Next Chapter…

The first weekend service in our new church location was charged with energy and excitement. There were great expectations. Optimism was the watchword. The congregation was happy and they deserved to be happy. It had been a rough journey with plenty of dangerous moments. But we had survived! The wilderness experience had ended, the promised land reached!

I had a sense that, for me, a chapter was ending and a new chapter was beginning. While the adventures of church transition were occupying a lot of my time and energy, on another level, a new mission had been planted in my heart. I wanted to plant churches to reach young people and their parents. Not just a church, many churches! Toward that end I had been attending a “new church incubator” for about a year. It was great to be part of a group that was actively involved in starting new works. My pioneer spirit was being encouraged and stoked. I believed that God had given me a mission and a calling and that he would show me the next steps for this journey.

And it seemed that he spoke. I probably need to explain this part. I don’t think I really hear the voices, certainly not audible voices, or for that matter, voices in my head. I’ve heard they have medication for those kinds of experiences. I’m one of those persons whose brain is wired to think in words. Others are more visual, for me its words. So, with that disclaimer, my “conversation” with God went something like this:

“Okay Charlie, it’s time to turn your attention to the mission I have given you.”
“What do you want me to do, God.”
“Make a proposal to the church council asking them to support your new mission with two specific things, permission to raise money, and permission to recruit people to pray with you.”
To say I was excited by this idea is an understatement. Most of the members of the church council were leaders I had recruited to serve. They were my friends. I believed that the pastor would be supportive. A political animal by nature I knew that if I applied my persuasive skills to the task that I would get the support for my proposal that I wanted. Then God “spoke” some more.
“Make your proposal one page long.”
“Uh, okay.”
“You may not speak to any of the council members about your mission before the meeting. And you can’t attend the meeting.”
“Wait a minute, God, they are going to turn down my proposal if I don’t explain it.”
“That may be true, but that’s my problem.”
Oh man, there it was. Another chance to be rejected. Another chance to be misunderstood and “misunderestimated.” I really did not want that to happen, again. I had some previous experience with this process as I was stepping down as worship leader of the church, once again, in obedience to God’s leading and I knew that following God’s leading was better than the alternative.
With some hesitancy on my part, I wrote my proposal, gave it to the pastor, and waited. And sure enough, the council turned it down. A good friend of mine who was a councilmember was upset at the outcome. He was surprised at the opposition to the idea. At least I couldn’t say I was surprised. I was just hurt.
I was filled with uncertainty about the next chapter in my journey with God. I couldn’t pursue the mission God had given me without being disobedient to the leadership of the church. God had made it clear to me that my time in this church was over. All I could do is wait.