Answers to Questions

November 7, 2007

Sheena Asks:

1. Will you start listening to Travis singing ‘Why does it always rain on me?’

No.  I don’t know if I’ve ever listened to Travis.  I know they were cool for a couple of minutes…but I think I was sleeping.  I will, however, listen to PIL’s “Seattle” - which rocks.

I will also, of course, be listening to Sir Mix-a-Lot’s classic “Swass” album which features the awesomeness that is “Posse on Broadway”

Posse Up!

2. Why Seattle? (as opposed to the rest of your vast nation)

On one hand, that’s a difficult question to answer - because there is an element of it that I don’t necessarily understand.  However, as we were attempting to discern God’s call we people kept asking us “what do you want to do?” - asking us to dream…how do we want to serve God.  For both of us, both the “what” and “where” began to line up on Seattle.

Here’s a bit from what I wrote to Crosspoint about my call:

My family thrives in an urban setting, and we believe that God is calling us to minister primarily in major cities of the West. Although the calling is to the West, we believe that it is specifically to serve God in the Seattle area. This is where I grew up, where my wife’s family is from, and where we believe that God is calling us to work.

I desire to be in the Pacific Northwest because I believe that the most effective way to change a culture for Christ is to have members and ministers who are deeply rooted in that place. Although there are Pentecost moments even today in the most unexpected places, and missionaries who are called to go into foreign lands (be it Seattle or Singapore), the regular work of the church is a continuous march calling people to know Jesus and be known by Him. This requires a fluency in not only the language of a place, but in understanding what it values (be it the arts, sports or commerce). An indigenous church in the Pacific Northwest must rely not on a “professionalized” ministry but instead rely on greater lay leadership, creative funding and training of Pastors and other church workers, and facilitate structures that encourage continual re-assessment and a willingness to try even the craziest ideas if we thing God is in it.

I desire to serve in a place and church that would utilize my cultural fluency in the place I was raised and allow me to facilitate and encourage a second-generation indigenized church.

Salt Lake City and New Song was an ideal place for me to train and prepare for future ministry, but as I began to discern my personal call it became clear that God was calling us to Seattle (more in #4).

3. how did you discern that it was time to leave rather than stay in Utah? (maybe that’s too personal for a blog post)
4. This is pretty much like the last question, but I am intruiged by your being ‘called away’ when that call is not, in the first instance, initiated by another church. And to follow on from that, knowing that we are in a system where you basically have to wait for someone to come knocking on your door, how do ministers in your system look for a call elsewhere without feeling like they are ‘cheating’ on their current congregation?

In short, I was at a position where my “apprenticeship” phase was ending at New Song.  I was charged to dream about my future ministry and look into options such as Church Planting and RUF.  Through months of prayer and counsel from friends and peers we started to look at churches outside of Utah.  That process enabled us to see that we were specifically being called to work in Seattle.

I don’t know how you do it without feeling like you are “cheating” when you aren’t in the kind of position I was in (e.g. although I was being charged to look at my ministry in Utah, it was still a time of “change”).  I experienced a lot of guilt in looking, but I think that is the bad effects of the Free Church College. ;)  My Senior Pastor and Elders were involved in the whole process and it wasn’t “sprung” on them.

I don’t know if I can answer that any better without writing a book.

Tammy Asks: 

 1. I didn’t get to ask you how your job interview went. Did you get the job, or are you still looking?

I got a rejection today.  (For those not in the know, this was for a second part-time job in Seattle other than the church).  I am still looking.  Starbucks here I come!

2. I guess I’m not exactly clear on what specifically you will be doing up there for the church you are going to work for.

The Job Description in Brief (I’m a SL - Site Leader):

o Focusing Vision: SLs serve our mission by leading their congregation towards the realization of CrossPoint’s vision.
o Connecting to the whole: SLs act as liaisons between the site and the Pastors, Session, Deacons and work with CP staff in coordinating site ministries with global CP ministry needs.
o Giving Care: SLs help identify congregational care needs and providing shepherding care or referring to others as appropriate.
o Fostering Involvement: SLs connect people to people and people to ministry at the one-to-one, ministry team and Parish Group levels, as well as encourage participation in outreach or other ministry events.
o Facilitating Ministry: SLs work with lay-leaders to identify and solve problems as well as include the congregation in the process.
o Supporting Logistics: SLs act as “go-to leaders” for the House Manager and Set-Up Leader.

3. You’re going to have 2 part time jobs, one being the church job. Church jobs never ever seem to stay in their time allotment. How will you ensure you have enough time for your family? I’m sure you can do it, but I think you’ll have to be intentional about it, even more than if you were full time church staff.

That’s a tough question, and I’m not sure I have an answer.  I believe the Elders and Pastor will keep me accountable to being a good father and husband and giving my family enough time.  We’ll have to see what kind of job God provides and how the time commitments work with that.

4. We’ll miss you!

I’ll miss you guys more.  If we weren’t sure that this is what God was calling us to do, I don’t know how we could bear leaving our New Song family.  I can’t tell you how much we love you all.  I cried more and harder on Sunday then I have at any point since I hit puberty.  This tells you two things.  First, I am a heartless creep who doesn’t cry enough.  Second, I am going to miss you all.

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