The Adventure Continues…
. I’m sitting in a La Quinta Inn in Missoula, Montana heading to Seattle. All around us are people on vacation, but not us. We are moving. I know, everyone is moving, but we really are moving.
I have been invited to launch a new church in the community of Edmonds, Washington, where we lived for ten years. We are excited to reconnect with our many good friends and develop new friendships as well. Edmonds is just north of Seattle along the Puget Sound. Ferry boats shuttle folks across to Kingston, and sea lions bark along the shore while they wait for the salmon to run.
Downtown Edmonds has quaint shops and boutiques. Jerilyn Brouseau ran a great café in town with the best pecan rolls I have ever tasted. Of course she no longer runs it since she sold her recipe to Cinnabon for a small fortune. I guess it was the best they had ever tasted too.
The next few months will be filled with evaluating and researching best options for location, building a leadership team, and developing strategy for new congregation. I taught ‘New Paradigms for Congregational Renewal’ at Fuller Seminary for about ten years, but after my experience at Colonial Church of Edina, I am starting to question whether old, hardened people in old hardened churches can experience true spiritual renewal. I guess now I am going to try “Newal”. I believe that you can plant a new congregation across the street from an old dying church and the new one will grow and bubble with life. I wish it wasn’t so, but wishing doesn’t bring the fresh winds of the Holy Spirit to the old dry church.
So here’s to Newal and all that is to come… Bye for now.
