Wildfoote: A Leadership Journey

Don't Panic - Part 2

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to facilitate an afternoon session with board members from several Illinois Youth For Christ chapters.  After some excellent discussion and sharing of ideas, I closed the session by giving them some a few thoughts on how I believe nonprofits should be responding to the economic crisis that we are facing.

I shared a couple of these (Don't Panic and Be Realistic) on this blog in December.  Here are the rest of them.

Real Estate, Break In, and Sabbatical

Long time no post.  Lots happening.

On the Real Estate front, I have been playing a major role on RCC's facility transition.  We have been working on identifying properties and getting ready for a big move.  Actually hired architects this week and got moving on designing our next space.  Most likely we are going to move into an existing building and turn it into "our space".  We have some cool ideas, so will post more as we get further into the project.

This past Monday night, our next door neighbor had a guy with a gun come into his house and demanded money.  Ended up forcing one of the occupants to drive him to an ATM and made the neighbor take out money.  Kind of scary.  About the same time, I had our front door open and the screen door unlocked.  That has changed. 

Pastor Jim is on sabbatical through July and then on vacation the first week of August.  I spoke at the three services this morning, finishing up our series on the life of Samuel.  Wow, I forget what it takes to give the same message three times, back to back over a 4 hour period.  Believe it or not it takes a lot of emotional energy out of you.  It didn't help that one of the air conditioners went out, making for a warm meeting space.  But overall, I enjoy communicating in that forum. 

So that's a quick update!  Hopefully more to come.

Transition Thoughts

As we are packing, cleaning, attending "going away" parties, saying good-bye, etc, Liz and I are having an ongoing discussion about the impact we have had on people in our neighborhood and community.  If you haven't already, you need to check out her latest post here on her blog. 

In reading Joshua this morning from The Message, I was taken by a line from Peterson's introduction to the book.  He wrote the following:

"God's great love and purposes for us are worked out in the messes, storms, and sins, blue skies, daily work, and dreams of our common lives, working with us as we are and not as we should be."
(The Message:  The Old Testament Historical Books, p. 10).

I find that line comforting.  We have strived to be who we are, without pretense...to be open and authentic...to be honest about who we are and who we are not.  I have to say that Liz does a better job of this than I, as it seems that I can be too concerned with how I am perceived by others.  But all in all, I am grateful that God uses us as we are.

Stepping Up

Pastor Jim's son is dealing with some serious medical issues at the moment, requiring them to spend some time at Children's Hospital in Chicago this week.  It has been an emotionally taxing time for them.  So, I am stepping up to speak at the services this weekend.

We are in the middle of a neat series on the relational aspects of what is commonly known as the Lord's Prayer.  We have looked at God is Father and God is God.  I will be looking at God is Lord, focusing on "your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven".   This is a good topic for me speak on as I have had to wrestle at times with trusting his will through our transition.  Should have lots of personal illustrations.

A BEGINNING...

With an end, also comes a beginning.  After seeking lots of input from a number of sources and exploring several possibilities, I accepted a role as the Executive Pastor at Richwoods Christian Church in Peoria, IL.  Scheduled start date was January 15, 2007.

It is no secret that going back to Peoria was way down on the personal desire list.  But we couldn't get away from the fact that God seemed be calling us.  Since making this decision the road has been challenging but we continue to sense this is where God wants us for this season.

Here is a recent update on our decision, our plans, and where things are at the moment.
Download january_min_update.pdf

I am looking forward to blogging more about the challenges in the local church, leadership development, and other relevant issues.