Creative Scribble

I had an interview with the Knoxville News-Sentinel yesterday for quite a long time. It went really well and I'm really looking forward to the article in next week's paper. One of the questions she asked was "Why are you doing the preview services instead of just starting?" To be honest, if I had answered this question two weeks ago I would have had to make something up. I didn't fully understand why we shouldn't just start full blown on July 26.

But after an awesome first preview service, I now see that it's time to tweak a few things before the next one. Instead of rushing through a week to make those adjustments, we have time to celebrate the great day that we had and rethink a few simple areas.

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Two years of getting ready to start this new church have seen me make some big mistakes while also stumbling on some things that went pretty well. So I thought a quick recap of those things that ended up panning out would be good for me and other church planters to learn from. For the big mistakes, ask my wife

Partnering with many other church plants. Five of our supporting churches are church plants from 3 years to 13 years old. Those pastors have been unbelievable. They have kept me from making mistakes with facilities, launch team timing, fundraising, and more. No church planter should try to do it without having been on staff at a church plant or having a church planter helping them through the process. Or both! Now they are there for me as we start facing real-life issues as a church.

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What a day! I’m laying in bed writing this blog because I’m wiped out. But as busy as today was, it was a still a good one.

It started this morning in Spartanburg, SC where I got to preach at Morningside Baptist Church. Morningside has been a big supporter of OneLife both prayerfully and financially so it was good to be with them. But after preaching two services I was pretty well spent. My usual routine would be to head home and take a nap in my recliner.

Not today.

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After a week and a half of no real blog post, it’s time for an update. OneLife has a lot of momentum going for us right now. Here’s a quick rundown.

Launch Team – Our launch team continues to grow. We have right at 25 adults and several kids. When I think about the first sermon I ever preached at Friendship Church to just 15 adults (3 of which were first time guests) I’m reminded of how blessed we are. Friendship grew like crazy from that point and I have no doubt OneLife will do the same. Our last Launch Team meeting was the best. This Sunday we practice setting up at the school for the first time.

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The one system that seems to make or break churches more than any other is that of leadership and accountability. If the leadership structure requires too many hoops to jump through (committees, votes, boards, etc.), nothing can get accomplished. But on the flip side, if there is a single leader with no accountability it will often end disastrous (moral failure, financial struggles, staffing issues, etc.).

Striking a healthy balance for OneLife Church has been my top priority in this area.

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