The Blog Has Been Hijacked, Part 2

So, here we were, full blown “church planters.” Well, at least that’s what my title read on my email signature line. Juli and I were on our way to planting a church in the Detroit area of Michigan… a church like those folks have never seen before. That part of the country is so entrenched in old Catholicism that a dude with a 12 string and a set of bongos could sometimes be considered rockin’ out (most people there have not been inside a church in numerous years, but merely call themselves Catholic as their grandparent were and their parents were ordered to be… but they themselves – well they do not consider themselves anything, but would chose “Catholic” if given a choice on an application). Not to mention, adding side splitting comedy to a church service is way beyond what they expect to find. We wanted to reach the guy there that has given up on church. The guy that is about to check out on life altogether. The 25-35 year old guy that has been sold the line that if only he gets a job working in the factory, then life’ll be grand for the rest of his days. The guy that wants to be a good father and husband, but had no idea what that looks like. The guy who wants to draw nearer to his Creator, but doesn’t know how, nor is he willing to reshape himself into something that he’s not… some khaki wearin’, button-up shirt donning, simple shoes footin’ kind of guy. The kind of guy that wakes up and says things like, “Blessed be the blood of the lamb. Amen and amen. Right Brother?!” (Read this aloud with your best Ned Flanders voice.) We wanted to show an entire generation of leaders, husbands, and fathers, that we can coscumnnect with the mighty God and fall into grace with Him and learn to love Jesus while still being us. While still being that rough around the edges, black steel-toed shoes wearin’, shop pants sportin’, tattoo fetishin’, kinda guy. He can still rock out to some Seven Dust and still love Jesus. He can still dig skull stickers on his motorcycle while having a passionate romance with the Creator that gives him breath. There are so many of these guys in this part of the country and they are quickly becoming the majority there. Those with retirements can afford to pack up and move elsewhere to find more work. The younger single guys can split whenever they want. If it fits into their truck, it goes with ‘em. If it doesn’t, then it gets set on fire and then they move to find work in Kentucky or somewhere else. But the young family kind of guy… he’s stuck. And he’s scared to death. He doesn’t know what to do… everything he put his life and beliefs into has completely crapped out on him. And he doesn’t need another church, speaking an entirely different language, and belonging to a completely separate demographic, sitting there and telling him why he is wrong and what he needs to do before Jesus will accept him. He needs someone who has been there – in his shoes, living his life, sharing in his fears, to share with him about how Jesus died to pay for his debt while he was still a scum bag. And that we are all there together, living out the grace that God offers us through Jesus.

We were taking trips to the Detroit area every other month, and then eventually, every month. This was purely to investigate things: learn the people, learn the styles, learn the vibe, and much more about the specifics of the area. We were also forming relationships with many of the people from the area, and other churches up there. This was going very well. We were not even living there yet, and we had a small group of people that wanted to be apart of starting it with us (this might be called a core team, or a launch team).

Then, we finally had finances raised enough for our family to live there while building this church. One organization was pledged to give a certain amount, while another organization was going to double whatever was donated, and a third company was going to match all of that. In addition, we had a church plant organization willing to donate all of the funds needed for start-up purposes (anywhere between 25K-30K dollars); this would be the sound board, speakers, lighting, trailer, and all of the needed junk to have a full blown service. All in all, we were just about to the point of having financial success. Then, almost as soon as we had it raised, it was lost. One of the organizations had financial difficulties (quite a common thing nowadays) and had to withdraw their original pledge. This caused the entire pyramid of funding to collapse.

After I learned this, I did what every Godly man in history does. I panicked!!! I quickly abandoned the idea of following God and starting a church in Detroit. I started looking for a job here in Hampton Roads just to pay the mortgage and take care of my new family. At first, I wasn’t too worried. After all, I had more than 11 years of military experience, tons of volunteer work done around the world, tons of leadership, a college degree, and we lived off of a small budget to begin with. I looked at federal jobs, I looked at jobs on all of the bases around here, I looked at Food Lion, and I looked into many of the law enforcement offices in Hampton Roads. Actually, I tested and passed at a couple of local law enforcement agencies and was essentially hired. However, after each was ready to hire me they contacted me and told me that they had just received notice of going on hiring freezes, and that they would not be able to take me on after all. Job after job was falling through. With all of this adding up, I really started to kind of freak out and wonder, “What the frickin’ crap God?!” And then it dawned on me, “OH! I’m not supposed to be here. I guess there might be a different path for us than to plant a church in Detroit after all.” So, I started back in on this journey after my 18 day side freak-out detour.

That’s enough for now…next time I’ll tell you about our plans to live in a commune… and I’m serious… we’ll make Waco look like childs play.

Chuck