Preview Review

We started a church! Well, we kind of started a church a couple Sunday's ago. The Journey Southern Illinois had their first preview service in Marion, IL (and have sense had their first Gospel Orientation). This has been a long time coming yet quickly approached as well.

A few years ago I made my first trip to Marion with a couple of our leaders to see what our possible options might be, but it just wasn't time yet. The opportunity we had we could have made work, but was just too many challenges/draw backs. God had other plans and a different time table for us.

About a month ago, things started moving and moving quickly. A launch pastor was identified and leaders started jumping on board. All of a sudden our January start date was moved to Oct. 21!

Normally this would stress me out and I'd question the decision to hurry this up so much. But, it was different. Often it can feel like we are pushing God along instead of walking beside Him. This time it felt like we were barely holding onto the tail of his rob he was moving so fast! There's much more freedom and joy found in keeping up with God instead of pushing Him along.

Because of the quick timeline, we didn't really know who would show up. Two weeks ago 30+ people drove up from Southern Illinois to attend a Journey service here in St. Louis. We met and talked about everything having to do with this new adventure. It is crazy and awesome how quickly so many people gathered around this vision for The Journey Southern Illinois.

Soon we were on our way to Marion to meet with their leaders before their first preview service. You could feel and sense the excitement and anticipation. Everyone was guessing on how many people would show up... 150, 200, 300!

Thankfully, we had a small army to help set up. And they were the best kind of volunteers... the kind that are happy to help, but just as happy to hang out with one another. You could tell they enjoyed simply being around each other and serving together.
 

Mobile church means one thing...set up/tear down

Before we get to set up, let's talk about how the trailer got to Marion. Our Belleville church "just so happened" to find a new semi-permeant facility in O'Fallon, IL. An area that was much more central to the population they were reaching. That facility "just so happened" to be available for us to use on Oct. 28. This meant that we would load the trailer at Belleville after service on Oct. 21, haul it the two hours north to Marion just in time to unload it and set up their first preview service. 

The trailer pull in right on schedule and we immediately get to work. I secretly love mobile church. It's a lot of work, but there are so many awesome, generally unseen benefits to it....

Mobile church can reorientate people's vision that THEY are the church and not the building. The church is a group of people and not an event you attend or place you go. Mobile church can better serve the community since funds aren't used on a building and it's upkeep. Mobile church forces some to hear the gospel cause it's their job (ie. the guys who work at the school, the convention center, the hotel and would never, ever step foot into our church building). Mobile church can provide a means of community and serving together during set up and tear down. But, mobile church can only do these things if the leaders and pastors believe it can. If you as a leader don't think you are a 'real' church until you have a building you'll slowing lead your people on a mission for a church building. Then you get that church building and your time and your people's time is taken out of the community and into your building to renovate it and to clean it and to fix it.*

Okay... off soap box.

Soon, this empty ballroom became a worship center. It was beautiful!

Setting up chairs for the 170 people that would attend

And then the people started coming. And coming. And coming. I didn't know any of them, but they knew each other. You could tell they already knew and loved each other, but a church was here to bond them together in one space to worship together in one voice.

170 adults, 39 kids, 31 staff and volunteers

What you don't see in the pictures are the 40 kids! Yes, 40 kids (20 of which were elementary aged!) The Journey Kids volunteers set up a space they weren't familiar with, with supplies they've never seen before, taught kids they may have never met, curriculum they weren't familiar with all for the Glory of God!! Towards the end of the evening I walked into the Journey Kids room and a leader pulled me over and said "look at this! take a picture! this is beautiful!" And, it was! It was a beautiful picture of the church. A group of people... a family coming together to proclaim and display the gospel through words and deeds; whether that meant unloading a trailer, setting up a table, running a sound board, or teaching children, they all displayed the gospel in either words or deed!

*This makes me sound like I'm against all church buildings, I'm not. My church owns several and are looking for more. Sometimes a building is needed. The mess and tension and weight of setting up/tearing down every single week becomes too much. However, I believe too often we look towards the building to be the solution to the tension and problems we experience. Yet, we can look at those and find creative ways to pastor people and/or fix the problems without needing a building.