The Path Christian Community

The Brett Favre saga and then some!

Don't know if you keep up with the latest headlines but it appears that Brett Favre is currently on an airplane headed back to his home in Mississippi.  This could signal that a trade has been completed and he is going home to pack for training camp in Tampa Bay.  I have never been a Brett Favre or Green Bay Packers fan, but I can't help but keep up with this saga.  In the midst of bizarre rumors and canceled press conference is the one thing that can't be hidden. Brett Favre is not going to be a Green Bay Packer or Minnesota Viking in 2008. 

And if you are fan looking for updated information about major market athletes and their retirement status...stay tuned rumor has it that my 7 year old daughter is going to retire from the Y league summer baseball program after her last game on August 16th.  Will she return?  So far she has not hinted at a possible return but major polls predict she is about 99.9% sure she is going to stay retired.  More news to follow.

I have spent quite a bit of time lately meeting with people from The Path and challenging them to a higher level of involvement/leadership. What may not seem like a risky move sure did have me on the edge. I have been overwhelmed at the response of the people. So far...not one "NO".

If I think back to my first involvement with a church it came from being asked. Carrie and I were attending a church (church A) in our hometown of Richmond Indiana. We were not 100% supportive of their beliefs and methods of ministry yet were not ready to jump ship. We knew a couple who were ministering at another church about 20 miles away (church B). Our solution was to drive to the next town early in the morning and attend church (Church B) there and immediately drive back to attend church (Church A). So by 11:30 each Sunday we had attended 2 different church services in 2 different cities. Now here comes the ask. My friend from church B asks me to consider joining the team of youth volunteers on SUnday night. Now only a month ago were not attending church anywhere and now we attended 2 different churches in the morning and came back to volunteer at church B in the evening. Here's my point. Had my friend at church B not asked me to get involved I would probably not be in ministry and at place to challenge others to a higher level of involvement/leadership. It all starts with "the ask". Thanks for asking me Ryan!

Congrats Susan

Next Sunday we will be baptizing Susan Dillard at Chris and Carrie Neumann's home.  They have graciously opened up their home and hot tub to The Path Christian Community.  Susan has been attending The Path Christian Community for a few months now.  She really got connected with us during our No Perfect People Allowed LifeGroup.  Interesting enough of all the people I surveyed about our move to the theater in Rosemount, Susan was the only one who told me she would not be making the move with us.  The very next week I spoke about the vision/direction of this new church and that night she declared that she changed her mind and would make the move.  The next week she opened her home as a host to the group and shared her desire to be baptized.  How exciting! 

Website Modifications

We just did another update to our website.  With the move to Rosemount Theater we felt compelled to modify our site to resemble the look and feel of our new environment.    You can check it out www.thepathcc.com.  Some other changes were needed as well as you will see.  Nlightgraphics has done another amazing job with our site.  We receive numerous compliments about our site.  So if you need some web work completed I would highly recommend Ruben at nlightgraphics.  Our home page animation is not quite finished yet, but everything else is.  We do need a new song that plays when the site is opened.  Any recommendations?

Busy week with the kids

This is Brayden.  Bradyen plays shortstop/2nd base for his 3rd grade team the Rahn Rockies.  They just finished up the regular season this past week with a perfect 14-0 season.  Dating back to last year they have won 32 consecutive games without a loss.  This is a good group of kids to work with.  This will be the last season these kids will be playing together as many of them will move to traveling baseball instead of in house leagues.

This is Samantha.  Monday was her 7th birthday.  She is our little beauty queen.  She chose to have a bowling party with her friends.  Her favorite birthday present she said was, "everything".  She also started her 6-7 year old coaches pitch baseball that I coach.  She is so fun to coach.  I love watching her play with her pink glove and pink shoestrings in her cleats.

 

What's #4?

I was reading Outreach Magazine this morning and there was an interesting topic about the "dechurched". "Dechurched" people are those who used to regularly attend church but have since dropped out completely.  Reports say that 70% will leave the church between the ages of 18-22.  But the good news is that they are ready to return.  Thom and Sam  Rainer say "Surprisingly, this group of young adults who dropped out a few years earlier is one of the most receptive to reclamation by the church."  In the article they share 4 ways to reclaim these young adults.

1. It's a family affair.
       Invitation/encouragement from friends and family account for 60% of the motivation to return to church.   

2. Context is crucial.
        These young adults are returning to churches that demonstrate they care about them and their preferences.  They are not returning to the church of yesterday but are returning to the churches that recognize the social nature and context of their generation. 

3. Prayer is foundational.
        "In our study, we encountered reclaiming churches that have focused prayer times for God's Spirit to work in the lives of dechurched young adults who are bing invited to return to church. The power of prayer is evident  in many of these churches."

4. They forgot to include #4.  They said they were going to give us four ways but only gave three.  Maybe this is intentional.   

So you tell me what's #4?

NEW LOCATION / NEW TIME

For weeks we have been looking a new location for The Path Christian Community to meet.  We are excited to announce Rosemount Theater will be our new location starting Sunday June 22nd!  Our service time will change from 10:30 am to 10:00 am.  Pass the word as we try to make sure everyone knows about our new location/time.

Meeting in a theater offers numerous advantages for us.

1. Movie Theaters can be less threatening.  They also can offer a more appealing venue. Everyone knows where the theater is, while some schools are tucked back into neighborhoods and hard to find.

2. Onsite Storage will be available.  We can keep all of our equipment on site which will speed up the set-up/tear-down process for us.  I will not miss loading the truck at 7 a.m. when it is -40 degrees! No tears here!
3. Comfy seats.  If the messages don't put you to sleep the comfy chairs just might.  Great seating that does not have to be moved or reconfigured weekly. WOW and time saving!
4. Closer proximity for Children's programming.  In the school we had to take a hike to another zip code... not really...but it was far.  Now Children's programming will be right across the hallway.
5. Tables and chairs are already set-up for having a cup of coffee.  Nice size lobby where all of our display can be clearly seen when you enter.
6. Higher quality sound, after all these theaters are built for sound
7. Cheaper Rent...Oh Yeah!
8. Moving to a new location allows more leaders to emerge and step-up.  We need you.  Anytime you make a change, creativity ignites.  We are looking for additional leaders to come on board. This is going to be an exciting change that will bring even more momentum to The Path Christian Community.

We will miss Butch, Rolph, and Greg.  These three guys are the custodians from Blackhawk Middle School.  All three of them attend church somewhere else and every third week they leave their church home to supervise the school for us and clean up afterward.  These guys have been easy to work with and we will miss them.

Also Dana Brodt from ISD 196 has been fabulous and patient with us as starting a new church or business can be challenging.  She came to the school at least 6 times prior to the first Sunday so that we could do measurements, check sound or lighting or just dream.  We are grateful for the school systems around us.  We know they are tops in the area academically, but they are also very easy to work with. Thanks

We're Giving It All Away

This past Sunday we announced our "we're giving it all away" plan.  It's not that complicated really.  We are just giving it all away.  Yesterday our message challenged the myth that when it comes to our money God wants something from us.  Since we talked about money we want to put our treasure where our heart is.  So on June 15th we are giving away 100% of our offering.  We even challenged those who were skeptical of this to withhold their giving for the next 2 weeks and then give it all on the 15th of June- then see if we still give it all away...we will!  No matter the size of the offering we are giving it all away.  Our offerings have been as low as $240 a week and as much as $4200.  No matter how big or little we are sending 100% of it to Response Church in downtown Indianapolis.  The lead planter is Jake Nelson and this is what he has to say about this new church,

Our vision for the church from the beginning has been "Act On Reality".

It is the very nature of why we named our church Response Church….reality is there is a God who is seeking out His creation. We then have a choice to make. Do we "respond" to being chosen by God and seek His will in our life, or do we respond with apathy…ignoring the fact that we are chosen by God.

So we "respond" to God with worship, community, and the sharing of the gospel through service.

We have no tangible handouts, cards, literature, signs or marketing.

We have built the church purely by Gods direction in our relationships. Our only buzz is word of mouth.

 One particular direction that "Act On Reality" has played out is in our love for those individuals who have been overlooked for various reasons by the church. In other words, they have reached out, and due to certain character traits, have been pushed aside for not being the "average target demographic" of the church. We live in an area that is so diverse culturally, spiritually, economically and racially.

Which means our target demographic is….well everyone. This creates a beautiful mix of people, what others might call chaos…but a beautiful chaos at that.

Congratulations Jake for establishing a vision that connects disconnected people to God and congratulations to the givers at The  Path Christian Community for putting your treasure where your heart is.

My Son

This is my son Brayden after completing his basketball season this year.  One of the pleasures of life is being able to coach Brayden's team sports.  I have been coaching him since he was four and next week he celebrates his 10th birthday.  He has always been a good athlete and teammate.  This year his baseball team is the team to beat. Dating back to last season they have won 24 consecutive games without a loss.  I am amazed at how many people are on the sidelines cheering against them.  This past week they had 3 close games that could have went either way, but his team pulled it out.  At last nights game Brayden hit his first homerun of the season.  Rather they win or lose I will always be thankful for the time I get to spend with my son.  His goal is to play in the NBA (and still live at home with mom and dad).  There may be hope for paying off my student loans yet.  Love you Brayden!

We're Giving It All Away

This Sunday we are sharing the "we're giving it all away" plan.  We are excited about our plan and can't wait to share it with you.  I will give you a hint or two.  It is has something to do with money and helping people who are disconnected from God.  Hm......I wonder what it could be?