Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)
What an important guideline for life. Out of the heart comes life or death; health or illness; joy or discontent; strength or weakness. The Bible knows what it is talking about. One translation uses the imagery of the heart being the source of life. Can you imagine the peril that any community would be in if they allowed their water source to be polluted? This is a guideline that we would all do well to follow.
This is especially true when it comes to the yearly renewal of the church. We are in a new building, starting new congregations and attendance is up, but we still have to gear our game up. Craig Davis recently pointed out to me that he was trying to schedule an event in the ReCreation Center and there were 14 different groups using the building that day (and that didn’t count the pool - which was full of people). We started a New Korean Congregation on February 28th and we have a Brazilian Congregation getting ready to begin soon as well.
We must step up our game to the next level in preparation for all that God is doing. We are on an excitingadventure discovering the power of the Book of Acts and how collaborative leadership works in the meta church model. Recently, when I was speaking for Leadership Nexus at a Phoenix conference, one denominational leader said, “This model could save our denomination!” Blazing this new trait for the meta church has not been easy. There have been fallen trees to cross, un-bridged rivers to forge and constant reinvention by patient, life-long friends who believe in the unique calling of this church and seen the fruit of my leadership of this great team.
Many of you may not know this, but every year we work to reinvent Washington Cathedral. This year, we will invite diverse people who have gone through the discipleship of our new Wednesday evening service (The Source) to be a part of this process. I know a lot people just don’t have the time, and that’s alright- - - everyone can’t be part of the taskforce to reorganize an organic organization, and some people are just not made for the teamwork approach. Here’s a quick outline of what our reinvention process looks like: Basically we look for those who are walking with us. For those who are willing to listen to why God has led us and blessed us to do things in a certain way - this is called discipleship. Then, we do everything we can to listen to the community, the church members and leaders on how we can do things better. We go away on a retreat and pray about it - looking for God’s will and not our own.Then we come back with a plan for change. Some items may have to be a part of our five-year plan; others will be instituted immediately when we kick off our new year in the fall. And finally, the staff then takes all this information and spends a week in prayer and spiritual disciplines discussing and planning out the plan for the next year.
Many of you may not know this, but every year we work to reinvent Washington Cathedral. This year, we will invite diverse people who have gone through the discipleship of our new Wednesday evening service (The Source) to be a part of this process. I know a lot people just don’t have the time, and that’s alright- - - everyone can’t be part of the taskforce to reorganize an organic organization, and some people are just not made for the teamwork approach. Here’s a quick outline of what our reinvention process looks like: Basically we look for those who are walking with us. For those who are willing to listen to why God has led us and blessed us to do things in a certain way - this is called discipleship. Then, we do everything we can to listen to the community, the church members and leaders on how we can do things better. We go away on a retreat and pray about it - looking for God’s will and not our own.Then we come back with a plan for change. Some items may have to be a part of our five-year plan; others will be instituted immediately when we kick off our new year in the fall. And finally, the staff then takes all this information and spends a week in prayer and spiritual disciplines discussing and planning out the plan for the next year.
This year our new Wednesday night service, “The Source,” is the focal point of this revival. If you want to bea leader of Washington Cathedral then you need to worship with us weekly; but if you want to be a part of the large renewal taskforce, then you need a good heart and participation in our Wednesday night “The Source” service.Pastors, lay leaders, and myself will teach through the book of Matthew. I know none of us can make it every week, but we are going to make it available online and you can email me or another staff member your comments onthe teaching and be a part of the journey. We will take a prayer retreat in early summer called “Weekend at Galilee” where we will brainstorm our modifications for the next year and by fall we willhave filtered through all the data to find the will of God. If you want to be part of this renovation team at one of the most exciting times in the history of our church, then join us next Wednesday night – 6pm is dinner and 7pm is the teaching and interaction at the end. This is going to be the greatest year in the history of Washington Cathedral!
Your friend for the rest of my life,
Pastor Tim White
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