This thing is getting more real all the time...

We signed a lease this weekend. Our church now has offices and space for kids ministry. We have a business. (see previous post) We have contractors coming out tomorrow to start swinging hammers. This thing is starting to seem quite real and like it's actually happening. Ready or not, here it comes.

I have been meeting with people regularly and talking about the dream of this church. It's been pretty wild. I'm praying that many many people will join us to launch this thing.

On that note, on Sunday June 29th we are having a picnic in Byrd Park to get everyone involved to meet each other, meet some neighbors and talk about the future of the churchatthebyrd.

If you are local, please join us for this picnic at noon on the 29th. We will be grillin and chillin. We will have games for the kids. It should be great. Bring friends!

Cartwheels and Coffee

Ok, I've been dying to blog about this and I can't wait any longer! Area 10 is getting an office space at 2820 W. Cary Street, starting in June. This is exciting because we will have a presence right on Cary Street 3 doors down from the Byrd.

But here's the best part! We are starting a business in the downstairs portion of the building. It will be a kids indoor play place called Cartwheels and Coffee. It will have indoor play equipment for kids and lattes and coffee for adults.

I am so excited about this! There is no business like it in the city of Richmond. In the suburbs, there are similar things, but none in the city. There is some buzz already in the air in the mommy network. Several mommies have already told us they'll be there everyday!

Why is our church starting a business? Well the truth is, we need the space for kids classes on Sunday mornings for church at the Byrd. Since we need the space, why not do a great business in there that also that serves the need in the community? It seemed like a no brainer to us.

We have hired a terrific managing partner for the business. I'll introduce her in an another post.

God is dropping sweet stuff in our lap! I never knew this whole church planting process was going to be this much fun.

To look at the site we have up for cartwheels and coffee- look here.

Area 10 has one of those cool web site things...

Well now we are on the web for all the world to see us. Check it out here. I love the look Laura "the great" put on the web page. Can anyone tell me where the three photos in the collage on the front page are taken from? The web page is just a start. We will be fleshing it out over the next few weeks. Let me know what you think.

A new logo for the 10

Area 10 Faith Community got a new logo. We think this one is a little more professional and interesting. I personally like the circle motif. the large gray circle sort of represents the wider community outside the church that we want to plant ourselves inside.

It's nifty. It's weird though- that we've already changed logos and our church doesn't really exist yet...Oh well. You can do that when your church doesn't exist.

You can do whatever you want really. I think we'll be Buddhist next week. Who knows?

Area 10 getting some pub!

Yesterday I was interviewed by a friendly reporter from the Richmond Times Dispatch. She wanted to do a story on church planting as she had not heard of it before. We talked for about an hour at the Times Dispatch office. It was very interesting. We talked all about my calling to church planting and why I'm doing it. She is probably going to interview some of my church planting buddies around the country.

Hopefully, the story she writes will get good placement in the paper. I'm praying for front page news, but we'll see!

Church plant..yes but the dream's even bigger.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about changing the world. Specifically, how can I/we change Richmond and make it a better place. It's not bad...it's a fine place to live...I just want it to be better.

This is what I'm called to do. I feel that in my gut. I am a church planter...yes. But really, I'm a society changer/social architect/social entrepreneur. I'm setting out to help people I meet know God better. I'm also setting out to get people together (contracters/architects/lawyers/whatevers) who can come together to work on the big issues in the city like affordable housing or crime or whatever.

I had a great lunch today with like minded people. Whenever I meet people who are tired of same ol same ol religion and want to see new things birthed out of the church, it gets me fired up. Today was one of those days.

I can't spill all the beans right now, until I have final commitments on a few things, but I will have some good announcements soon.

A week in Florida is good for the soul

We just returned from Florida. It was sunny, and about 80 degrees everyday. Today in Richmond it is about 68 and rainy. It's a good day to be indoors and type like a madman. I was in Orlando for the exponential conference. My brain is brimming with good stuff. I got to hear some of the best teachers, and leaders in the church in the U.S. today. It was very cool.

The thing I was most reminded of in the whole experience is that I'm not trying to plant a church. The church should be the bi-product of the whole thing. What I'm trying to do is disciple/invest in people and impact the culture. I will be rethinking some of the things we'll be doing these next 4 months. When the church launches, I pray it will really be birthed out of networks and the mission we are already living out in the community.

Getting back to it today. This is too much fun!