A Wild Ride

Imagine your plane has just taken off, then 30 seconds later you hear a "thud." You begin to lose altitude and fear for your life. Suddenly you start climbing again ... only to hear another "thud" and start descending again. About the time you're sure you messed your drawers the plane starts leveling out. By this time you're not sure what will happen next. 

This is how one pastor described church planting. A wild ride, to say the least. The first 7 weeks of our newest worship site has proved to be no exception. People showing up? Check. People disappearing? Check. People catching the vision quickly? Check. People second guessing it all? Check. Wanting to scream is common ... sometimes from joy, sometimes from frustration. That's just par for the course in church planting. So how have I responded to the ups and downs?

Well ... it's been said, "Work as if it all depended on you. Pray as if it all depended on God." Apparently I'm a lot better at that first part. But as Jesus said, "Apart from me you can do nothing." I've seen God use the times of frustration to remind me that it's not my efforts alone that will build Christ's Kingdom on earth and drive me back to prayer. Prayer for the hearts of men and women here. Prayer for clarity in where to focus my efforts. Prayers of confession for the self-centered attitude and bitterness I need to repent of. But eventually, when I get over myself, prayers of thanksgiving for the many who remember to pray for me when I don't even remember to pray for me. Thank you for your prayers and gifts to help make this all possible. 

So how big is your church?

People like this question because it's an easy way to get a feel for how a church is doing. In some traditions the word "parish" is used to describe the church's people, the place where they meet or the area it serves. One of the church planters here, though, described his "parish" this way: "Wherever I go in my neighborhood, and whoever I meet, I'm their pastor. They don't know that when we first meet, but that's how I relate to them." This drastically changes how I view the state of the new church here in Paradise. In one sense, it's a church of one to two dozen folks who now meet on the campus of UNLV on Sunday afternoons. In another sense, it's the hundreds of people I interact with every week. The fact there are people in our community that consider one of us their pastor, though they've never come to a worship service with us (yet), kinda surprised me. Until this evening...

I was just talking with the head of our neighborhood watch a few hours ago. After a good long conversation about her cancer treatments, her spiritual background, and what I'm doing in Vegas, I felt like we had connected in a significant way. Though she's not a part of any church, she seemed open to seeing what ours was like. As I was leaving she said she wanted to use the next neighborhood newsletter to let people know I'm in the community as a pastor for those living in our neighborhood. What? Really? Without knowing it, she is helping me redefine the scope of my role as pastor as those God has put in my own backyard. The next 3 conversations I had while walking home seemed to take on new significance. I began to see how Harmon Gardens (the neighborhood I live in) is very much my "parish." It gave me a clearer perspective on who God is positioning us to reach and serve in the city.

So who is in my "parish?" This past week it included college students, teachers, real estate agents, security guards, engineers, casino employees, single dads, carpenters, lawyers, salesmen, and the homeless to name a few. Please pray that I keep this perspective and not limit God's work in the city to the number of bottoms that warm chairs during a Sunday service.