I want to start this blog by talking about our calling to plant a church. There is no way that I can keep this super short, so I am just going to try my hardest not to get too crazy with words.
I will start by saying that, in my mind and my experience, there is a huge difference between a calling and a decision. Anyone can make a good decision by weighing the facts and situations around them and moving in the direction that they feel is appropriate. But a calling is different. I truly believe that a calling is something that God works out with us. It is a decision that He has made and that He is cluing us in on by guiding our circumstance and working with our desires as well as the advice and input from the people around us.
In a calling, I expect that not only will a person feel that a choice is correct, but this will be confirmed by their gifts, by their friends and mentors, and by the situations around them moving them in the right direction. I believe that some people are called to do things that don't necessarily "feel" is perfect or is their "first choice" but I also believe that God will work with them through subtle and not so subtle ways of moving them in the right direction.
I want to make clear that there have only been a few times in my life that I have felt "Called" to do anything. I was called to be in full time ministry, I was also called to marry Kim. I truly believe that there were forces stronger than me that were at work in both of those situations that made those things happen. They weren't the easiest circumstances and neither were the most obvious choices, but they were more than coincidence, and all I can believe is that there was something supernatural happening there.
All of that being said...
Our call to church planting started with seeds that were planted when I was a teenager. I grew in faith and knowledge of Christ in a church plant. In this place, I became very used to the feel and ethos of a church that lived and existed for the purpose of people. Loving them. Bringing them in. Sending them out to change the community around them.
I truly have only experienced this feeling in a few places and with a few people. When I am around this feeling, I truly come alive and understand another dimension to faith and life.
The more recent seeds were planted in conversation between Kim and I and friends. These were conversations where we talked about new ways to be involved in a Christian community where people would experience the Passion, Purpose, Meaning and Mission that Christ talked about in the Sermon on the Mount. These conversations started as dreams and ideals, but without knowing when or why, these conversations became not just fun diversions, but very necessary fuel. I started needing these conversations. I started needing to talk about what was really important. These conversations have been going on for more than 5 years. Some of these conversations were with friends around a glass of wine, some were had in my office (sans wine) in Port Orchard. Some were in my kitchen in Phoenix. There was no indication that I or any of you who were involved in these conversations knew that it would lead to a new church one day.
Of course, it wasn't just the pioneering conversations, it was also the people. Maybe it is my own density, but it has taken a long time to realize that the people that I have shared the most kinship with in ministry are the ones who have grand visions for changing the community around us, and the ones who are discontented with how things are today. It has been the people who do far more than talk, but back it up with an honest walk that have changed the way that I see the world around me and my call in it.
It took me months to decipher the feelings, but being at the Church Planting Conference in '08 (I was there not because I thought I could or would necessarily plant a church) sparked this true feeling of friendship and comfort around a bunch of other people who were called to plant churches. These were the pioneers and adventurers of faith, and it became clear that I actually felt the most at home around these kinds of people.
It wasn't for a few months after that conference, but I remember being asked: "are you ready to to this?" and asking Kim the questions: "are we ready to do this?" within the same day. It started to become clear, that though no one is "ready" we were being called.
We went to talk with friends and mentors in ministry. Everyone of them confirmed that they felt that this was the adventure that we were supposed to be on. In fact, adventure is a pretty perfect word. It became very clear around February of this year that we were being called to make a monumental decision in our lives. Should we stay with the "safe thing" and continue to do ministry the way that we were, continuing with a good salary and a steady job; or should we start to risk it all and go for the adventure.
If I listed the number of crazy things that came together that caused us to decide that this was the right direction, it would probably be more details than you are prepared to read in one post. But we had to decide if we were called to Arizona or Washington, and when put to the test, there is no doubt that we wanted to be here in Washington.
In fact, we were ready to move up here to be bi-vocational church planters on our own with no financial support before we got the call from the PNA that let us know that they wanted to help us with funding. It was waaaay more difficult and waaaaay more risky, but we pursued the situation with the PNA. In fact, we were asked to attend a Church Planters assessment in Baltimore Md, two weeks before we were scheduled to move. If we passed the assessment, we would have a salary and some funds to help us move up. If not, we would have to search for jobs and move ourselves up.
All of these circumstances were prayed over by our friends and family as well as by our desperate pleas to ask God to direct us. In fact, I don't know if my prayers have ever been so urgent and honest as they have been over the last few months.
All of this has come together to have us know beyond any doubt that not only are we called to do this, but we have been supported by God through friends, new friends, family and even strangers. More than any other time in my life, I have seen not only God's movement, but God's prolonged provision of this direction. He shaped it, there is no question. And we couldn't be happier, more excited and more ready to jump into adventure than we are right now.