The Ups and Downs of Church Planting, Updates, and The Weekly Word

Friends of Shalom,

As you can imagine, there are ups and downs to church planting. So much emotion can be tied to each week's gathering as we wonder if our regular folks will be there or if anyone new will come. This last week I was discouraged heading into our regular Saturday night gathering because I knew over half our core group wasn't going to be there that night.

A few hours before our meeting, a pastor friend of mine texted me and told me he and his family would be coming. That brought some encouragement. But then as we were about to start two new couples wandered in! I quietly thanked the Lord for bringing some new folks and for keeping us going on this new adventure!

A few updates:

- I'm getting close to finishing my ordination exams! This has been a big focus of mine over the last month.

- In the month of January we saw over $3,000 come in from outside givers!

- Recently the school that owns the small church we meet in (All Saints Academy) invited us to share some of our desires for updating the sanctuary. We're grateful that they see us as long term partners and we're excited to fix up the space more!

- We opened a bank account! A small step, but one of many of the administrative tasks in starting a new church.

- I was gone last week for a spiritual formation academy that I have been a part of over the last year or so. The time away was a blessing!

Here's my weekly word video!

Comments

A New Season

Friends of Shalom, It’s a new season! Eating dinner with Beth the other night it just hit me how sooooo many things are new in our lives right now! First, our kids continue to keep growing up. Miriam is about to celebrate her one year anniversary with her amazing husband Tucker. Sam turned 21 this month! Ellie and Asher are so busy with hobbies, work, and friends that we barely see them. At least we have Mack to keep us company. Second, I officially preached my last sermon at Seaside Church ten weeks ago where I have served as the lead pastor for the last decade. It was a beautiful service and I felt like the Lord really gave me a word for my own life as well as for what’s next for my Seaside Fam. If you want to listen to that message you can find it here . Third, I continue to heal from breaking my L2 vertebrae fifteen weeks ago. My surgeon recently gave me the official thumbs up to return to “normal” activities as my body allows. I’m still going to physical therapy and my full heal

Why Anglican?

It’s a fair question. Why would a tattooed, flannel shirt wearing, Acts 29, non-denominational pastor want to wear a collar… a robe… and go “traditional” on us? I mean, isn’t that like going backwards? I thought we left all that stuff behind in the church growth movement of the 80’s that spawned the church planting movement of the late 90’s? What the heck are you doing Rob? Again, these are fair questions I can’t fully address this in one newsletter, but here’s a start. For me the journey begins with the leading of the Holy Spirit. In the fall of 2018 I started noticing that something was off in my soul. Around this time I was invited by Pat and Jenny Tracy to take advantage of a retreat cottage they had set up for pastors from Kitsap County. This began one of the greatest spiritual shifts of my life. The practice of taking 3-5 days away to simply be with Jesus changed me. I began scheduling more retreats and over the years I dove deeper into the contemplative side of our faith.

It's Go Time!

It’s Go Time! This last weekend we celebrated Beth’s 46th birthday by spending a few days down in Oregon with all our kids. We had a great time catching up and enjoying two beautiful fall days together. On the way down my wife reminded me that her birthday was the sixth month anniversary of my cycling accident (I broke my L2 vertebrae back in April). It’s hard to believe that was six months ago! Six months ago, I was preparing to transition out of my last pastorate of 10 years and was also getting ready to begin some initial meetings for Shalom Anglican. Needless to say, my accident changed those plans. The thought crossed my mind, “God, are you trying to get my attention to keep me from planting this church?” But during my weeks of recovery it didn’t seem like the Lord was removing this calling; however, he was slowing me down! I shared with several friends that I wanted to embrace everything the Lord had for me in this time of rest and healing. My typical response would be to plow a

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