Pondering

As I'm in my office pondering this next year for us as a church, several questions are flowing through my mind about the kind of church we are and we want to be--and more importantly how do we reach people? I guess you could ask it like this, "how do we create an engaging church?"

Who are the seekers and spectators that we're hoping to engage? The 1st generation of the 21st Century is far different than any before. It's a group that has made more personal lifestyle changes than any other--due almost entireley to the advances in technology. And it's a group that has options.

We're calling to a culuture that devours makeover shows and to people who know "pimp my ride" means to make their car as cool as possible. We're asking adults to give up time they could be spedning in front of their 50" plasma screens, and we're asking their kids to lay down their video games, iPods, and RAZR cell phones to connect with us.

But what do we offer? Remarkable experiences that keep up and surpass those of our culture? How do we meet the needs of people with ever-shortening attention spans and ever-increasing expectations? How do we do all that and still keep our ministry focus and avoid feeding a "church mall" mindset?

Just some things I'm pondering as I seek God's wisdom to take us where He wants us to boldly go in 2007. I look forward to exploring these answers with you and partnering with you to lead people into a growing, handholding relationship.

In His Grip,

Brett