This is a question that I get often. And it’s fair, considering my plan was to come to Columbus for a year, and see what happens. Now, of course for me, this isn’t quite as laissez faire as it sounds. It can’t be, since I’m a recovering control freak. So it’s more like, come to Columbus and then pray about what God wants me to do next. I’ve learned the hard way not to try to make these decisions on my own. But I’ve also learned this year, that things take longer than you want them to sometimes. And that, frustratingly, sometimes all you can do is w-a-i-t for the right thing to be made clear.

And, at this point, I think it has been . . .

It’s with a mixture of sadness and excitement that I tell you that I’m planning to stay in Columbus for the time being. This may not be a surprise to some of you, and somehow it’s not really a surprise to me either. These haven’t been the easiest eight months of my life, but when they are good … As you can imagine, my Columbus friends are thrilled, and my Springfield friends and family are not so much thrilled.

At Continuum, we’ve been talking about the three phases of our church growth, that we can see so far. Phase one is Survival, with the goal being to grow our community. Did you know that fully 50% of church plants fold in the first year? We are so grateful that God has sustained us through this! The second phase is Success, where the goal is to get people involved. As we begin to move into this phase, we will develop our small groups, our kids ministries, our strategic community projects, and our structure to allow for more growth! The third phase is Significance, where our goal will be to get people influencing. Our big dream for Continuum Church is to have a ministry that connects other churches to needs in our community. There’s a lot of opportunity in the city, and a lot of capacity in the suburban churches, and we believe that God is calling us to help bridge that separation. We’re believing God for a church with the resources (people, finances, relationships, and facilities) to bring God’s people together with those who desperately need to hear the Good News of the Kingdom’s coming to Earth. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to lead that charge. Adam has offered me a key spot in bringing that dream to reality, and right now I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.

Of course, the decision to stay doesn’t come in a neat little package. There are still a lot of things up in the air. I’ll let you know as they get cleared up. The main things are that the family I live with has told me that they’re in no rush to move me out. And my job at Curves is secure. And prior experience shows that God will provide everything when I need it, and probably not a minute before!

Continuum Church is celebrating our First Birthday this weekend! And we have quite a bit of celebration planned. Our biggest outreach yet will be on Saturday, and we’ll have a special service on Sunday. One of our members will be receiving her ministerial credentials from our District Secretary Jim Palmer. We’ll take communion, which continues to be a significantly meaningful and moving experience for our community. And we’re taking a special offering with the goal of raising $1,000 to plant a church overseas through one of our Assemblies of God partner churches in Arkansas. After the service, we’ll be having a special birthday lunch together at the home of one of our members. That’s also something we’ve never done before, and everyone is looking forward to having some time for fun … and food!

As I mentioned this Saturday, October 4, we will take part in ServeFest Columbus. Churches all over the city are taking this opportunity to do good work in their neighborhoods. We will once again be working in the Weinland Park neighborhood, near our theater building. For the last several months, I’ve been attending the Weinland Park Neighborhood Association meetings and have started to build relationships there. Through referrals from the neighborhood president, we will be serving several elderly and disabled members of the community. We’ll be doing light construction and repair projects, tending to overgrown yards, and winterizing homes. As I’ve met personally with these neighbors over the last few weeks, I continue to be overwhelmed by their situations and their gratitude for the kindness of strangers. But I hope we won’t be strangers for long. As you think of us this week, please pray for our projects: safety, quality work, and the foundation of new friendships. We have five (soon to be six) houses and close to 25 church members signed up so far!

It’s time for some campaignin’!

Normally I don’t post a lot of personal stuff on this blog, although I’m considering changing that, but this little gem absolutely needs to be viewed by everyone I know. No matter if or how you plan to vote in November.

Enjoy!