The blogger writes about a rather large church with incredibly engaging services and an appealing environment. Attendance was in the thousands, and people were excited to be there. But he says something significant was missing– community. Here’s where I really started thinking and I couldn’t help but wonder- In most of our churches today do we realize just how important community is? Kevin Ford says “The quality of community is the quintessential test of the health of a church”. That’s pretty strong, but is he right?

I’m really not trying to be judgmental here, but honestly, when I look at most churches today I see a lot of things, but I don’t see strong community. This seems to be true regardless of the denominational affiliation, worship style, or the major demographic of the church. It seems to me that most churches are a loose connection of attenders that work together on certain projects but then go back to their individualness (I think I made up that word) for the rest of their week. I really sat and asked myself: Is this ok? Is there a problem with this pattern? Does this really affect the health of the church?

In terms of institutional health- numerical growth, financial growth, #’s of ministries (Pilates classes to food pantrys), etc… I don’t think this pattern of individualness makes much of a difference. I think this list can be measured on opposite ends of the healthy church spectrum with the same missing ingredient of community. But, in terms of real SPIRITUAL health, I really believe community is vital. The Body of Christ (The Church) is all about community: Deep meaningful relationships that transcend musical preference (disguised as worship style), age, career field, skin color, etc… The Apostle Paul spoke over and over about this. Read what he said to the Ephesians, and to the Corinthians.

So, should we work hard to create excellent environments on Sundays? Absolutely! I believe that is a key component of reaching our unchurched friends and I believe it honors God. However, we can’t use those environments as a gauge for success. Success within Christ’s Church is much more difficult to measure than that. So, just maybe, a great starting point for determining success is looking at the depth of the relationships that are being formed within the church. Maybe it’s through these relationships that we begin to love each other as we would love ourselves. And maybe, just maybe, that love is attractive to unbelievers.

Are you working to intentionally build strong relationships with the people God has put before you? I know I have a lot of work to do, but my deepest desire is that we would see our local church become a body of believers that genuinely loves each other and loves those around us. Love isn’t what we feel, it’s what we do.

I don’t know how to measure it, but somehow I think we’ll know if we achieve it.

Shaun

I see all the shoe boxes at churches, all the offices taking up donations, and the schools filling the need for students. We love to buy new shoes, a pair of jeans, a new game of Yahtzee. Our culture absolutely won’t allow a child to wake up, wipe the sleep out of their eyes, and not find something under the tree. We’ll go to almost any length to make sure that doesn’t happen.

But here’s the question that has been running through my head: Am I just as concerned about these kids having THE Christmas present in their heart as I am of them having A Christmas present under the tree?

Yes, I know that providing a new pair of Reeboks is a great way to show them that I love them. Yes, I can, and should, do it in the name of Jesus. However, if my concern was more for their heart would I stop at delivering the present? Or, would I go to great lengths to make sure they understood WHY I was concerned about them? Would I continue to invest in them, love them, provide for them, and do it all in Jesus’ name? Would it be as fun and easy as buying a cool gift? Or, would it be difficult, messy, time consuming, and costly?

If I’m really honest with myself I have to admit that I’m usually ready to move on once they have the goods. I think I’ve done my duty. I’ve had my fun. I can feel good about myself. But now, I’m wondering, what happens when they go to sleep that last time and wake up in eternity? What gift will they find that morning? Will they know, will I have helped them understand, that Jesus left it hanging on a tree?

I think I have some work to do this Christmas.

This past week was my first visit in almost 10 months. It seemed like a lifetime. But, my first impression when walking through the door reminded me of why I keep going back- I learn so much from them. We had 4 trucks. 3 of them pulling trailers. We crossed the border and the trailer-less truck went straight through. I was next, and I, along with the one behind me were stopped. The final truck slipped through while we were talking to the guards. After 30 min they made me pay about $15 in duty and I went on. The final truck was being searched. When I arrived at the orphanage, which is about 20 min away, the kids all piled out of the theater/chapel and were all excited until Mama Lupita realized the final truck wasn’t there. After explaining that it was being searched, the kids all instantly returned to the chapel, got down on their hands and knees (literally) and prayed until it arrived- over 30 min later. You see, when you don’t have anything, and you have to rely on God for everything, you really begin to believe that when you ask, He will provide.

We spent the next 2 1/2 days building a house for the Quintero family in Colonia Artista, a small community just a few miles from the orphanage. This is a community with no power, no running water, and really nothing else. The Quintero’s were living in a makeshift hut, approximately 10′ x 10′ with a dirt floor. The 12′ x 20′ tool shed type structure we built them was a house- really a home. They were so excited! It never ceases to amaze me that so little from us can be so much to someone else. Why do I usually hoard and covet what the Lord has given me when I have easy opportunities to be a blessing to others? I confuse and frustrate myself.

The bottom line- I need regular doses of this type of work to remind me of what God has given me and what it is to be used for. I drift so quickly into selfishness and consumerism. I’m robbing myself of the joy God desires for me. What does He desire for you?

1- I’m blessed. I really mean I’M BLESSED! And, if you’re a part of Beachside Community Church or another of NP’s partner churches you are also VERY blessed. I spend time almost weekly talking with friends in various churches who are frustrated beyond imagination. I’ve been there. It’s painful. But I’m not there now. I’m a part of a movement that is taking place across the nation. I get to be a part of something incredible that the Lord is doing. Wow!

2- North Point and it’s partners aren’t a perfect group of churches- and that’s a good thing. As a matter of fact, there’s not a single perfect church in the partnership, including North Point. That may be an obvious statement, but I think this self-awareness is what drives this group to continue to seek answers, learn from others, and ask the hard questions.

3- Planting a church is hard work, but it’s so worth it! N*Rich had some great moments: Discussion time with Andy Stanley,  leadership lessons from Jeff Henderson, spiritual growth talks with Bill Willits, worshiping with Todd Fields and Eddie Kirkland, (and I could go on) were all worth the 6 hour drive. However, the highlight was hearing the stories of life change from our partner churches all over the U.S. It was an incredible reminder of why we do what we do- and that what we are doing works.

4- We’re better when we work together. I can’t explain how much I learned just talking with people from other partner churches in the hotel lobby or while standing in line to get lunch. These are the same guys I call, email, text, and tweet frequently. What would it cost to hire a consultant with their combined knowledge, experience, and resources? I’m not sure, but I know I couldn’t afford it.

5- The Emerald Coast needs a church like Beachside. I don’t mean that arrogantly. Like I said, I’m just excited and grateful to be a part of it. What I do mean is this- there are tens of thousands of people among us who don’t know Jesus Christ. This is our opportunity to create engaging and relevant environments, invite them to attend,  and pray like crazy (literally) that God intervenes and reveals Himself to them.

We have an amazing opportunity. For all of you who have joined in this mission with us by giving sacrificially and serving faithfully- Thank you. You’re a part of something that is so much bigger than you realize. I can’t wait to watch it all unfold.

Shaun

Since this is possibly the only time my family will be able to make the trip to see Cali cheer, we were a little disappointed when the cheerleaders didn’t perform at half time. If I’m not mistaken, they ALWAYS perform at halftime. But, not this time when we actually had guests with us that we had been working on getting there for a long time.

As my mom, sister, and niece all sat there going “awwww”, I sat there thinking, “wow!”. This is exactly why we treat EVERY SUNDAY as if it’s someone’s first time there. We can’t let our guard down and take a mental week off. We all have to plan, prepare, and execute every week as if it’s the one week we are going to have our own guest there with us. We never know how important that Sunday is going to be to someone. Every time we “have church” we need to remember we have guests in our home. Let’s create a place where they will want to come back- every week.

This past Sunday night we had the launch service for Beachside. I say this to brag on the incredible team of people that put this together- It was amazing! I know it’s not all about the numbers, but there were approximately 280 people in attendance including about 60 kids. All that in spite of the heavy rains that lasted up until just before the service started. Now, the real test will be to see who returns. Our goal has never been just to start a church. We want to build and sustain a successful church that is leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

I want to mention a couple of things that I think have been really significant in allowing us to get this far. I want to say this because I think these are the same things we must do to move  forward.

First, we really do have an amazing group of people on our launch team. They just get it. Early on our giving was low, our buy-in seemed low, and I think a good number of people really thought someone was creating a church for them- a place where they could attend. One of the best decisions we made was to put off our launch service (it’s been almost a year and a half now since we first started small groups). I think our team really solidified and got serious when we all realized that it didn’t make sense to start something we couldn’t sustain. I think that’s when a large part of our team realized that it takes sacrificial financial giving, a lot of time and hard work, and a lot of investment in our friends who don’t go to church for us to be successful. Our launch team now gets it. You guys ROCK!!! This has never been more evident than while watching them these past few weeks. There were a lot of late nights but we made it. And, you should have seen these guys at the launch service Sunday. They were in their element. Their enthusiasm was contagious, and they were rockin.

Second, the partnership we have with North Point Community Church has been amazing. I’ve not only never started a church, but I’ve never been a part of a church that was even thinking the way we wanted to think. The investment in training from NPCC has been incredible. They have challenged us to raise our expectations and have given us tools to make that tangible and practical. The Campus Expansion team is unbelievable. However, the network of partner churches is equally unreal. I’ve visited over half the existing partner churches and have had conversations with numerous staff members from these and the other partners. We’ve sent our entire launch team to Wiregrass, the closest partner to us, and they sent a team down for our launch.

Now, check this out- the 10 or so that came down from Wiregrass all had black notebooks with them. They jotted down everything they saw then left me with this priceless stack of notes on things we can improve on. That doesn’t take anything away from the launch. It just helps us get better.  It is so easy to make excuses or to get so caught up in how good things are to not recognize the need to keep working on it. It’s awesome to be constantly challenged to improve AND have practical resources to be able to improve. That’s what creates championship football teams, out of the ordinary businesses, AND amazing churches. We are so blessed!

So, let me say a huge THANK YOU to…
Everyone who attended our launch service and celebrated with us,
Everyone who has given financially to the point where you have had to sacrifice something in your lifestyle,
Everyone who has taken evenings, weekends, vacation days, and other times away to build, paint, lead, create, drive, visit, learn, (this could go on for a while…)
Everyone who has invested in others and invited them to attend,
Everyone who has invested in us from the NPCC world, other churches, friends, family, etc….
Everyone at the Boys and Girls Club of the Emerald Coast who have provided an amazing facility for us,

Now, I get so excited I almost can’t stand it when I think that we get to do this again in 2 weeks! For the record, we’ll be meeting the 2nd and 4th Sunday nights of each month throughout the fall. Our goal is to move to every week and to Sunday mornings in the near future.

I’m looking forward to all of us being the Church together.

Shaun

During the week we visited 2 different partner churches, had conference calls with 2 different lead pastors, sat in training sessions with numerous other leaders, and had amazing discussion. The “unofficial” discussion went on literally till after midnight on some nights. Ok, so I was usually the first one down, but I stayed with it as long as I could. We talked about everything- the role of a lead pastor, creating environments, financials and admin, fundraising, time management, and proper techniques in whirlyball (the picture should say it all). My mind is full, but I’m headed back for another 8 days next week (I think the Beatles would understand that). This time several of our staff are going with me.

August 30th, the launch of our Sunday environments, is coming fast! For the first 18 months of this process I wondered if this day would ever come. Now I’m wondering how we’ll get it all done in time. Right now, I feel like a fighter jet approaching the speed of sound. I’ve heard there’s a buildup of energy that almost forms a wall as the sound barrier is approaching. The plane shakes and buffets until you finally break through. Then, the wall of energy moves behind you and everything smoothes out.

The wall is definitely building right now. I’m just praying that we make it to Aug 30th, everything comes together, and there’s a relatively smooth (or at least smoother) ride on the other side. How could it not be? We have an incredible group of partners, the best staff team I could imagine, the most amazing people serving on our teams, and the most opportunity to reach our friends who don’t regularly attend church ANYWHERE.  I’m excited about us doing this TOGETHER.

We’ve also made a change recently and have moved our meeting location to the Boys and Girls Club on Denton Blvd in Fort Walton Beach. This is right around the corner from Choctaw High School. The Boys and Girls Club has just completed a new building that is incredibly suited for creating outrageous environments for children. They also share a similar vision for helping families along the Emerald Coast. We believe this will be a great partnership and will help us go further faster.

Our old website, www.whyanewchurch.com, was created to answer one question: Does the Emerald Coast need another church? The old site will stay in operation, but this new site is intended to be a lot more. Hopefully, it will serve as a guide to Beachside and keep you up to speed on everything that is going on. AND, you can subscribe to this blog and get automatic updates when we post new things and share our latest thoughts.

Thanks for your interest in and commitment to what the Lord is doing in Fort Walton Beach and along the Emerald Coast. I hope to see you on Sunday night, August 30th, at 6:00 pm at the Boys and Girls Club on Denton Blvd, FWB.

August 30th is coming up fast, and that’s the date of our first service for Beachside Community Church! Have I mentioned before how excited I am? I’m excited because I really believe we have so much opportunity to reach the unchurched of this area. I still can’t believe the Lord is allowing me to be  a part of what He is doing here. It’s amazing!  We have the opportunity to start with a clean slate as we create irresistible environments for our friends. We have an opportunity to BE the CHURCH and not just go to church, and God has brought together an AMAZING group of people to lead this effort. But… (here’s where my mathematical wizardry comes in to play)

We’re creating a new church because we believe something different is needed to reach the unchurched of the Emerald Coast. There are plenty of places for church people to go to church on Sunday. We don’t need just another church. We need a church that UNCHURCHED people will want to attend. We want to create INCREDIBLE environments that are engaging, relevant, and helpful. So in order to have a different result, we have to have different parts because we all know that the sum of the same parts is the same result- everytime! 1+1+1 will always equal 3. Here’s the point:

If we…

… spend time with God the same
… use our time and talents the same
… trust God with our finances the same
… care for the poor the same
… love our neighbors the same
… love our enemies the same
… love those we’ve never met the same
… invest in our unchurched friends, neighbors, and coworkers the same
… view the Church the same
… view God the same
… obey God the same
… expect things from God the same

Then we can be sure of one thing: We’ll be the same kind of church.
Here’s my question: What does God desire for YOU to do different?

1+1+1+(God)= ?    I’m not really sure, but I can’t wait to find out!

-Shaun