Green Light

Well, Tuesday night I received a green light from the Deacon Board of Pasadena A/G. I am a go for a fall start in '06.

I found out after the board meeting Tuesday night. Pastor told me that the process had been set up as 1. Announcing it to the Executive Board on Tuesday. 2. Announcing it to the Church at our Annual Business Meeting on January 29th. ...And there it is. The green light, we're off and running.

And I walked away from Pastor, got in my Jeep, and drove away. Suddenly, I was more scared than I had ever been. As I gripped the steering wheel, I prayed and told God, "Now more than ever, I'm depending on you."

People say (I've said myself) that it would be easy to plant here in the Severn River area. I don't have to move, and I have family close by. This is the comfortable thing...the convienent thing to do. Of course, those people aren't facing the lack of an income that I am in September. They don't carry the weight of starting a church from scratch and raising up disciples who contribute enough to care for the needs of the church/pastor and beyond to our mission. Quite a foolish thing, I think, to ever think there is such thing as an "easy" or "convienent" church plant.

I think that the plan is cumbersome. Telling the Exec. Bd. next Tuesday is fine, but announcing to the church at the Business meeting provides 2 problems:1. It's going to get out over the interim 3 weeks, because loose lips sink ships. 2. It is announcing major information to a minimum impact audience. Teenagers aren't going to be at the meeting, so they'll find out their youth pastor is leaving through the grapevine.

The grapevine effect is what I'm most concerned about. I feel we should hit the highest impact audience we can, and disseminate as much information as possible. People who aren't there, will hear things grapevine style, but at least you've done your best to give everyone opportunity to hear.

While I don't think there are going to be many people who leave PAG to come with me, I do think that it will be a shock to most people. Not shock that I would leave eventually, or that I would start a church, or even not so much that it's going to be so close. I think there is always a shock factor that it's now.

Anyway, there's probably a lot more thought that can go in this. But for now I have to get going to a day of prayer.

Ben