It's September -- Happy New Year!
To me September feels like the start of a new year. The kids have started a new year in school. After a month's vacation my wife is also back in school as librarian. And I'm sitting here planning out my strategy for really getting this new church going. I've spent the last two months preparing -- developing this website, writing my Ministry Plan, attending a 6-day conference at Church of the Resurrection United Methodist Church in Overland Park, Kansas and doing a lot of reading and praying. And now its time to really put my plan into action.
I decided to wait until after Labor Day to "hit the streets" for a couple of reasons. First, its still over 100 degrees and I didn't want to put myself in the hospital from heatstroke. Second, even if people are not away on vacation, they are still in "vacation mode" and less likely to be thinking about starting something new. September just seemed like a better time, weather-wise and from a psychological perspective, to get the ball rolling.
So, my goal this month is to get out into the community, meet as many people as possible, talk about the vision of Spirit Song and gather some people together who will share this journey with me. These will be the first small steps of what will likely be a long process. Am I excited? Of course. Am I nervous? Absolutely! I have no idea what the response will be. I am going out in faith, just as I did eleven years ago when I started my first church. And just as it was difficult then, I'm prepared for it to be a difficult challenge this time as well.
It's exciting to be doing something new. Hopefully I can instill that exciting vision in others. It will interesting to look back a month from now and see how God has led and guided this new endeavor. I have no doubt that I will see God's hand in the midst of it all.