Striking Out: A New Direction

About 10 weeks ago, I sat down and wrote out a kind of love letter to our church family at Signal Mountain Pres just outside of Chattanooga. As I shared there, “the time has come for me to leave my work at Signal Pres because I believe the Lord is calling me elsewhere.” 

Here’s the basic news. I have accepted a call from the Lake Forest Family of Churches on the north side of Charlotte, NC, and am going to join them and plant a new church in Cabarrus County (NE of Charlotte). Robin and I are in the process of packing up our home in preparation for movers to come. On this coming Friday we will close out our time at this house and a new owner takes over! By later November, we will be on our way to a new home in Concord, NC – and a new community and a new work. 

You might wonder “why church planting?” You’re not alone! I’ll have more to say about this in a post next week – on “How did we get here?” – but here’s the short answer: For the last eight years, church planting is where I have volunteered in our wider denomination. I’ve met marvelous people getting after the work on the ground and growing networks to help foster the planting of new churches. I am convinced of the mission: God has entrusted his church with this radical message to the world — the grace of the kingdom of God is here in the death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. That gospel is for our daily life, challenging and every sphere of life and to be lived out in public faithfulness. I am compelled to be on the edge of where that is happening in our communities and calling men, women, and kids to faith in Christ Jesus. And the more we got to know the shape of that work at Lake Forest and their heart for people, the more I realized my heart was moved in that direction as a doer and leader – not just a supporter. 

Here’s the most common questions I’ve fielded:

1. Who’s going to be part of it? I simply don’t know … but I have great confidence that the Lord does. Over the last year Lake Forest has been listening to and gathering some people for prayer around planting seeds of a new mission. We will start with reaching out to them – and then through them to neighbors in the area or networks of friends and contacts that I can pursue in ordinary life. Tons of my effort will go into meeting people, listening to stories and dreams, and praying the Lord opens doors into conversations, hearts, hopes, and homes as we start dreaming what this new church will look like.
2. Does your new church have a location yet or a building? In a word, no! Lake Forest’s heart and my charge is to study and get to know the wider county and town dynamics, and along with the wisdom of others (I have a great team to work with), gather people, make plans, and hopefully launch somewhere early next fall. We’ll live right in the middle of this – we have a contract on a house there, eager to dive in and get to work knowing a new community from the inside. Pray for wisdom here. 
3. Isn’t all this hard and risky? Yes it is. But: maybe not more than anything else… none of us knows tomorrow, and few among us have much certainty about how anything will turn out. But that is an invitation to trust – to a dependence on God in his sovereignty, and others in their gifts, love, and cooperation. Though it may seem I am stepping out in a different way – each of us are called to trust again today, submitting our plans and hopes, our fears and our dreams to God and seeking to live out his mission. I believe we are spiritual adventurers at heart, and the Lord has been reminding me that we are all but pitching our tents for a time and “looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” (Heb 11:10). Let’s do this!
4. How can I support you? There are two basic ways.
   • First, your prayers. I am eager to grow in is dependence upon God in prayer and his provision for all our needs in Christ Jesus. I will regularly post some here. For now – 1) pray for the details and logistics of the transition: that we can be settled in time for a pause for Thanksgiving and preparation to begin the work in December; 2) for our kids in their far flung schools and jobs as they walk through this with us; and 3) for God to be preparing our hearts and those in the new community for what he is going to do in gathering a new church. All this is beyond my control, and I keep close to me a quote from Ronnie Stevens: “Where dependence is the goal, weakness is an advantage.”
   • Second, your gifts. Several of you have asked for a means to support – and for now the single best way is by giving to Lake Forest for this new church project. Be sure to make the memo “Cabarrus Church Plant.”

And now: back to moving and packing. Grace and peace!