoring is critical to growth.  You need three types of relationships – peer relationships, someone older/wiser/more experienced, and someone younger/less wise/less experienced to speak into.  This way you can give a lot and receive in return, and not burn out.

Peer relationships that are deep enough to speak into my life (and me into theirs):

• Brandon
• Bill
• There could be a couple more but things are still early.

Mentoring me:

• Phil
• Ken

Being mentored by me:

• Harry
• Shane

Even those people I am mentoring, man, they are real God-followers!  I will be learning a ton from them too, no matter what happens.  But from what I have heard/read about people who mentor, they always learn from their students as well, so that’s supposed to happen.

Now the big challenge – keeping connected with all these people!  Luckily there are a lot of systems we can use to our advantage.  And not just technology!

First, let me just say that I have NEVER seen a rainstorm like the one that greeted us on the drive from the Orlando Airport to Innisbrook on the day of our arrival.  I’ve never actually seen the heavens fall like that before.  It was coming down so hard and fast that at points the traffic stopped.  The rain was hitting the windshield so fast that you couldn’t see the car 10 feet in front of you.

Innisbrook Golf Resort and Conference Center was a lovely place to visit.  They were excellent hosts, and their facilities were quite nice.  The grounds, with the golf courses were pretty, but not a lot of room for walking.  If they’d had more sidewalks we might not have driven our car around as much.  They did have shuttles, but it was hit-and-miss getting one during busy times.  A little frustrating that their only clear “family” restaurant on resort was closed for renovations.

We weren’t really sure what to expect when we went down there.  In retrospect, it is clear that what this was meant to be about was fellowship.    It was about reconnecting with all those people from other areas of the country, celebrating what is going on in the many organizations that the Grace Brethren cooperate with, and being encouraged with messages to keep on doing what Jesus wants us to be about.  Jim Brown was the lead person and spoke briefly at the beginning of each major session.  He is a really neat individual.  We got to see all sides of him that week: from his self-concious, but nonetheless brave foray onto the streets of Tampa to find out what people believe about life and the afterlife, to his huge heart to reach lost people and encourage others to do the same, to the crescendo of his message, pointing out humanity’s needs in all corners of the world at the top of his lungs and at the edge of heartbreak.  You can definitely see why his ministry in Goshen, IN has been blessed.

He wasn’t the only character there either.  It was a pleasure meeting many of the faces of the Grace Brethren, and I was honoured to have some great conversations and learn more from many of them.  Sometimes they weren’t necessarily speaking to me, but their words showed me a passion for people and for Jesus.  I think of Tim Boal’s moving talk about Go2 Church Planting, the new arm to encourage and equip new leaders to plant new churches.  I think of Jim Laird and his wife, who blessed us with interest in what we are doing in Canada, and with prayer for us at our table.  I think of Terry White, who invited me to sit next to him at the BMH breakfast and helped me get the inside track on publishing and how they work.  I think of Mark Cahill and his two challenges to take seriously the Christian job of sharing the gospel as much as you possibly can, planting seeds, watering, weeding and so on to help create the harvest.  I think of my own pastor, Philip Bryant, who stirred the pot of the fellowship everywhere he went.  I think of Tom Avey, who despite having a billion things to think about and do as far as organizing, still had time for us and remembered who we were, despite having only ever exchanged one or two emails.  I think of Glen Sykes, a man who likes his sushi, but was gentleman enough to help my feisty boys while we were out at the Kobe Steak and Sushi.  His story was one that moved me in the few minutes we had for intelligent conversation around my sons’ silliness.

There is something rich in being a member of a fellowship (not a denomination) where the people are intent on Christ and intent on not telling you what to do but walking beside you, and encouraging you, and being encouraged by that fellowship.  I really felt that while we were at iGo.  We are both really excited and plan already to go to next year’s event, Equip ‘09 which will be in Columbus, OH.  I understand it is much more focused on training, seminars and teaching which is fine by us.  The speaker list already looks very exciting.  But more, the opportunity to be with these men and women again is anticipated most of all.