Momentum!!!

Hello everyone.

We haven't been using this blog all that much yet because we have been hoping that our web design service would be providing a way to blog inside of our site, but apparently that service is still not available.

So, we will be posting a bit more on this blog...

I (Mike) am writing this today as a RECAP of our amazing BBQ meeting last Sunday. The information that we shared was not only important, but super exciting.

We started the meeting telling stories of how we got to be where we are. We told stories of the amazing ways that God has blessed us and is continuing to bless us to bring us to be where we are today.

It was really a celebration, and what we were celebrating was that even though we have only had 6 services...

Over 30 people have committed their lives to Christ. About a Dozen people have already signed up for our Baptism Service on Sept 26. Prayers have been answered, lives are being changed. We have grown in number each week, and we haven't even officially started having services yet!

Not only are we at a great place, and have tons of great stories to tell, we have some exciting vision for the Fall.

We discussed the fact that even though we share MANY Core Values with other churches, we also have some core values that make us unique. Some of those values are our emphasis on reaching out to others, serving the community, being non-judgmental, being open and honest, remaining relevant, and having fun (among many others.) These values cause us to have a UNIQUE vision for what we will do in our community here in Marysville.

As we talk about our Vision and what is coming for the Fall, there are 4 Main Elements that Emerge.

Hillside's 4 Elements

Ask, Live, Grow and Give

Let's look at each one of them...

Ask

Hillside will be a place where people can feel free to Ask any question. We will value any and every question and find ways to respond to them. This doesn't mean that there will always be an easy answer, but we value questions. We believe that everyone who is looking into growing in faith has some big questions that they are asking, questions not only about How to Grow? But also questions and doubts that are obstacles. Many people want to ask questions about how scripture fits into what they have been taught in school science classes. Many people want to ask how we can know and trust that the Bible is true. There are many questions and Hillside is going to value them.

The Hillside staff will always be open to conversations about faith, and we will always be excited and willing to respond to questions. We will also host a few different ways to have questions responded to. Hillside is going to host an Ask Questions website, where we will respond to questions about faith and life issues. This website will be a great place to ASK. We also will host meetings that we call: “Meet Hillside.” These meetings will be a place where people new to Hillside can come and ask any question about our church.

Live

Of course, the purpose of our Church is to lead people into a growing relationship with Christ. This means Life. It means that our lives will take on a new purpose and a new meaning, it also means that we will have Life eternally in heaven. (John 3:16, Romans 6:23)

During our services Hillside will offer a variety of ways to start this life transforming relationship with Christ, and many ways to grow in this relationship. Hillside will often offer Baptism services where people can outwardly show the choices that they are making for their faith. These services will be a celebration. (Romans 10:9)

Grow

Hillside will be committed to leading people toward growth in their faith. Growth can happen in a variety of ways, in groups, individually and by serving and giving to others. In November Hillside will begin our “Grow Groups” these will be groups that anyone can sign up for and meet with other people to grow in faith together. These groups will places of growing relationships and growing faith. In our first “semester” of groups, the groups will meet for five weeks. After the Holiday season people will be encouraged to sign up for a new group or sign up with the people that they were in a group with during the Fall.

Hillside will also encourage individual Growth. Of course, you individually will find the best ways for you to grow, but we will offer many resources. Many of our Sunday message series will also have a daily devotion blog that you can read daily. Also at each service, we will provide a “Depth Charge.” Because I will normally teach out of one scripture or one story for a message, we want you to have access to other scriptures and resources, books and websites that will all be recommended in a weekly Depth Charge.

Give

Of course whenever we give of our time, talents and finances we grow. Our fourth element is Give. Hillside will be a place where you can find opportunities to identify and use your God given gifts and talents. Pastor Kim is the best connector of people and identifier of gifts that I have ever known. She plans on hosting a class called NEXT. During this class, you can identify and learn about your gifts and talents and we as a church will find a way to partner with you and equip and empower you to use those gifts.

Important Dates and Information

Sept 12 is our first week of weekly services. We'd love to have you invite your friends and family and make it a priority to be a this service.

Sept 26 is our first Baptism Service. Please let us know if you would like to be included in Baptism.

Oct 10 This is our public Grand Opening!!! Invite EVERYONE!!!

As always, let us know if you have any questions!

Grace and Peace!

Mike

The Generosity of a Stranger!

Great friends of ours who are church planters told us over and over again: “As you go through the process of raising support for your church plant you will be SHOCKED by where support comes from.” 

This may be the most true and prophetic statement in our church planting experience thus far.

Yesterday as Brandon, Katie, Jordan, Jeffrey, Emily and I were hanging the first of our doorhangers, Kim was resting.  She had a rough and busy couple of days and was exhausted from a crazy week.  While she was at home alone, she decided to get on Craigslist and search for a table for our upcoming Easter Carnival. 

She found an ad for a good sized table for $20.  So she replied.  In her response to the ad, she told the man who was selling the table that we were from a church and needed this type of table for what we are doing.

His immediate reply was that, since it was for a church, he would love to donate the table.  Kim thanked him and he called to let her know that he had a ton of other stuff listed from his office that he was closing due to selling his business and starting his retirement.  So Kim got back on craigslist and looked through his ads.

She noticed that he was selling a very nice (immaculate) 1999 Chevy Blazer.  She asked what the best deal he could do was and whether we could work out a way of paying him over a few weeks or a month.  (We desperately needed a second car because Kim, Brandon and I are sharing the Durango right now and running it into the ground.) 

His reply was shocking.  He called back and said: “Actually, I have a Chevy Astro Van that is in good shape that I would love to donate to you!” 

Kim immediately broke down in tears and texted me that she had this amazing donation.  Unbelievable!  I fully expected that it would be a dinged up, dented and used van.  I was shocked again as I went to meet him along with Kim.  Keep in mind that he had not yet even met us for the first time.  Again I was shocked.  Shocked that this van was in perfect condition for a 2000.  It had brand new tires on it.  We were all shocked when he let us know that he had loaded it up with these cool benches, perfect for a Children’s ministry!  He even told us that he had 4 snow tires to give us as well. 

He then said, “would you also like to look at the Blazer that I had listed on Craigslist?”  We agreed and went over to take a look at it.  It is immaculate with 90k miles and new tires.  He had listed it for $4000 on craigslist.  I asked how we might be able to work out some payments.  His response was:  “My wife and I talked it over and would like to give you the Blazer as well!”

Guess what.  We were shocked! 

This kind man and his sweet wife, without meeting us, had a feeling that we were good people to give thousands of dollars worth of cars to. 

Not only this, but he took us into a room and basically told us that we could have all of the desks, shelves and file cabinets in it as well. 

We later found out that they have a great relationship with a local church that is supporting us as well. They were as excited to give as we were to receive. 

I’m not sure what to say about all this as I am just processing what happened.  But what I do know is this:

 

I am shocked.  Jeff and Cindy were right. 

Our January 31st Meeting RECAP

Last Sunday, the 31st of January, we invited anyone interested to attend another informational meeting about Hillside Church.  Personally, I was very excited about this meeting because when we first started getting together as a team, we only had  a very murky picture to share with interested folks.  We were able to talk about our values, but not about anything specific.  We didn’t know what city we would start meeting in, we didn’t know when we would start services. 

But finally, a clearer picture is starting to emerge. 

It’s important to first know this about me (Mike).  I need information before I make decisions.  I don’t like to jump to conclusions blindly.  In fact, almost every time I do, I end up regretting decisions.  It’s also important for you to know that I like to inhale information quickly.  Gimme all you’ve got, I want to know about this area, about the churches here, about the people here who are in need of Jesus.  I want to look at factual, unbiased information.  I love surveys, demographics and maps, but I also love people’s real stories. 

These past couple of months have been so full of learning.  Learning about the people, the area, and about church planting has been so fun and important to me.  Learning about our resources, our coaching structure and our own gifts and abilities has been very necessary for me. 

The good news is that, we finally have a good amount of information.  We don’t know everything.  But we do know some very important things. 

So, for me, sharing this week about our direction was fun.  I don’t know what it was like to listen to me, but I felt like a tea kettle.  It is so fun to share the excitement of what we have learned and the directions that we are moving that it feels like I am boiling over with the passionate steam.  

Just so there is no mistaking… I am so thrilled with the point we are at right now, We have a coach, we have demographic reports, we have a place to meet, we have some great ideas of direction…but most exciting to me, is our team that we are putting together. 

To be honest, I was a little bummed that so many people had to excuse themselves to not be at our meeting on Sunday.  But I was so encouraged by the response from the people who were there.

My goal was to share:

• What Are We Doing?  -  A Little picture of our desire to start a church that will be an Outreaching Church.  A Church that will love all who are broken and will reach them by being the hands and feet of Jesus.  A Church that will turn non-disciples into not just disciples, but disciplemakers themselves.  A Church that will have a strong and lasting impact on the lives of people in this community.
• What Have We Learned? -  We shared that this area is a growing area; an area that is populated by young families.  We talked about how this area is not traditionally accepting of “faith issues.”  We talked about how disconnected the people in this area are from each other.  We talked about how people in this area do not have a positive picture of what churches look like and what churches do.  We formed these conclusions from three large demographic reports that were done on this area as well as our interaction with our growing group of supporters. 
• What is Happening Right Now? -  I talked specifically during this time about how God is working in such surprising ways to provide for us.  We talked about how many times we have been down to the last dollar and the last day and God has shown up.  We talked about how amazing the place that we are looking to meet will be for us.  We talked about our new coach and how helpful he is going to be.  We talked about financial commitments that are coming in from friends and supporters.  And of course, we talked most specifically about the amazing people that we are so excited to know in this area.
• What Are We Planning to Do?  -  We talked in very plain terms about our desire to hold an Easter Service, promoted by door hangers and an Easter Egg hunt.  We talked bout building our launch team and our crowd by holding monthly services until September when we would publically launch. 
• What Does Committing to Be on the Launch Team Mean? -  We also held a time of commitment where we had each person fill out a card to let us know if they would be a part of our Launch Team.  What this means is that they would commit to helping us with their time, talents and resources to get Hillside Church launched.  We had a great response. 

My personal favorite response of the night came from a new friend Clara (who was just meeting us for the first time) who said:  “I am so excited about what you are doing and what kind of church you are going to be that I am shaking.”  She shared her heart and her desire to help however she could. 

We were truly blessed to hear her story and to have her on board! 

And of course, not just Clara, but we are blessed by any of you who choose to support Hillside in any way that you can. 

The Church of Our Dreams

This post refers to a discussion that we had Sunday the 24th at Boondocker’s Cafe Restaurant.  We asked people to show up and talk about what the “Church of Our Dreams” might look like.  We simply handed out a sheet with a few questions in order to facilitate the discussion.  The questions were simple questions about what your best and worst church experiences have been, how a church has surprised you, the biggest needs in the local communities, how to make a church fun-friendly and meaningful. 

I now think it is funny to remember that my initial worry was that people would not engage with the questions and might not have a lot to say (not because they don’t have a wealth of information and experience, but simply because we all don’t know each other that well yet.)  I was thrilled that the discussion could have lasted for much longer than the amount of time that we had.

Several people who attended asked if I would be willing to condense some of the answers and our response to the discussion.  Let me first warn you that the discussion was so real and rich that it is going to be difficult to translate that into written words.  Let me also say that I can’t capture the excitement and passion on the page the way that it seemed to be coming out in person.  In other words, if you weren’t there, I feel like you missed something really cool.  Let me also say that this is a very condensed version of what was said.  It would take me a week to blog out all of the discussion that took place.  That being said…

These thoughts appear in no particular order of importance.

 

Excitement!

The coolest and happiest and most surprising observation of the night was the excitement and passion that those in attendance seemed to have about what Hillside is going to be.  I really felt like people were thinking to themselves that this is something special and that they are excited about being a part of it.  It never occurred to me, how excited I would be about people who care.  I have heard people tell me in the past that it is the innovators and the early adopters of good ideas that generate the passion that really makes great things happen.  If that is the case, then I believe that we have some great innovative thinkers and some people who are already adopting our original vision for Hillside. 

I will also say, for me, I have been to a lot of different churches over the last few months.  I have seen interesting worship as well as worship that did not move or interest me at all.  I have heard messages that were creative and motivational as well as some that seemed uninspired and boring.  It took me until this morning to understand that this meeting was more “church” to me than any service that I have been to in quite some time.  The reason for this is because it was REAL, Everyone Participated and Shared, It was Interesting and Intriguing, and There Was a Feeling of Excitement.   I didn’t expect to have felt like I was actually in church, but I felt that very strongly. 

 

Transformation!

A constant theme that appeared was that somehow our best church experiences have moved us to be different.  Again and again the thought that whether it is the music, the message or a trip or service experience with the church, the church should Move us and Change us.  The word that kept appearing was REAL.  Somehow, whether or not we knew that we were articulating it, we all seem to want and desire something that is not filtered, dumbed down or dressed up.  There is a lot of pressure in our culture to look our best, act our best and be our best and to hide the imperfections, the doubts, the fear, the pain, the brokenness that we all have.  We are forced to do it at work and at school.  We are told that in order to attract someone of the opposite sex, we need to hide who we really are until we have hooked them and pulled them into commitment. 

After the discussion on Sunday, I feel like there is a hope that Hillside might be a place where we can be REAL.  Maybe this is a place where we don’t have to be guarded and fake because “no one is their Sunday best.” (Quote from Zack).  Maybe this is a place where we don’t have to pretend and we can be seen and accepted as we really are.  Maybe we can stop seeing each other through the lens that our culture tells us to look through and see each other as we really are, as God sees us.

This is how transformation happens.  Where we can see clearly who we really are and move forward together.  No pretending, no posing.  Just real people.  Of course you can see that the bi-product of this type of REAL living would be REAL relationships, REAL transformation, REAL experiences; even in a world of ‘fakeness.’

 

Gifts!

I heard several people voice the thought that everyone has something to give and offer.  Not all of us are going to be playing in the band.  But everyone has a gift and story to share.  I truly want Hillside to be a place where we hear and participate in each others’ stories.  It seems to be a constant theme in the answers to so many of the questions that people need to be valued and feel valued and accepted.  What better way that by being asked to use and share their gifts.

 

Questions!

I was excited to see this come up in the conversation in a couple of different ways.  If the church values being REAL than the church should allow questions.  The church shouldn’t simply allow them, but should reach out for questions.  Steve made a comment about how “no one should be kicked out of church for asking questions.”   There should be a place and a time to ask:  What happened to the dinosaurs in the Bible?  Did Noah’s Ark really happen?  Why does my science teacher give me a story that seems incompatible with the creation story in Genesis?  Why should the rules from a book thousands of years old affect my daily life? 

There are NO easy answers to those questions.  But so many Christians seem to make it sound like having questions and doubts shows a lack of faith.  Church is not a place where anyone should leave their brain at the door when they enter. 

Roger made the clear point that if you want to invite people who might be skeptical, “in needs to be a place that is relevant to their life.”  Allowing questions and real responses seems to help that move toward relevance.

 

The Worst Church Experience

When we asked what the worst experience that you have had attending a church were, we heard heart-breaking stories.  The more involved and devoted to a church you are, the more you can be hurt by others in the church.  Many people choose to keep the church at a distance because of the pain that has been inflicted to them at a church in their past.  The answers to this question really seemed to validate what I have written above.  Fakeness, falseness, judgment and legalism seem to have hurt so many of us.  It seems like most of us have stories of being misunderstood and judged.  The group with Kim, Melissa, Ryan, Deborah and Rhondah shared how hurtful churches can be when they shun a divorced person.  Who needs a church more than a person who has gone through the pain, loneliness and heartbreak of divorce?  A Church should NEED these people, not shun them. 

Kris took it a step further by talking about how a church who equips people to comfort, invite and welcome those who are dealing with the issues of divorce and domestic abuse.  What an awesome challenge!

After reading and hearing the responses to this particular question, I am particularly personally challenged.  The ego of a pastor who has judged, discounted the pain of others, separated themselves from the congregation seems to be a constant in the stories that were told on Sunday.  I really want to know everyone’s name and story.  I am challenged to always challenge my own humility.  It seems like a very common trap for pastors.  hmmmm

 

Fun!

I love everyone’s smiles and excitement about our desire to be a fun church.  More than any one suggestion, I think that Kim and Brandon and I are all excited by the desire and life that people seem to show when we talk about having fun together. 

Several people stated that coming to a church that serves you with good coffee, and good music and humor is fun.  I totally agree. Also, though nobody mentioned it out loud to me, two different groups wrote the word “chocolate” in or near their answer here.  I see what you are getting at here.  Chocolate=Fun.  Cool.  Also fun… BBQ.  I am in a shish-kabob mood.  Let’s do it!

 

 

How I Conclude what I have Heard and Read in the Reponses.

The overwhelming themes that came from the discussion were: 

• the overwhelming need of the communities that surround us (financial, family, pain, divorce, loss, loneliness)
• the need for places that will accept, love and care for people with these needs without judgment,
• the need for a place that will allow questions and allow REAL sharing and discussion
• the need for a place where people will connect with each other in a REAL and Fun way
• the need for a place that will train people to respond to need in a valuable way.
• the need for a place that values people and their gifts
• the need for a place where people can share their lives

Again.  The discussion was not only fun and interesting, but challenging and informing as well.  These are just ‘jumping-off’ points.  But they are valuable and heartfelt.  I am so excited to be a part of a group that so passionately voices these needs and desires.

 

Unexpected Blessings

Just FYI, every friend of ours who has planted a church has given us a few pieces of information and advice that are similar. 

• It will be difficult
• It will be the best time of your life
• It will stress you out
• You will find MANY unexpected blessings
• God will meet your needs to the exact dollar at times.
• God will make you wait on Him.
• It’s God’s church not yours.

Soooo, all are right or are proving to be right. But this last couple of  weeks has been really special for me.

As a background, you should know that it was a frustrating and stressful time.  People who we hoped would be involved were bowing out.  People who we thought might financially contribute to our church backed down.  A large church that we have a long relationship with that had made many statements about supporting us in the past, decided to stop supporting as many church plants and let us know that they “might” be able to give a “one time” gift, but basically not to expect much, if anything.

This was a real bummer to us.  Me especially.  It hurt. 

As I was frustrated with this decision and situation, look what happened.

A young, unemployed friend that I had met only a couple of times in the area who wants to be on our launch team, called me to ask specifically if he could meet up so that he could give his first tithe to us.  A few friends and family, a couple of whom we haven’t seen or talked to in years came through with thousands of dollars.  A young couple decided to support Brandon’s salary fund in a large way.  A small church plant where the pastors are pulling a very meager salary let us know that they took a collection for us. A church planter across the country shot a gift into our paypal account when he got our support letter. 

Let me tell you what I am learning and starting to believe based on these recent blessings and unselfish, cheerful giving and generosity.  It’s a lesson that is one of those, “let those who have ears to hear it” messages where you don’t get it until God gives you the situation and perception that allows you to truly hear and echo of what He hears and see a sliver of what He sees.  It’s a kingdom perspective that I have never had the privilege to see until now.  It’s based on what the Bible clues us in on when Mark and Luke talk about Jesus’s flip’d Kingdom, and the economy of widows and mites. 

I truly and honestly believe that the gifts and generosity that we are seeing will be more of a blessing to Hillside Church, the people of our community, and the Kingdom, even though it may be a lower dollar amount, than the thousands of dollars that the large church could have given.  Somehow, in yet to be uncovered ways, these gifts will impact lives because of the heart and graciousness of the people who have given them.  Though the dollar amount is less, the blessing will be larger.  Though it won’t buy as many things, it will go further.

I have never seen things in this way before, but these gifts, some large and some small, are investments in the lives of others.  They are far more sacred to us, and I believe to God because of where they are from, and what they will be used for.

Because of this, our commitment at Hillside is even stronger than before.  We will use these gifts to see changed lives.  We will account and answer for every dollar spent.  We will see our jobs as Pastors here as a sacred post provided by the most kind and generous friends and family that anyone could ask for. 

I hope that for those of you who might read this.  It might inspire you to consider what your gift might mean to the Kingdom, to the community and to Hillside Church.  We still have a great need, and a wide open mission field.  If you wish to make a gift to our seedling of a Church, please feel free to do so:

You can give through paypal by entering our email address giving@thehillsidechurch.com as the recipient, or by mailing a gift directly to us at:

Hillside Church, 6529 36th St NE. Marysville WA 98270.

Call anytime if you need more information on how we handle gifts and finances.  425-835-3523

Needs List

Several of you have asked us what our needs are and if there is anything you can help with.  Here is a quick list of some of our current needs as we prepare to launch Hillside Church.

 

Thank you so much for being interested in our needs. In order for Hillside Church to get off to a successful launch, we will need to have the following things in place. (Actually, there are hundreds of other things that we will need, these are some of the larger, big ticket items that we will need to acquire early on that we are asking supportive friends, family and churches to help provide.) Several of the needs like Printer Ink and Paper are obviously constant needs.

Needs

A New Desktop Computer with a Large Hard-drive to be our “Homebase Church Computer” that can hold all publishing, video and graphics stuff.

A place to store the church trailer (nearby)

A person or vehicle to tow the church trailer on a weekly basis.

 

Church Supply Needs

Pens with Church Name/Address

 

Sound and Video System

Amplification for a Sound System

Wireless Microphones

32 Channel Mixer

Video Projector

 

Office Supply

Printer Ink for HP OfficeJet 6500 Wireless

Printer/Copier Paper

Stamps/Postage

 

People Needs

Volunteers for Childrens Ministry

Photography and Video Help

Places to print mailers, signs, bulletins for a discount

Artists

Musicians (rock, bluegrass, strings etc)

A Screen Printer (that can print large signs, t-shirts etc)

 

Mike and Kim Family Needs

Financial support for Kim's Salary

A car (just a “get around town” type of beater)

Dental Costs

Eye Care Costs (glasses and contacts for the family)

 

Brandon Needs

Financial Support for Brandon's Salary

A Reliable Car

Meeting Coming up in January

Sunday, January 10th at 6pm, we will be having our first Launch Team Informational Meeting.  We want everyone to know that they are invited to show up and hang out with us.  We’ll eat dinner together and then have a short, NO PRESSURE presentation on the values and vision of Hillside Church.  It will be fun, informal, and hopefully extremely informational.

We will have child care for the kiddos and will feed the whole family.

The meeting is at 6529 36th St NE in  Marysville. If you’d like to be there, RSVP by emailing mike@thehillsidechurch.com or call us at 425-835-3523