My friends, it's been a very long transition (10 months) since this recession claimed my last ministry job. Mary Kay and I prayed along with many close friends about what direction we should take. Picture the scene: It's December. I'm officially out of work, but still feel 100% certain about God's calling and working in my life. We are also committed to this area: Mansfield has been our home for 30 years. God, is this your way of getting us to take the leap of faith to begin a new ministry?
And so Mary Kay and I held our own church service with one another in our home on December 7th (a day which WILL live in infamy for many reasons!) A week later we invited a few friends to join us. Every week since then we've been in our living room with up to 40 others joining us. Along the way we developed our mission - to be a community loving God and loving people. We redesigned our basement to become an office, what we affectionately named World Headquarters. We formed a board of directors and filed the paperwork with the State of Ohio to be a church. We named it Church Requel - to be requel means to take a fresh, new approach to church. We changed our meeting time from Sunday morning to Sunday evening so that we might be able to enjoy the rest of the Sabbath. We decided to give 10% of our donations away to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. And we signed an agreement with Mid-Ohio Conference Center to hold Sunday evening services beginning October 11th. We also took some of our savings to purchase tech equipment for the public services. Finally, we knew we had to get the word out, so we decided to put up billboards to tell our local world about the birth of a new church.
When I wake up and realize it's now October, my first response is to think of all the things that have yet to be done. Honestly, it can be overwhelming if I allow it to be. But then I think of all the things God has already accomplished over these past 10 months. Will everything be perfect when we launch our test run service on October 11th. No. But it will be right in line with God's plan for us. Just like everything else that has been done in the life of this young church. 'One day at a time' is the right motto for the church planter. Do what I can do today and trust God for everything else that must yet be done.
