We were able to take a well needed vacation last week. We all went to Orlando to see the great Shamu. Let me tell you, this was awesome! I definitely recommend this to everyone with children. Anyway, we were able to stop through Jacksonville and visit a church that we really enjoy. The church is called Celebration Church.

Being a future church planter I am always looking for creative ways that people do church. I am really passionate about worship style, how the church is affecting the community it serves, and not watering down the Word of God just to being people to the church. At Celebration we found a few of these things happening. We were only able to see from a visitor’s standpoint, but what we saw we really liked.

This began a thought process for me on the way back home from Jacksonville. As we talked about the service and what we enjoyed my mind kept thinking about what God has wired us to do and be? On the top of our blog I have the name of Relevant Church. This is by no means a name that is set in stone, but as I was driving, there were two names that kept coming up in my mind. The first one was Generation Church, and the other was Relevant Church. After thinking about it Relevant Church began to stick with me and I began to process what it meant to me. The tag line that I put under the name says it all (real…consistent…relevant). I feel that no matter what we need to be real with people. The world is tired of fake Christianity and watered down messages. The world also wants to see consistency in the lives of believers and in the way the church functions. Lastly, people want to be able to take something away from a message that they can apply to their lives today. To me that is relevant.

So let me know what you think about the name, thought process or any other thoughts you may have.

Over the past few years Amber and I have been seeking God on what is to come in our ministry. Our story is this: We both graduated from LIFE Bible College East in 2000 and then took our first ministry assignment in Utica, NY as full time youth pastors. We spent a great 4 years there really learning about our place and skills in ministry. During those 4 years in NY if you were to mention that we would be church planting, we probably would shoot you down and tell you that you had no clue of what you were talking about. That is almost what happened in April of 2003. I was prophesied over that we were going to begin the process of planting a church in a year. The person that spoke that word was a very reputable person and to this day I still respect his ministry. As usual that day I blew it off and said that it was not for me.

Fast-forward one year later. Through some different circumstances and some prayer we felt the calling to come to the Charlotte, NC area to begin the process of planting a church. The timing of the prophetic word was correct, but that was just the beginning. God had a different plan.

Present time: it is now closing in on the end of 2007 and we are still in the very beginning stages of planting a church. God has done some great things in both Amber and I. He has taught us things that we could have only learned if we were still long enough to see them. I have learned that ministry is not about a position or title. Being called “pastor” is not the end-all be-all of things to be. God has humbled me and taught me that I must learn to minister in whatever capacity I am needed. Being in the spotlight is not always where I need to be. I know that I am a leader, but leaders are also suppose to serve. That was hard for me to swallow. God has a great way of humbling you if you let Him.

So you ask, “why are you writing this”? Great question. We are beginning to process what God wants us to do with this church plant, and I am wanting to record our thoughts and processes to share with others. In future posts we will be writing about our vision and what all of this means to us. Please feel free to comment to let us know what you think about all of this or to let us know that you are praying for us. Our time frame (and I underscore OUR) is sometime in the spring to fall of 2009. I know that we are a year and a half to two years out, but we can use all of the prayer covering and planning we can get.