It was our last day in The Circle City, and we learned first-hand why Indianapolis is also called "The Racing Capitol of the World!" (see pictures below :)) Today was a very full day filled with opportunities to meet with leaders from Greenwood, IN and Chilicothe & Cincinnati, OH. Be encouraged...
Dave Crandall - Friendship Church
Ryan and I met with Dave Crandall (Lead Pastor) and Dustin Pead (Worship Pastor) at Friendship Church in Greenwood, IN. After enjoying a quality greasy breakfast at Bob Evans we went back to the church where Ryan grabbed the flip camera to capture something I wanted Dave to share with you. As a pastor it can be easy to feel like a failure when comparing yourself to other pastors with large churches. We've all seen lists of the 100 largest churches and the 100 fastest growing churches in America. It seems like a lot of the featured encouragement to pastors of smaller churches comes from the voices of well known pastors leading large churches, the very voices that these small church pastors compare themselves to.
Dave expressed a desire to see more enouragement to pastors who might struggle with comparison; so I asked him if he would be willing to offer a perspective from his own personal journey. Dave and Dustin saw 170 people at their church service last Sunday, and while that's not going to rank in the top 100 on any national church list, it is exciting and a reminder that the Lord is at work on the front lines! Be encouraged...
Danny Anderson & Steve Rouse - Emmanuel Church
We saw the huge steeple and the red bricks that walled the church building and as we walked inside Ryan and I expected to experience a typical traditional church...maybe with an older pastor challenging for oldest person at Catalyst. It was almost shocking to meet Danny & Steve, young leaders with a vibrant passion to challenge the process and pioneer a movement for Christ in a town that has tradition written all over it. We had a blast hanging out and enjoyed hearing their story - I will post a video next week highlighting some of their story and lessons they are learning from their experience leading Emmanueal Church, stay tuned!
LEADERS GATHERING IN RICHMOND, IN
Christopher VanBuskirk - Centerpoint Church (Chillicothe, OH)
Scotty Neal - Origins Church (Cincinnati, OH)
Johnny Ropple, Josh Strange, Nathaniel VanBuskirk, Joel Megee
I'm surpised the staff at Starbucks didn't kick us out; we were laughing way too loud for any innocent bystander not to be annoyed. Amidst the laughter and jokes (both appropriate & inapporpriate, thanks Scotty :)) we were able to drill down into the stories of Origins Church in Cincinnati, a two-year old church plant, and Centerpoint Church in Chillicothe, a church to officially laungh in September.
So much to share, but I wanted to highlight one question that sparked great dialogue. Whether you are leading a new church plant or an established church with years of tradition, this question has the potential to stir fresh conversation...and quite possibly a renewed perspective on how to have influence in your community:
How do you identify the needs of people in your community?
Do you know the current social or economic needs of the people in your community? It's time to move beyond assumptions and face reality...but reality must be uncovered. it was a very healthy conversation...huge thanks to these guys for driving over an hour to meet with us in Richmond, IN!
Pictures From Today!
(top row, L-R: Friendship Church, Emmanuel Church1, Emmanuel Church2
bottom row, L-R: Centerpoint Church & Origins Church, Indy Motor Speedway)
Tomorrow morning Ryan and I fly back to California...it's been an amazing trip, thanks to everyone that made our Catalyst National Tour stop in Indianapolis such a great experience! Stay tuned for more videos from Indianapolis to be posted when I get home AND an update on where we are headed next!
LV
P.S. - HUGE THANKS to Ryan Sisson for being the first Catalyst National Tour Co-Pilot, awesome guy and great friend!
