MISSION POSSIBLE: "Changing the Way People think about Church" 2009 Barna stats on church & culture

The following is a link to Barna's year end review on the church http://tiny.cc/lcfQC

If this is not overwelming proof that “We need to Change the way People think about Church by actually being the Church” I don’t know what is.

I Timothy 2:1-2 calls us to intercessory prayer for all nations, for all authority, for everyone. If there were ever a time to answer this call it is now! I Timothy 2:1-2 - 1I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

Be the Church!

Pastor Christian

"Changing the Way People Think about Church" Thought for the day by Charles Talbert of IVP

God's plan is for churches to grow. The challenge for us is, "Will we meet the Scriptural conditions for growth as seen in Acts 2: a dedication to be a learning, caring, fellowshipping, worshipping church?" Will we meet the one essential condition? "As empowering follows petition, so evangelism and Christian unity or community follow Pentecost. The empowering, moreover, is repeatable. So pray!

MISSION POSSIBLE - Changing the Way People think about Church!

The last 6 months have literally flown by! The reality is that it was not even 6 months ago that a decision was made to launch Living Bridge Church! However, we are now entering our 16th week and what once was the impossible dream of a few has become the reality of a church home for many. It has been incredible to see God work in building His church! And there is no doubt, this has truly been a God thing!
In starting a church with no real mother church we had a lot of work to do, and a lot of questions to answer. What was our mission? Who were our core leadership team? What about Bylaws, Elder Leadership, women's roles in ministry? What about kids ministry, youth ministry, seniors ministry, a ministry to cats and dogs? Where's the sign ups for church softball? Are we having Sunday school? And for Pete's sake, when are we going to sing a hymn or two!
It was to say the least overwhelming. It got to the point where if someone was willing to do something like the writing the Bylaws I simply said "OK, go for it!" And only 2 weeks later, my 9 year old son had them finished! (Just Kidding) Seriously though, over these past few months we have come to the realization that starting a church, especially starting one in world record time (post-book of Acts) was a process, and some of the things we saw as absolutely vital have proven to be less vital than we had first thought.
With only about a month left before our launch, and with much blood, sweat, and tears (the blood was from the women scratching one another and the tears were from the male leadership) we came up with our mission statement:

"Connecting People to the Truth that is Christ so that they Might Gain the Hope of all Eternity"

We cried, we laughed, we ate fried chicken and drank sweet tea and we were not even in the south! It was beautiful! The Great Commission revised! It was theologically deep, yet short and catchy! It was a masterpiece! It might even become a 6Th purpose! So we thought...

Back to the now... Over the next several weeks I will be sharing with our church our mission and the 5 priorities we hold as essential to our church. As I began to prepare to share what might be the most important series in the life of our church, God began to speak to me as I prayed and mediated on His word (particularly Acts 2). At the same time I was listening to Andy Stanley's leadership podcast, reading Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels, and thinking about the people in our community. I began to look at vision statements from some of the most successful people and churches I could think of. I began to think about what we hoped to see God do through LB in our community. I mean, we had a mission statement but now we needed a vision statement, maybe even a purpose statement?? Then it happened as it always does. God revealed His mission, His vision for our church to me in a supernatural way and in a supernatural place! I will never forget it as I was in one of the most incredible environments one could imagine... the guest shower at my parents home in Tennessee. None the less, WA LA!
"Changing the Way People think about Church"! That was it! I immediately went to google and searched the phrase... It was not all that common. I found a couple of similar things... However, what I knew at that moment was that this was it! This was the mission God was calling us to at Living Bridge!
Over the past week I have spent a majority of my time spinning, retooling, and thinking through the mission. Was it transferable? Was it too broad? What does it say to the Christian? What does it say to the non-Christian? Spin, spin, spin!
Last night at 11:00 I finally removed my hands from it, and am now ready to share it with our church. I am excited about it and I truly believe our people will be too! I realize this blog has been incredibly long and by now only my cat has read through it thus far. However if you want a sneak peak at our mission and what Living Bridge Church is all about go to http://www.livingbridgepittsburgh.org/ and click on our mission & beliefs link at the top of the page.

Thanks for reading! Until next time...
PCW