The Bridge

Yesterday we started our Elements series. We were totally pumped during our prayer time and felt like the Lord was really going to use the morning to bless people. We had a mailing go out earlier in the week and we had quite a few first time visitors.

Our staging team is rocking. Below you can see one of the signs that was made out of metal (I think people call these gobo’s but Grant who was the one who made them said he’s never heard of that).

The Elements for our series are Sand, Fire, Wind, Snow, & Rain. We had a sandbox on stage along with five giant cubes with the logo’s on them. Pictures of the tetris like cubes coming next week.

The message went really well. When it was all over I wanted to get back up there and give it again because I was even more excited about it. That seems to happen a lot. The overall concept was we all have something buried in the sand - taken from Exodus 2:12 and Jesus wants to set us free. Other key scriptures were Genesis 3, Joshua 6 & 7, John 8, and John 13. We rarely do a response time but this week we gave people the option of being prayed for, having their feet washed, or writing their sins in the sand.

The worship team really kicked it. They blended some songs together in a unique way. Some of the songs were “Grace will be my song” “Holy is the Lord” and “It is You”

After the service we had our first Bridge info meeting. We had over 50 people show up. I went through our brief history of how we started and where we feel led to go. Then I said, “anyone have any questions?” After a short pause I got peppered for a half hour on everything from Baptism and speaking in tongues to specific needs and opportunities.

Then a group of people got together and went sledding.

What a morning!

My brother-in-law had a work trip to Chicago and wanted to know if I wanted to tag along and work from the windy city this week. Jenny was all for it as long as I went to IKEA and a few other stores. So here I am in Chicago staying at a sweet hotel.

After my free breakfast I worked in the atrium of the hotel. I guess my two hours on their wireless concerned them because a manager approached me and asked if I was a guest with them. “yes” I replied. Which room he wanted to know. I said, “307.” To which he walked back. Then returned again and wanted to know my name.

Had lunch at Portillo’s which was fine and tasty. Got myself some Dunkin Donuts Coffee and then stumbled upon a Barne’s & Noble.

Back home the closest Starbucks is a 90 minute drive. My total walk to Barnes & Noble was about 10 minutes. On that walk I passed 7 Starbucks. I can tell this is going to be a great week but wow EXPENSIVE!

Why did we have both a Core Team and a Launch Team?

One of the many things that jumped out at me in all my reading and studying about church planting was the stat that 80% of your launch team would not be with you after the first year. I wish I could remember where I read that but that doesn’t matter. This fact/stat/whatever you want to call it haunted me. I had all sorts of questions and the more planters I talked to the more this stat was confirmed. I immediatly set out to come up with a plan that had this high turn over built in. Because our model was going to be what some refer to as a “parachute” (show up on site with a church) model I decided to invite as many people as possible into the launch team for a short season. This protected both me and them from any hurt when the time came for us to part ways. The launch team would be able to bless us with many more hands to serve and a lot more butts in the seats.

Distance from our mother church also played into the launch team. Being 45 minutes or more from most of those who would be on the launch team we decided to put those who signed up on a rotation of once a month for six months. There were many advantages to this. We knew who to expect on certain weeks and could plug them into different areas to serve. We could dictate when people came protecting us from having 80% on one Sunday and 20% the following Sunday.

A launch team set up like this also presented challenges. We needed a group of people who wanted in at a higher level. A group who not only encouraged us in our mission and vision but also wanted to live it out with us. We decided to implement a Core Team that would consist of those who would be willing to commit to The Bridge on an almost every week basis for one year or more. Very quickly this group grew from 3 to 12 to 26 to 35 in the months of July and August.

The Core Team inherited large responsibilities for our Sunday gatherings. Giftings, passions, and willingness to serve where needed led to Core Team groups. Our groups were children & nursery, greeting, hospitality, set up, tear down, worship & tech, ushering, and prayer. This set us up very well.

Our Core Team groups grabbed a hold of their areas. This couldn’t have gone better. I felt like I was able to wind them up and let them go. I cast vission and they put it into action. The Core Team continued to grow in our first month of meeting as some from our Launch Team desired to be a part of things in a greater capacity. Staging soon was added as another team.

I can’t imagine starting a church without a dedicated Core Team. They have been a source of joy and enouragment to me week in and week out.

In my next post I’ll share about some of the challenges we encountered.

A little over a week ago we killed the Core Team at the Bridge. This Sunday will be our last Sunday with our Launch Team. Over the next few days I will unpack the events as to what led to this, the positives, the setbacks, and what our plans are in moving forward without them.