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Jesus and Lawn-chairs. Our second "Core Team" meeting at Scot and Nessa Brinkley's Jazzercize studio.

As I began the process of transition from my former church, Kate and I knew that we had passed the point of no return. We had lit the fuse, and no matter what our lives were headed toward major change. We felt a very sincere and firm sense that God was initiating this change. However, there was still a very real fear we had to face: what if it was just the two of us, and no one else?

Prior to talking to our oversight, we had not raised any funding or gathered a team around us. There was a real possibility that we would raise the flag, and no one would come. And if they did come, would our new church be solely comprised of twenty-somethings? I didn’t want to become the pastor of Lord of the Flies church.

In retrospect, I think God put us in this place because we needed to be sure of our call before we had the foundation of a team around us. We needed to make this decision even if no one would come, and it took several years of gutting it out to build a core team before we ever came close to becoming a church. I can honestly say that we had that level of determination. We were willing to make that sacrifice, and in some ways we were expecting to make that sacrifice.

But by the mercy of God, we were given a team of servants who were ready to chase a God-sized vision for Amarillo.

After I announced my departure from the college ministry that I was leading, I began receiving phone calls, texts, and emails. People wanted to be a part of this new church. Many people in this “core” team that God began to gather were former leaders who served alongside me in the college ministry. But to my surprise, many people were not. People who I had never met before began to contact me. One family came to us because they had emailed Acts 29 and requested that a new church be planted in Amarillo. There were people from Lubbock and Fort Worth who had just moved and couldn’t connect to the existing churches in Amarillo. Even crazier, people in their forties and fifties started saying they wanted to know about this new work. God had assembled a team, and we never had to recruit a single person.

And then on Sunday evening October 16, 2011, I called our first meeting. We met at Seth and Katie Wieck’s house, and shared a meal, worship, prayer for our city, and I for the first time I casted the vision God had placed on my heart. We had over fifty people at that first meeting. We had teenagers and grandparents and every stage of life in between. There was even a massive variety of denomination background in the room. But the one thing that we all shared in common was that we felt an urgency to see the gospel preached to the lost, people live out authentic Christian community, and churches planted.

The space was cramped. We had to bring in lawn chairs so people could sit down. Several folks had to stand in hallways surrounding the Wieck’s living room. But the most profound sense among us all was that God was among us and he was about to do something big in our city.

The next week we met in Scot and Nessa Brinkley’s Jazzercize studio, because we had already outgrown the Wieck’s household. More people began to come, more excitement began to be stirred, and it was clear to us all that God had gone out in front of us with multiple miracles (not least of which was a church in Amarillo that was considering to call me as their pastor to replant their church with new vision).

As I have seen the commitment of this team of people that God has assembled, it has moved me to tears several times. I knew God had called me and Kate to make sacrifices for this vision, but I could have never imagined that he would call others to do the same. Two couples that lived out of town decided to move to Amarillo to be a part of this new church. Two other members of our core had to quit their jobs in order to join. People have sacrificed their time, talents, and finances for this new work. And many of them have even had to face the same challenges and misunderstood motives that have plagued me in this process.

I am humbled and honored that I get to walk next to men and women of such conviction and faithfulness. And I can’t wait to see what great works that God will do in our city and beyond with this great group of people.

***

In the next blog, I will tell the unlikely story how we were connected with the wonderful people of West Amarillo Christian Church.