So much to say

It’s been too long since I’ve posted… vacation will do that to you.  Man I love the beach, but that has nothing to do with this conversation.  In a few days I’m going to be posting some exciting next step stuff that’s going to happen with Hub City Church.  I want to spill the beans now, but I won’t.  I’ve got to share it with the launch team first.

Speaking of the Launch Team… don’t miss our meeting tomorrow night:  5:45 at Arcadia First.  Make sure you read chapters 7 and 14 from this book.  Also, don’t forget to set aside the last weekend in June for our retreat.

I know that we’ve had a bunch of people checking out the blog and trying to find out more about Hub City Church.  Our vision and passion is to create a relevant church that 20 and 30 somethings want to be a part of, where they can hear from God and do what he says.  We are enormously passionate about relating the gospel (the good news about Jesus) to people who don’t go to church and who wouldn’t consider themselves Christian.  In the past two weeks there has been a lot of interest from some of you who are Christians about being a part of our launch team.  So, to help you discern whether or not this might be a place for you to serve and be a missionary along side of us I’ll share our Fuels and Filters.  These are things that we are going to do and things we aren’t going to do that might help you decide yea or neigh.

What we are going to do:

• A relevant worship experience that 20 and 30 somethings want to be a part of.
• Small Groups
• Serve in the community (Movies in the Park is one way we’re serving.  We want Spartanburg to be better because Hub City Church is here.)
• Encourage and train people to hear from God and do what he says

What we aren’t going to do/be:

• Sunday School
• Have a permanent facility in the foreseeable future
• Be Charismatic/Pentecostal (nothing wrong with being either, it’s just not us)
• A church calendar filled with church activities for church people
• No official/positional leadership for at least 2 years post launch (ie. Elders, governing board)
• Youth ministry for several years
• We won’t be a perfect church

Still interested?  Contact me.  We’ll do coffee.

 

This month

Dudes and dudettes, there is a bunch of stuff happening in a short amount of time. At LTM (launch team meeting) last night we sped through these upcoming events, but I wanted to lay things out here.

• Spring Fling this weekend. We get to hand out postcards (and maybe a treat) advertising/promoting Movies in the Park. We’ll be “flingin’” all weekend in our new Hub City Church t-shirts.
• That’s right, if you click the link above you’ll see that our web site is live. Yeah, baby!
• Next Friday, May 9th, we’re headed up to hang out with Watershed and check out how they do Movies in the Park.
• Then, on Saturday, May 10th, we’ve got a bunch of teenagers coming to help us give out postcards about Movies in the Park.
• Speaking of Movies in the Park… our first one is May 17. I am pumped. There’s still a lot to do, but God has opened so many doors and so much has already been done. (BTW: If you want to know how to pray for Movies in the Park, pray that we’ll do all that we need to do, that people will show up and that it won’t rain).
• Finally, I passed out this book last night for our group to read together. I am looking forward to us learning together and working to create systems that help people hear from God and do what he says.

That’s all for now. And don’t forget to hop on over to Hub City’s new web site

 

LTM 4/21/08

At this week’s Launch Team Meeting:  Systems!  Now I know you’re drooling and about to wet yourself with excitement just thinking about systems, but here’s the deal.  Systems determine behaviors.  Systems are the way things get done.  All organizations and churches are made up of systems.  Most, however, aren’t thought out, strategic or effective.  We don’t want that to be the case for Hub City Church.  Thus, the beginning of the system discussions!  We want to have systems for everything from set-up to children’s ministry to fixing coffee!  See you Tuesday @ 6.

Until then… plant a tree (Tuesday, April 22 is Earth Day).

 

LTM 4/8/08

For the new folks, here’s the link to where we meet for LTM (Launch Team Meetings) on Tuesdays @ 6 (drive around back… you’ll see the cars).  This is an exciting week.  We’ve got Christmas in Action on Saturday, a Vision Casting Night on Sunday @ 5:30, and this week’s LTM is going to be helpful as we further paint the picture of what Hub City Church is going to be.  I look forward to seeing you Tuesday.

 

LTM 4/1/08

We have A LOT going on right now at Hub City Church.  A LOT of BIG decisions need to me made over the next few weeks.  We know that we need God’s help, direction, intervention and leadership, so at tonight’s LTM we’re going to spend some time in focused prayer.   God calls his followers to seek after him.  He tells us to ask.  Jesus, the Son of God, spent time in prayer.  Tonight we are going to do the same.  We’ll be meeting at the same time and in the same location.  Can’t wait to seek God together.  In the words of Jonathan, son of King Saul, “Perhaps the LORD will act on our behalf.”

 

Field Trip

This Sunday our launch team is heading up to Element Church in Charlotte to learn from how they do church in a movie theater.  We’d love for you to go with us.  We’re meeting in the Denny’s parking lot off I-85 (exit 75) at 8:30 to carpool up the road.  See you Sunday!

Now I know that some of you are wondering:  Why take field trips?  Basically, for three reasons.  First, since we are planning to meet in a movie theater it’s important for us to see it before we see it, if you get what I mean.  Second, we want to be a church that is always learning from others.   Third, it’s a great way to have fun and get to know one another better.

 

LTM 3/25/08

Yes, it’s almost Tuesday again and I can’t wait.  This week we’re going to be making some plans for movies in the park/campus, Christmas in Action and Habitat for Humanity.

Remember, we meet at 6 PM at Arcadia First.  This week we’re doing dinner differently.  It’s BYOFF:  Bring Your Own Fast Food.  We need the extra time to discuss.  See you there!

 

LTM Recap

I want to thank everyone for a great LTM last night.  I know we covered a lot of content, but you hung in there and had some great ideas.  I’m excited about us working together to make a difference in Spartanburg. 

Here’s a quick recap of what we discussed:

• Relational networks:  College campuses, non-profits (service organizations), sports/rec teams, city groups, civic groups, schools, neighborhoods, work place, YMCA.
• Direct touches:  Block parties, sports camps, movies is the park w/in neighborhoods, neighborhood festival (Halloween), provide food for teacher appreciation, volunteering with Habitat for humanity or the Children’s home, giveaways.
• Marketing:  Web site, blog, billboards, signs, mailers, door hangers, t-shirts, Frisbees, movie trailer.
• Front door:  A worship gathering 

For us to be missionaries to Spartanburg we need to spend the majority of our time and resources in relational networks and direct touches.

The direct touches that we decided to focus on are movies in the part (3-4), movies on campus (2-3), volunteering with habitat, Christmas in action and the children’s shelter (possibly renovating an entire home).  Thanks for telling me what you want to be involved with.  I’ll be contacting you within the week to make a time for teams to meet and begin planning.

On another completely random note, why does wordpress think Spartanburg is misspelled in one location on this post, but is spelled correctly in another location?  Things that make you go hmmm.