Wow, what a day in Pine City! This morning, 11 people were baptized at Evergreen Community Church. On a personal note, I had the unbelievably great honor of baptizing my mom as the first ever Evergreen baptism.
For those of you who may not be aware, New Hope Community Church in Cambridge helped start Evergreen which officially launched in September 2006. My family and I were commissioned from New Hope to help lead the new church; we worked with Pastor Seth Hinrichs from December 2005 through May 2007 helping prepare for launch and then working through the first school year.
For about 6 months, I got up at 5:00am, drove to Braham to pick-up drums, then to Rock Creek to pick up a trailer, then to Pine City by 6:30am to start the process of unloading and setting up for the portable church; this process was reversed in the afternoon - typically getting home by 1:30pm in the afternoon. Starting a new church is an unbelievably grueling process, requiring motivation through the potential of transformed lives. All of the time, money, energy, and sweat was made so worth it through the testimonies of those 11 lives who have been transformed in powerful ways.
I'm reminded of the "faith chapter", Hebrews 11, which talks about many of the great people of faith throughout history culminating in the beginning of Hebrews 12 which talks about these great people of faith being our "great cloud of witnesses" who are now cheering us on in what we are doing. It helps me to think of the many, many people who, in faith, started churches before us and are now cheering us on in our efforts. It's easy to forget that we are not just talking about New Hope and Evergreen. Instead, Evergreen is a 4th generation church. It started with the creating of North Isanti Baptist Church which eventually birthed First Baptist Church of Cambridge which parented New Hope Community Church and now Evergreen.
Today was a very emotional day for our immediate family and for the larger church family. The day reminded me of why we do what we do. Stay encouraged - lives are being radically impacted through what God is doing through us! Thanks for your partnership!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
3 Services
Last night (Monday, 8/20) we had a Leadership Council meeting in which we had excellent dialogue around the decision to move to 3 services this fall. The decision itself has pros and cons, but the heart of the dialogue revolved around the desire to create a culture of open & candid communication throughout the church. Overall the issue is around appropriate process for decision-making (creating ownership through process) as well as honest feedback around what people are struggling with. Much of our communication and gatherings focus on how God is moving through New Hope and centering on the great stories of transformation that we all enjoy.
God is moving and people are being transformed; however, there is a feeling among some that we don't create an environment for enough candid conversation around what things we are struggling with. For whatever reason there can be a tendency for individuals to be struggling with issues or certain decisions, but these items do not get communicated to higher levels of leadership. The crux of the issue is uncertain: is leadership unapproachable? are people afraid of not having faith for questioning decisions? There are a number of potential reasons, but as leaders we need to make sure that we are welcoming concerns and issues; it might not be enough to say we have an "open-door policy", but instead we might need to create other welcoming opportunities.
There is a lot to digest with this; but leadership is commited to having these conversations because ultimately they result in better decisions, greater ownership, and deeper trust in relationships. Romans 12:8 calls those with the gift of leadership to lead with all diligence; this means we are willing to continue improving our leadership including allowing people to hold up mirrors so we can see our blind spots.
As a staff today, we continued the conversation including all new information & perspectives we have received and the decision was made to continue pursuing three services on 9/9. In addition, the staff recognizes the need for volunteers in certain ministry areas (specifically the technical area) and will each work to provide leads for potential volunteers or alternative solutions. Finally, as a staff we will commit to pray that God will expand our tentpoles and that the lord of the harvest will bring in laborers.
Thank you to all who continue investing in New Hope. Conflict on the process is welcome as long as we stay unified in the purpose. Based on the discussion last night and those involved, I know we are all focused on the same purpose: To honor God by making passionate followers of Jesus Christ through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we must embrace conflict as long as the motivation stays on living out our purpose. I'm honored to serve along side each of you. For what it's worth, my door is always open.
God is moving and people are being transformed; however, there is a feeling among some that we don't create an environment for enough candid conversation around what things we are struggling with. For whatever reason there can be a tendency for individuals to be struggling with issues or certain decisions, but these items do not get communicated to higher levels of leadership. The crux of the issue is uncertain: is leadership unapproachable? are people afraid of not having faith for questioning decisions? There are a number of potential reasons, but as leaders we need to make sure that we are welcoming concerns and issues; it might not be enough to say we have an "open-door policy", but instead we might need to create other welcoming opportunities.
There is a lot to digest with this; but leadership is commited to having these conversations because ultimately they result in better decisions, greater ownership, and deeper trust in relationships. Romans 12:8 calls those with the gift of leadership to lead with all diligence; this means we are willing to continue improving our leadership including allowing people to hold up mirrors so we can see our blind spots.
As a staff today, we continued the conversation including all new information & perspectives we have received and the decision was made to continue pursuing three services on 9/9. In addition, the staff recognizes the need for volunteers in certain ministry areas (specifically the technical area) and will each work to provide leads for potential volunteers or alternative solutions. Finally, as a staff we will commit to pray that God will expand our tentpoles and that the lord of the harvest will bring in laborers.
Thank you to all who continue investing in New Hope. Conflict on the process is welcome as long as we stay unified in the purpose. Based on the discussion last night and those involved, I know we are all focused on the same purpose: To honor God by making passionate followers of Jesus Christ through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we must embrace conflict as long as the motivation stays on living out our purpose. I'm honored to serve along side each of you. For what it's worth, my door is always open.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Welcome
Welcome! I have been blogging my personal journey for over a month and if you are interested in that, feel free to check out stevefredlund.blogspot.com. Posts to this blog will likely be about 2 times per week to give updates and insights as the Executive Pastor of New Hope Community Church in Cambridge, MN. The more personal blog is not intended to reflect the views of NHCC, but instead share my personal journey with those interested. Thanks for taking the time to check it out... comments are always welcome; off-line comments can be directed to steve@newhopecambridge.org. Blessings...
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