The Scruffy Update - Feb. 2010

The Scruffy Update - Feb 2010

I. The Present
II. Disciples
III. Kid Mania
IV. Boys & Girls
V. The Roof
VI. Team Players
VII. The Future

I. The Present
Wow, there’s a lot going on and tons of reasons to be excited about what God is doing at Urban.  In recent months we’ve seen an explosion of visitors to the church.  Every week we see new faces.  One of the things I hear often from these new folks is that they really appreciate the down-to-Earth thing happening at Urban.  For the past several months and continuing, I have focused a great deal of attention on discussing legalism and it’s negative effects on the Christian church.  In the discussion we’ve begun to uncover what I think is a clearer vision of what it means to live a holy life.  Holiness of course comes not from our own works, but through the mercy of God Himself.  As we’ve begun to unfold these ideas, we’ve started to discover a very down-to-Earth way to live for Christ, which empowers us to live the kind of life God wants us live, but not because we follow man-made rules to get there.  Many people have related to me as of late that they very much resonate with this ongoing discussion.  It’s not anything new though.  All we’re doing is having the same kind of discussion Jesus had with “the establishment” of His day.  In the end, we just want to live for God and love Him & His kids the best we can.  Too many things just get in the way of that.  If you want to weigh in on the dialogue, read the article on my blog entitled “Legalism Kills”.

Another thing that I’m really excited about are all the new people stepping up to the plate in positions of leadership at the church.  One of the knocks on almost every small church is that they are cult-like because so very few people do all the work.  We’ll that’s definitely not the case at Urban.  Over the past month, we’ve added a half dozen new leadership positions and have been able to recruit some high quality leaders who are passionate about seeing Urban continue to be a viable and life changing community.  And community is what it’s all about.  I continue to be amazed as I watch relationships form and community deepen.  As this happens, I believe we’ll become that much more effective at bringing hope to our broader community which is perhaps the most important thing we do at Urban.  In truth, I could care less about building “a church”.  I hope and pray that God builds a deepening and growing community of people of faith that really impact their world...not just huddle on Sundays to talk about it.

II. Disciples
What is a disciple?  Simple: A disciple is a follower and a student.  Of who?  Jesus.  Recently, we’ve figured out that small groups are probably not the best route to spiritual growth for the people who come to our church.  So we’ve made a pretty significant shift in strategy.  For nearly 14 years, we have worked hard to develop group life at Urban with pretty marginal results in both spiritual growth and a deepening sense of community.  As we prayed about this and took a look at what was and is working, we realized that what really energizes people to know Jesus more and to love His kids are what we call ARK projects.  Pastor Steve DeGraeve, our spiritual formation director, started doing projects that focused on Acts of Random Kindness in the past year and the results have been nothing short of amazing.  Not only have these projects energized Urban’s people, but they have had a significant impact on our community in ways groups never have.  An example of a really cool ARK project was the Broken Campaign aimed at helping a family stay in their home which was in danger of foreclosure.  Without retelling the whole story, the project (a bowlathon) was a huge success and enabled us to help pay a mortgage current and help the family get back in the black.   We’ve done a bunch of other cool projects too like giving away free ice cream, a carwash to help a family get into their home, and several others.  In short, we believe we need to ramp up our efforts in this area because ARK projects really do seem to be producing serious spiritual growth in people.  The double-benefit is that we get to be used by God to bring hope and renewed optimism to our surrounding communities.  How cool is that?  But what about groups?  We’ll still have men’s, women’s, and newcomer groups, but we think the need for weekly small groups needs to be re-evaluated.  If you have attended groups and loved them, please don’t be discouraged or disappointed.  We promise that we will provide many opportunities for you to connect with the community of Urban.  And we believe these opportunities will be even more fulfilling and enjoyable for you to participate in.  And as always, we are praying for God’s direction with all this and my door is always open if you would like to share your thoughts.  Short story, thanks to ARK, we’re seeing all new levels of passion for the Gospel...and to quote Martha Stewart, “that’s a good thing”. 

III. Kid Mania
A few months ago Pastor Tom Frontera came and pitched an idea to add a Wednesday night Children’s Service.  At first, I was cautious because I wasn’t sure we’d have the help to pull it off, but thanks to “Joker” a.k.a. Kevin Bruinsma, Pastor Tom has been able to get the Wednesday Kid Focus nights off to a great start.  At first, these will be held monthly, but we believe we’ll be able to start offering them weekly very soon.  Pastor Tom believes with all his heart that Wednesday nights are going to “take off” and we believe that right along with him.  I am so thankful to have a Kid’s Pastor who truly loves bringing the Gospel to children.  His enthusiasm is infectious.  In addition to Wednesdays, Pastor Tom has implemented Shop Days aimed at helping kids memorize the Bible and invite visitors.  So far, the kids just love it.  My own kids are always asking me to quiz them to make sure they remember the Bible verses and they’re always asking me if they can bring friends to church.  I love seeing children energized about the Bible and bringing other kids to church.  Many children grow up resenting having to go to church and find it boring.  But thanks to Pastor Tom and his awesome staff of dedicated volunteers, kids who attend Kid Focus find it anything but boring.  They usually don’t want to go home!  If you get a chance, be sure to grab a copy of the Kid Focus Newsletter at the Information Table at church to find out all that’s going on in Kid Focus including some upcoming events your kids won’t want to miss.

IV. Boys & Girls
I eluded in section II to men’s and women’s ministries.  In 2009/10 we’ve taken a renewed interest in developing ministries specifically geared towards men and women.  So we implemented monthly gatherings for both.  The Men’s Group meets on the first Saturday of the month and the Women’s Group meets on the first Monday night of the month.  These monthly gatherings are a combination of Bible Study and fun.  And hopefully this year both groups will be participating in ARK projects.  These ministries are a great way for men and women to connect with other guys and gals at the church.  These groups are partly designed to foster a greater sense of community among those who attend the church by helping them form relationships and grow in Christ together.  So if you’re a guy and can make some free time on the first Saturday of the month at 10am, or a lady and can get a sitter or leave the kids home with Dad, come on out on the 1st Monday at 7pm.  Both of these groups meet at the church and usually include some food! 

V. The Roof
Yeah, I hear ya… you’re sick of hearing about the church’s finances.  ME TOO!  If you’ve been attending Urban for the past few months, you’ve often heard reminders that we have bills due and a rent that is increasing.  But rather than talk about the obvious financial issues that every church is facing these days, I’d like to celebrate the fact that even in the economic downturn our country has faced, we’ve managed, thanks to your faithfulness, to continue to stay afloat and keep The Roof over our heads.  The lights are still on and there’s still water to flush!  LOL  We still need things to improve so that we can continue to move forward in some areas, but thanks to your faithfulness, Urban is making it.  That’s a reason to celebrate.  Let’s continue to remain faithful, believing that God will use Urban to do even greater things in the future. 

VI. Team Players
In section I, I briefly mentioned the addition of many new leaders at Urban.  I’d like to highlight a few of them.  If you’re a new leader and aren’t mentioned in this article, don’t be offended...I’ll be talking about you soon.  But being limited on space, I’d like to highlight two people.  Chadd Horanburg started coming to Urban in the last year.  He has a background in information technology.  He offered to help us revamp our website.  I was excited about the proposition because our web presence had been pretty static for quite some time and I envisioned a more interactive online community.  What I love about Chadd is that he is a go-getter.  He took the proverbial bull by the horns and developed a mockup of a new site using some pretty cool Internet technology.  When he presented it, I fell in love with his ideas and in a matter of weeks we re-launched scruffychurch.com 2.0!  Thanks to Chadd’s efforts, we now have a great way to blog, discuss via our boards, and advertise events.  I am so thankful for people like Chadd who are willing to lead and get things done that need to get done...and in this case, a task that was long overdue. 

The second person I want to highlight is Lenka Perron.  She’s gonna kill me for this because she doesn’t want recognition.  I think that alone makes her an awesome leader.  She’s not in it to be recognized.  She’s in it to serve God and make a real difference in the Urban Community.  In a conversation with someone today, I described Lenka as a “Superstar Player” and someone I can definitely see as a top-tier leader at Urban.  Lenka loves to serve.  Her humility and passion for whatever she does is absolutely inspiring.  We needed a singer in the worship team...she volunteered.  WOW, I was and continue to be in awe of her talent.  She’s the vocalist we have been needing for so long.  She adds a dimension to our worship that inspires people to a deeper worship experience.  We needed a fund raising coordinator...she volunteered.  And she’s great at it.  She’s constantly thinking of new ways to raise funds and is assembling a team, showing some real leadership.  I don’t say this often...and I don’t say this lightly.  Lenka is not only one of the finest leaders I know, but is one of the finest people.  We are truly blessed to have her on the team at Urban.  What more can I say?  Lenka, you rock.  I am so thankful for you and your awesome family.  You bring something to Urban which can’t be quantified.  In sports we call them “intangibles”.  Lenka has them all.

VII. The Future
As I contemplate the future of Urban, I get re-energized.  What we’re seeing in 2010 brings amazing optimism.  So when I think about our future, I’m encouraged and excited to be a part of it.  With the changes to our discipleship strategy and the addition of a new tear of leadership, we are positioned to have an even more significant impact on our neighbors.  When I consider the future, I can’t help but be reminded of the past:  When we first started out, we were a church of 7 people that met weekly for a Bible Study.  I remember the day God inspired me to start Urban and what it felt like to meet in a basement, wondering if it would ever really happen.  Would we really ever have a significant impact on people?  Would we ever grow?  I remember asking those questions and feeling more afraid than optimistic.  Yet here we are nearly 14 years later, hearing stories of people who say that thanks to Urban, they are changed people.  Of course, we know that it’s actually thanks to GOD, but we are humbled and grateful that He would use our scruffy little church to bring hope.  So what’s in store for the future?  Only God knows.  But He has given us a small glimpse:  In the future, we plan to add additional worship services.  We plan to have more ARK projects.  We plan to see a greater enthusiasm in people to live out the 2 great commandments of Jesus...to love God and to love each other.  We plan to be completely out of debt in 2010.  We plan to see Kid Focus do even more to bring the Gospel to children...our greatest asset and the future of the church.  We plan to add even more people to our team.  And we plan to be even more amazed by a loving and great God.  As the Lead Pastor, I am humbled and honored to be a part of what God is doing in our Community of Faith and to help lead us into the future.