Coming Alive

Just about every person in our church has taken the Clifton Strengths Finder.  I think it is a great tool.  As a church planter/pastor I have a lot of conversations about serving with our launch team.  Every time I go into these conversations I review the persons top 5 strengths. 

Jennifer Chauncey, for example, is off the charts “Woo” (Winning Others Over).  Without going into it too deep suffice to say she is a people person.  One neighbor of mine described her as having one of those personalities that makes you feel like she is your best friend…even if you hardly know her.  She is our Welcome Team.  Not at the door giving out info, but by just being herself (on purpose).  Cassi is a big time Achiever/Discipline (we don’t have a lot of these) so she coordinates events for us.  She is voted “most likely to win The Apprentice” out of everyone at The Patio.  All in all the Strengths Finder is a really valuable tool for us.

If you are a part of The Patio and you haven’t taken this yet get in touch with me and we will get you a copy of the book you need to determine your top 5.

7.  Jason moving in – At the end of summer Jason, our worship leader, moved in with Mladen and Christina.  In an awesome display of self-sacrifice the Kekic’s house became a blessing, and Reedy Fork Ranch gained a great guy.
6.  Met pre-launch budget – Near the very beginning of our journey of church planting a pastor told us that he wouldn’t dream of planting a church w/o first having 20,000 in the bank.  Despite the countless guys who are dreaming of church planting with no money in the bank b/c they are following God (which we were at the time) our launch team/fundraising partners really stepped up and all of a sudden we exceeded that goal!
5.  Blogging – On a trip to Florida for a church planting conference a friend of mine (and fellow church planter) Tadd, said, Dude, you have got to get on it with blogging bro!” (Yea, he says “dude” and “bro” a lot, and occasionally calls me “buckaroo”…come to think of it I’m not sure he knows my name).  Anyway, this has really been awesome for our church.  I really believe that at least a couple of our missionaries are with us b/c of this tool.
4.  Relationship with Starmount – I’ve written quite a bit about this, but Starmount’s gracious support (in the form of opportunities) has been BIG for The Patio.  Promotion, events, and meeting location are all “successes” for us b/c of their help.
3.  Pine Ridge Partnership* – One of the most important relationships outside of our church is my friendship with Tadd.  This guy has been there for ideas, advice, and encouragement all along the way.  He, and the church he pastors, Pine Ridge, standing behind us has enabled us to do this thing with confidence.  I love this dude, bro, and buckaroo…and I am really excited about what they are going to do in Burlington. 
2.  Mexico City – When this trip was scheduled only one of the five of us going had caught the vision for The Patio (me).  A week after we got back ALL FIVE had jumped on board with what God is doing in Reedy Fork Ranch.  It certainly wasn’t planned as a recruitment tool…but this year I am taking 400 people down there with me!  Just kidding.
1.  The arrangement of one amazing core group – When Kristan and I started my hope was to launch with 20 people in our core group.  Now, with 2 months to go we are going into our preview services with a little over 20 (not counting kids).  More importantly is the group itself.  I look around on Sunday morning and I see some of my best friends, some people with amazing stories of how they came to be with us, some new relationships that I am thrilled about, and all together one passionate group of followers of Christ.  Pastors pray for opportunities like this.  I truly am blessed!

* Right after Pine Ridge began offering their support Tadd stumbled butt backwards into a national interview with Tom Brokaw.  Am I saying that all churches that support The Patio will get huge exposure?  No, I’m just saying that SO FAR all the churches that support The Patio get huge exposure.  Pastors you can reach me at michael@patiochurch.com 

This marks the first post in a new blog category called, “You can’t do church that way”.  The information that falls in this category will center on the things that I believe set The Patio apart from the majority of churches out there.  Not everything will be completely unique to us, but I hope it will be unique for the average person who does not attend church. 

When I went to Basic Training for church planting we had a session on “determining our core values”.  I don’t know when churches started towards this trend of defining themselves this way, but it’s really caught on.  I was told that a church should have somewhere between 3-7 snazzy words that sum us up…and there should be an odd number of them (values are like candles in this way).  So, I obeyed and came up with our list…then I came home and told our launch team what we valued.

That’s where the problem started.  First of all if you value something you shouldn’t have to be told you value something.  Furthermore, if you don’t value something it doesn’t matter if someone tells you otherwise.  Putting “Vegetarianism” as a value won’t change the fact that I love my chicken tenders.  In fact the only value I have with food is the “Value Size” at McD’s that costs me an extra 39 cents.  What you live out is what you value.  I value grease.

The other problem is that 5 core values simply never comes up in conversation…at least not with the people that I want to share The Patio with.  It’s just a funny phrase, “We are starting this church.  We have 3 core values, “Buildings, Butts in the seats, and $$$” (Those aren’t our core values by the way…if you would say that no one claims those core values re-read the paragraph before this one).

So, out of observation over the last 3 years of living in Reedy Fork Ranch one thing has emerged as a value: Community.  The other stuff on our list was important, but it didn’t define us or set us apart.  Community does.  It also is conversation friendly: “To us, at The Patio, we really value Community.  I think our pursuit of that really sets us apart as a church”. 

As a church plant we are apparently breaking the rules (or at least going against the grain) by having only one value.  It may not seem like much, but I believe it will enable us as a church to do this one thing VERY well…and that will make all the difference.