Does Suffolk Need another church building and other thoughts...

The seminar with Heather Zempel about Life groups was awesome! Several of our life Group leaders went to hear her. it was worth the time. Although it was for leading a Life Group her words challenged me another area of our church- our goals.

She stated that most of us have wishes and not goals. Wanting to lose 25 pounds is a wish- exercising 30 minutes a day for three months is a goal.

That made me realize the goal we have for our church (300 in attendance, 20 life groups, abuilding to be in) are wishes- good wishes, great wishes- but not goals. We need to change our wishes into goals. That's something I'm working on right now.

Then after listiening to her church situation it got me thinking about ours. Her church is in Washington DC and they meet in five movie theatres across the region with a bout 1500 in attendance. Isn't that amazing! here is this thriving church and they don't even have a church building. THey have no plans to build either. hmmm...

THat got me to thinking... church people generally want a church building.. the person who doesn't go to church could care less. And while I am tired of having a church in a box, not having a place to practice, etc, or youth to meet, etc.. I had to ask the question. Does Suffolk need another church building.

Our goal is to rech people and not build a building. i think of th opportunity we could have in Holland to reach that community. i thought of the Harborview movie theater and how we could reach northern Suffolk. How wold we do that...

What if we, instead of having a central building with 300 people, we had 3 locations with 100 people each? What about a place in Windsor or North Carloina. A lot of people like a small church. Why couldn't we be a church of little churches? We could get together for large experiences 3-4 times a year.

This is something I'm really praying about. I can't help but wonder is the reason we are not finding a place is because we are not looking at the opportunity right there in front of us. i have to rememebr God is more interested in reaching people than he is in a building. After all, there are all kinds of little venues in Suffolk to meet in all over the place. That gets me to thinking...

What resources would that take?
What administratively would this require?
money?
How would we start it?
Is this the route God wants us to go?

Hard words for me... and queations, but I can't help but ask.

I'm Back

I'm back! And I'm sorry I left. I felt I wasn't being a good blogger so I hung it up for awhile, so i am up for another spin.

I have a couple of thoughts for you tonight. One is Saturday I went to a Small group Leders Seminar and the speaker said something that really hit me. She said when it came to goals is most people don't set goals, they just have wishes. Saying my goal is to lose 20 pounds this year is not a goal, it a wish. Saying I will run on a treadmill 30 minutes a day for three months is a goal.

That got me to thinking about our church goals. They are not goals. They are wishes. We said we would be at 300 by this month. That is a wish. What is a real goal? We need SMART goals. I am going to praying and discerning this issue. I think it's important for me as a minister of the church. I think goals are important. A ship without a plan is lost at sea.

The other thought I had is today was awesome. I was really hoping God would move and boy did he show up. I'm excited to see what God will do next week.

Trust in God!

Kirk