Pastor's wife. Technically, this is a role I've had for many years. Somehow, it's just not the same when your husband is a Small Groups Pastor or an Associate Pastor. To think about us planting a church, and James being the lead Pastor is....well, it's CRAZY!
I'm helping lead a Bible study in Castle Rock right now where the main point is around our identity in Christ. So, I know very well - am going beyond that to even help teach it - that our identity is not found in our "roles". My identity isn't in my being James' wife, it's not in being Nathan, Ellie, and Emma's mom, it's not in being my parents' daughter, it's not in being a Director at PwC, and it's not going to be in being the pastor's wife of a young church plant either.
That said, it does make me think about what kind of a pastor's wife I want to be. I think of many that I've known over the years and the different approaches they've taken to the role. I don't feel like I fit the mold. But those that know me know that I have many flaws, but I'm nothing if not real. One of my biggest pet peeves is if I have to fake laugh for someone. So, if I'm laughing at or with you, you know that I really think it's funny. James and I are also both really open. I'm a fan of being frank about our faults. It also opens us up to risk of being hurt or having that used against us. I can just hear many pastor's wives that have gone before us thinking "You say that now." And they very well may be right, but we're going to try anyway. We welcome your prayers for protection in that area. We have thick skin, but not so thick that we can't be burned. In the end, I'm really looking forward to the role. I won't be perfect at it, but I'll be me. That's the plan. So, don't tell me a joke unless it's actually funny.
When I think about some of my other roles (mostly the one of mother), there's a lot of fear involved with a church plant. Where will it be? When will we move? Our neighborhood in Highlands Ranch is so great - what if my kids don't have that in the new place? Will there be good schools? Will we find a house we like? Will I be able to make friends? Will the community embrace us and agree with our vision and mission? But here's what I know. God asked us to do this. I know that in the core of my being - no doubt. If I know that's true, he will absolutely, positively, take care of the rest. To be clear, without question, the people that we're going to interact with in this church plant are by far our highest priority as a family. I've spent hours praying that God takes us to a community where we can build relationships and show people the Jesus we know - not the Christians that the world stereotypes. So, when those questions come into my mind and heart, I remind myself of that, and I trust. With that said, I want to share how I'm thinking about some of the personal impacts and how you can be praying more specifically for us.
I fully believe that this plant will be our life's work. (That said, if God were to call us elsewhere, we'd go without hesitation.) To that end, I've really been asking God that our next move is our last - or at least our last for many many years. It doesn't have to be our dream house, but I'm praying it will be functional and have the potential to be a place we can stay for a long time. I will sacrifice any and everything that I'm about to write about if God asks us to, but for those of you who like to pray specifically for us, here's my house list:
I'd like a front porch that is wide enough for our porch swing so that the kids don't hit the wall of the house when I'm trying to take a nap.
I'd like a bath tub in my master bath room - Momma needs a good soak sometimes.
I'd like a living room that can accommodate our small, but hopefully growing, church plant in the early years.
I'd like plenty of space for parking. We plan to start the church out of our home, and I don't want parking to be an issue as we grow. (We also will eventually have 3 teenagers - Lord, help us.)
I'd like a welcoming back yard and basement so that our house can be the "cool" house for friends to come play (both kid friends and adult friends!)
I'd like a home office.
I'd like room for our kids and for guests when they come to stay.
I'd like for Nathan to have his own bathroom - at least someday. It won't be fun to compete with 2 older sisters.
Finally, I'd love it if our house were unique and not in a cookie cutter neighborhood. (Think Hatmaker farmhouse for those of you that know them.)
I'm also praying for our kids - that God will put us in a neighborhood where they have lifelong friends - or at least childhood long. I pray they have a heart for our vision and mission and participate in it from the beginning. I pray we can find ways to avoid the typical PK pitfalls and love our children well while also doing what God is asking of us for the church. We will absolutely make sacrifices for our family in favor of the church plant. But I pray that we make just as many sacrifices to the church plant for our kids so that they know they're loved. I pray that God provides a school that is right for them to grow up in. The community that we're heading towards has a very "spotty" school district. As I've looked around, one area has great schools and the next neighborhood over is middle of the road at best. There are charter schools and open enrollment, but I need God to guide us there - that's all foreign to me.
I pray that for me and James, too. We need some friends there - even some outside of the "church plant" circle - that can know us and speak encouragement into us. To be super vulnerable, I'd really like a local best friend, and I want that for James, too. I'm blessed with some really good friends - some here in Highlands Ranch and several close friends across the country. But I'd love to have a friend that is in my local community - when we get there - that is a life long friend.
God has done some amazing things even in the last week. It is so obvious that He is in this and is guiding our steps. He has made some connections and is working out some service opportunities especially that have me so excited. I really believe that engaging community is step one and that step two is introducing someone to Christ. That God is opening the doors for us to engage the community before we've even moved there is humbling.
As James said in his first post, we'll share more about how God got us here on this blog soon. (Some of you that read my personal blog may have read that post over there, but seems like we need to tell the story again here.) Once we're revealing the church plant location publicly, the whole story to date is really quite amazing. I look forward to sharing it with you. In the meantime, I've given you quite a lot to pray about already, I think. In case you're wondering, we're thinking we'd move towards the end of this school year, but we're praying for God's guidance on that decision also. We so appreciate your love and support and most importantly - your prayers on your behalf. We need them. This feels like the biggest decision and the turning point of our lives. It feels like we're just about to step off the cliff into what God put us on earth for.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Monday, October 27, 2014
An introduction to Fringe Church
Well, it's happening. Amy and I, by God's will, are planting a church. Of all the things I never thought I'd say or do, this has to be very close to the top of the list. Of course, if I look back over the past few years, there are lots of things I have said or done that would be on that list. During that time, God has shown up in our lives in unexpected and unpredictable ways and opened doors for us to do many things WE never imagined, but that were clearly in HIS plans all along.
I'll get into the details of how this all came to be in a subsequent post, but for now, let me tell you some of the why's and what's of what we're planning to do in a church plant. The "why" is generally one of the first questions people ask about a church plant. "Why? Why do we need another church? There are lots of churches in this area!" And it's a fact. There are more than a dozen churches in a 10 mile radius of where I live. So, why in the world do we need another one?
It's a fair question. One that I have asked too over the years, and particularly over the last 12 months: "Why plant another church?"
Reason 1: Because that is what we feel led to do. We moved from Frisco, TX to Highlands Ranch, CO because God made it very clear that that's what we were supposed to do. God then opened a number of very specific doors in order for me to get a job at a small church that was hiring a temporary associate pastor/church planter. I continued a training/mentoring process with my current pastor that had begun several years prior at our church in Texas that is preparing me to go out and plant a church.
Reason 2: Because there is a need. Though it is true that there may be more than a few churches in a 10 mile radius of where I live (that ratio changes considerably depending on what part of the city you live in), only about 20% of population in the Denver metro area attend church on any kind of regular basis. While there are a handful of "mega-churches" around Denver, the average church in the Denver metro has a membership of few than 300 people. This means that there is a huge percentage of people who can be reached for the Kingdom of God who have no involvement whatsoever with any church anywhere. Those are the lost that God calls us to go and seek out.
Further, based on both local and national statistics, we know that only a small percentage of people who say that they are regular church attenders are actually practicing, growing, and maturing in their Christian faith. And even among those who would fit into this last group, there are many who express a desire to be more closely connected to other Christians in the kind of community demonstrated in Scripture when the church came into existence. They want to see the power and passion of God flow through the people of God to a world who either don't believe in God, or who could care less about whether he's real or not. And if we look around at the world around us, to our places of work, to the places where we play, to our neighborhoods and schools, or maybe even to our families, we see a need for the transformative power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our aim is to create a church, a locally connected group of people, where these things happen by and through the power of God's Holy Spirit at work. And not just once in a while or just for the "super-Christian", but for an ever-expanding circle of people who are connected to the work that we will do.
Reason 3: Because our plan and vision differ somewhat from what church, for many people, has always been about. If you asked a sampling of people what churches or Christians should be, you'd get a lot of different answers. But if you ask Jesus what he wants Christians and his church to be about, the answers are really pretty simple.
At this point, Amy and I have a strong sense of the area that God is sending us towards. But I'm not going to tell you just yet. Here's why: I want to ask you to commit to pray on our behalf as we continue to seek God, to spend time looking, praying, and listening. Over the coming months, we are going to be consistently looking for opportunities to meet new people, make connections with those people in the hope of building relationships, and to have opportunities to share the vision of Fringe Church with lots of people. Because of the specific vision God has given us, we are asking him to be very specific with us about the neighborhood and location of this church plant. And in not telling you, my hope is that God will use you and your prayer to confirm to us that exact place, neighborhood, and people that he is calling us to reach.
If you have thoughts, questions, or if God speaks to you about this work, please don't hesitate to email me at pstrjw@gmail.com . In the months ahead, I will be posting here about the things that are happening, what God has done in this process, more specific vision for Fringe Church, and about the doors that God will open for Fringe Church to get moving for the Kingdom. Thanks in advance for your faithful prayer and loving support!
-James and Amy Wiebe
I'll get into the details of how this all came to be in a subsequent post, but for now, let me tell you some of the why's and what's of what we're planning to do in a church plant. The "why" is generally one of the first questions people ask about a church plant. "Why? Why do we need another church? There are lots of churches in this area!" And it's a fact. There are more than a dozen churches in a 10 mile radius of where I live. So, why in the world do we need another one?
It's a fair question. One that I have asked too over the years, and particularly over the last 12 months: "Why plant another church?"
Reason 1: Because that is what we feel led to do. We moved from Frisco, TX to Highlands Ranch, CO because God made it very clear that that's what we were supposed to do. God then opened a number of very specific doors in order for me to get a job at a small church that was hiring a temporary associate pastor/church planter. I continued a training/mentoring process with my current pastor that had begun several years prior at our church in Texas that is preparing me to go out and plant a church.
Reason 2: Because there is a need. Though it is true that there may be more than a few churches in a 10 mile radius of where I live (that ratio changes considerably depending on what part of the city you live in), only about 20% of population in the Denver metro area attend church on any kind of regular basis. While there are a handful of "mega-churches" around Denver, the average church in the Denver metro has a membership of few than 300 people. This means that there is a huge percentage of people who can be reached for the Kingdom of God who have no involvement whatsoever with any church anywhere. Those are the lost that God calls us to go and seek out.
Further, based on both local and national statistics, we know that only a small percentage of people who say that they are regular church attenders are actually practicing, growing, and maturing in their Christian faith. And even among those who would fit into this last group, there are many who express a desire to be more closely connected to other Christians in the kind of community demonstrated in Scripture when the church came into existence. They want to see the power and passion of God flow through the people of God to a world who either don't believe in God, or who could care less about whether he's real or not. And if we look around at the world around us, to our places of work, to the places where we play, to our neighborhoods and schools, or maybe even to our families, we see a need for the transformative power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our aim is to create a church, a locally connected group of people, where these things happen by and through the power of God's Holy Spirit at work. And not just once in a while or just for the "super-Christian", but for an ever-expanding circle of people who are connected to the work that we will do.
Reason 3: Because our plan and vision differ somewhat from what church, for many people, has always been about. If you asked a sampling of people what churches or Christians should be, you'd get a lot of different answers. But if you ask Jesus what he wants Christians and his church to be about, the answers are really pretty simple.
- Jesus commanded his disciples, and by extension us, to go throughout the world making other disciples (Matthew 28) who share the amazing news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The big idea here is that Christians and churches should be making disciples who then, in turn, make other disciples. This is the beginning of biblical Christian community.
- First, Jesus commanded his disciples to love God first and foremost. Secondly, and out of that love of God, to love our neighbors, not just in word but also in action (James 2), not with our leftovers or scraps but out of loving sacrifice. (Matthew 22, ends of both Acts 2 & 4) This is a necessary next step to create this biblical community.
- Jesus commanded his disciples and us to not only love our neighbors, but go further, and make serious and consistent efforts to love the down and out, the widow and orphan (James 1), the homeless and the stranger, the rejected and displaced (Luke 10, Luke 19). In other words, Jesus commanded us to love the people on the fringes....hence, our name.
At this point, Amy and I have a strong sense of the area that God is sending us towards. But I'm not going to tell you just yet. Here's why: I want to ask you to commit to pray on our behalf as we continue to seek God, to spend time looking, praying, and listening. Over the coming months, we are going to be consistently looking for opportunities to meet new people, make connections with those people in the hope of building relationships, and to have opportunities to share the vision of Fringe Church with lots of people. Because of the specific vision God has given us, we are asking him to be very specific with us about the neighborhood and location of this church plant. And in not telling you, my hope is that God will use you and your prayer to confirm to us that exact place, neighborhood, and people that he is calling us to reach.
If you have thoughts, questions, or if God speaks to you about this work, please don't hesitate to email me at pstrjw@gmail.com . In the months ahead, I will be posting here about the things that are happening, what God has done in this process, more specific vision for Fringe Church, and about the doors that God will open for Fringe Church to get moving for the Kingdom. Thanks in advance for your faithful prayer and loving support!
-James and Amy Wiebe
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