What a great day...

Today was such a great day!  

• Church was great, the music was excellent and Ron and Don made their return, which was a lot of fun.  The crowd was engaged and the service was relevant and fun.
  

• I had PCC 101 after the 2nd service.  About 23 people came.  On the first day (it's a 2 part class), I ask people to answer 3 questions:  1) Their name, 2) How they got to PCC, and 3) Why they came back.  We go around the circle and one by one they answer these questions.  It is one of my favorite things to do, as person after person talked about what a difference the church made in their lives.  It reminds me why we do what we do, and it reinforces my resolve to stay focused on reaching people who don't go to church.

• Then I went to Windy Hill and joined the kids for a putt-putt tournament.  I played horribly, but had a great time!  Those kids are great!

• I finished by attending the PCC Senior Night, celebrating 7 of our teenagers who are graduating from High School.  Angie did a fantastic job putting this event together, including dinner and displays, student-led worship, a fun slide show and some really inspiring words that Angie prepared and passionately delivered.  It was an incredibly moving time, and reminded me of the life-changing work that is happening with our teenagers.

There is a lot happening this week for me.  I'll begin my part of writing a devotional guide that we are doing for our fall emphasis.  We have a lot going on with our building and I've got several meetings on that.  I'm contacting a bunch of folks who have expressed interest in being baptized.  I'm doing a good bit of care and some counseling, meeting with some leaders, doing a lot of planning, preparing for a big party we're hosting and writing for a special service we are doing next Sunday.  

In spite of an overloaded schedule,  I feel really good right now...I am excited about this summer and looking forward to God doing great things through us.  We are building momentum again, and it feels great!

What are some ways that you see PCC making a difference?  Do you feel the momentum building, too?

Excited about this Sunday...

We have some killer things lined up for Sunday.  If you don't know, you will want to.

1)  The Vow of Partnership.  I'm very excited about the Biblical truths that God will show to us this week.  Regardless of your relationships or marital status, there will be a great application for your life.  The music will be excellent, the worship will be heartfelt and the teaching will be relevant.  Hope to see you there!

2)  PCC 101, Part 1  - Introduction to Powhatan Community Church - is right after the second service.  If you have not joined the church or if you just want to know more about who we are, what we do, how decisions are made, etc., then 101 is for you.  Lunch and childcare are provided.  Let Lori know if you are planning to attend at lori dot wheeler at powhatancc dot org.

3)  Kids through 6th grade are on a putt-putt outing at 3pm.  I'll be there doing my best to win...Nothing like beating a kindergartner for an ego boost!

4)  PCC Senior Night is at 5pm.  We have several teenagers graduating and I'm looking forward to celebrating with this great accomplishment with them.

Lot's to prepare between now and Sunday...gotta go, working on my putting today!  :-)

A Pastor is Born from PCC

Bob Roberts & Northwood Community Church

One of the most compelling teachings I ever heard came from the journey of Bob Roberts.  Bob is the Senior Pastor of Northwood Community Church in Texas.  Early in the life of Northwood, Bob had a conversation with God that was defining for him.  Northwood was growing and Bob had grand plans for the church.  He says that God asked him this question:  'Bob, do you care about my Kingdom...or do you care about your empire?'  As Bob wrestled with that question, he decided that he would be focused on God's Kingdom.  Northwood averaged a couple thousand people each weekend at church as of a couple of years ago, but the real story is in the number of churches they have planted.  Over 80 churches have come out of that ministry. In fact, Northwood has one of the best church planting organizations in the country, with a very high success rate and tens of thousands of people now coming to church throughout the network.

I'll bet that along the way, Bob has had to answer one recurring question again and again: 'Why would we let that gifted person go to plant another church?  Shouldn't we do what we can to keep them here?'  Bob's answer is predictable and it's implications are profound:  'Because we care more about God's Kingdom than we do about our empire.'

I hope we can make that same claim at Powhatan Community Church.  If the Kingdom benefits, we all can celebrate.  If the Kingdom wins, we all win.  If the Kingdom grows, God is honored.  PCC is a church that cares about God's Kingdom, not just about our church.  

Kevin Salyer

Many years ago, Kevin came to our church.  When he came, it was obvious right away that he was a gifted singer.  I got him into that role as quickly as I could.  He and I met on the front porch at my house and he planted his feet here, dug in, and made a great contribution.I'll never forget the moment when I asked him if he had any questions for me and he said, "Yes. I have one question: Are you a Christian?" I have never had anyone ask me that question before or since, but Kevin was sharp enough to know that just because you are a pastor does not make you a Christ follower. I gained a huge amount of respect for him that day.

Then we had a need for a worship leader and Kevin came on staff here.  As his gifts became more clear, we knew God had led a gifted pastor to our team, and we partnered with Kevin to nurture that pastoral gift.  He became a great pastor, did some teaching, got ordained, and then wrestled with his calling.  

Now that calling is clear for him.   God has prepared Kevin for the moment when he would become the pastor of a church.  That moment is here.  This past Sunday, New Beginnings  Church called Kevin to be their full-time pastor, and he accepted the invitation.

On a personal note, Kevin remains one of my close friends.  I respect him as a man of integrity, as a husband and father, as a fellow Christ follower and as a pastor.  In fact, I believe that Kevin is one of the most gifted pastors I know.  It is personally hard to see him move on, but it is also with a much anticipation that we celebrate this move for him.  God is going to continue to use him to do incredible things for the Kingdom!  

I know you will join me in congratulating Kevin and wishing him well.  He will always be a part of our family, and I hope you will pray for him in the coming days as he lives out a new adventure.

Here's a short message from Kevin to his PCC family, written this past Sunday:

“It’s a Pastor!”

Congratulations PCC family! At noon today, you helped give birth to a brand new, bouncing baby Pastor!

Friends and family, it is with both excitement and sadness I tell you that New Beginnings Church made the leap of faith today to call me as their full-time Pastor. I’m excited for the opportunity it brings…the doors God has been opening up…and the chance to grow in new directions. I’m also sad…because this move does not come without sacrifice. Even though I’ve been apart from you on Sundays for the last three months, I have still been connected to the life of PCC. The reality is, with this move, I will not be part of the daily life of the Powhatan Community Church family that I so dearly love. This is painful, and will take time to make the adjustment.

Here’s the good news…we’re still neighbors! I’m just around the corner and only a phone call away. I will be serving the community of Powhatan just the same as PCC, but in a different way – with folks who have a unique calling from God to serve a unique segment of the population in their own unique way. In every way, we’ll continue to be partners in ministry…worshipping God and making a positive difference in the lives of people around us who need hope, help, and Jesus in their life.

Thank you, my dear friends and family, for investing in me for the past six years. It is by God’s grace that He chose to grow me out of you…through you…and with your help…from a casual Christian who could sing a song, to an ordained Pastor who is committed to loving God and neighbor and changing the world one life at a time. I truly believe that without you, I would not be here today.

Celebrate, PCC! You have been there to witness hundreds of people come to know Jesus and have their lives irrevocably changed…you have helped raise up scores of volunteers who give their time, talents, and resources to touch people through dozens of ministries…you have encouraged the development of countless leaders who never thought they could do what they are now doing for the Kingdom of Christ.

Now you’ve given birth to a Pastor.

Who’s next? Maybe God’s tugging at… you.

Blessed to be your friend,

Kevin Salyer
Pastor
New Beginnings Church

Guest Blogger Beth Brawley

Guest blogger Beth Brawley leads the Creative Arts Team at PCC and is an avid blogger.  Here's a copy of her post from her blog - Grace, Every Day - about how an experience at last year's Leadership Summit continues to impact her.

PCC will be going to the Summit again this year, August 6-7.  Find out more about the event here.  If you're interested in going with us, contact Lori at the PCC office (804.598.1174)

At last year's Leadership Summit I was introduced - via video - to Carly Fiorina. She was a dynamic, engaging speaker and I was captivated, listening to a strong woman talk about leadership and empowerment. I picked up her book, Tough Choices, and have referred to it off and on throughout the past several months.

Truth be told, I'm just reading it VERY slowly - it's sort of a monthly devotional book for me, with constant encouragement and information about leadership.

Okay. Honest truth? It's in the bathroom.

Midway through the book Fiorina talks about the creation of Lucent Technologies, which arose out of AT&T getting rid of a collection of assets called Newco. She was tapped to be Executive VP of Corporate Operations. Here's what she says:

"For some, the words aspiration and inspiration are mumbo jumbo; or hype; or soft, nonoperational stuff. These are people who forget that every income statement and balance sheet in the world is produced by the everyday hard work of everyday people. And people achieve more when they're motivated by a purpose worthy of their efforts. They align their individual actions in to a more powerful collective effort when they know they strive for a common and commonly understood goal. Nowhere are aspiration and inspiration more important than in a large, complex organization undergoing major change. In large companies myriad actions taken and countless small decisions made must add up to the bottom line. And in a period of change, each employee must break old habits and learn new skills, and every employee's actions and decisions must align in new ways to produce something different."

In the midst of everything that we are doing as PCC staff members, in spite of what we're feeling and experiencing on a personal level, regardless of the current status of our personal relationship with God, we are in the middle of some major changes at PCC. We are the folks who are not only doing the "everyday work of everyday people", but we are also inspiring and leading volunteers who are doing the same thing as they serve at PCC.

We each have unique goals for our ministry areas that are hopefully clearly and commonly understood by those folks who serve with us. But I think it's important to still remember that we are, technically speaking, a "large, complex organization undergoing major change."

Our mission is to reach and lead. That is the purpose worthy of our efforts. Lives are changing because of what God's spirit is doing through PCC.

I just want to challenge each of us - myself included - to continue to live in the awareness of the challenges of change, and to take to heart the necessity of breaking old habits, learning new skills and aligning our actions and decisions in new ways. God is using us - and he is also changing us, through this time of change. It's a remarkable thing that ultimately results in eternal impact for our community. We are led by a senior pastor and an executive pastor - but we are also given the great responsibility and even the luxury of leading ourselves.

I'm focusing on praying for us as a body today, and thankful that God's drawn us all together for the sake of His name.

Simply Romantic Nights

I referenced a tool yesterday that I highly recommend to any couple who has been married for more than two or three years.  It will seriously help add some creativity to your marriage and it will be a lot of fun.  It's called Simply Romantic Nights.  Click here to go to the familylife website where you can order it.  Go for it! 

A New Development with Our Building

You've heard of cliches like, 'hindsight is 20-20'.  I'm sure you have a few examples of how the truth of that phrase has been lived out in your life.  It's true for all of us.  When we look back at events and decisions and conversations and actions, we often think, 'If I knew then what I know now, I would have done that differently.' 

When it comes to our building, I am really pleased with where we are and with the product that we have.  Of course, there are several things that I wish we had done differently.  For example, it would be beneficial if a couple of the doorways to certain rooms were in slightly different places.  And I didn't understand that most of the offices wouldn't have windows - I would have done something about that if I had caught it soon enough.  And all of the windows are fixed - you cannot open them. I didn't realize that.

I'm not at all disappointed in our building.  In fact, it's pretty awesome!  There were so many things that we did right.  The building team worked extremely hard to ask the right questions when we were in the design phase of the building.  Meeting after meeting, we considered every detail we could think of and asked every question we could imagine.  Our building, in my opinion, is as good as it can possibly be.  You can second guess anything from the perspective of hindsight.  But given what we knew then, we made the best decisions possible.

Building a custom building means that you have nothing to compare, no model to walk into and examine.  Whether you are builing a house or an office building, a warehouse or a church, there are always going to be some things that you look at and say, 'I'd have changed that if I had realized....'  That's just part of the process and it's to be expected.

What we did not expect, however, was that we would have a disagreement with our builder.  It's something that we have been trying to work out with him for more than a year.  It amounts to a dispute in our contract with him to the tune of about $250,000.  We have asked, begged, written emails and letters and have had multiple meetings with him.  I personally met with him privately (just him and me) last week twice and begged him to negotiate with us.  I made him 2 incredibly generous offers, but he was unwilling to budge in any way.  He had pulled his people off of the job and nothing was being done.  I was completely willing to let the building sit and delay our use of it as long as he was willing to negotiate.  But when he made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that he would not, I knew we were going nowhere.   So, with the Steering Team's support, after a huge amount of prayer and no small amount of agony, I fired him. 

Let me assure you of a couple of things you will want to know:

1. We made this decision as a last resort.  Again, we've been asking him to resolve this for more than a year.  And, since February, we have been intensely and actively trying to negotiate a solution.  I personally made him offers that were way above and beyond what we were obligated to do.  Jesus said, "...If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles." (Matthew 5:39b-41, NIV)  I want you to rest assured that I made him an offer that gave him our right cheek, would have let him take the cloak, and went the extra mile.    But Jesus' teachings in Matthew 25 help us take Matthew 5 on balance.  We are stewards of money and resources that are not ours - they belong to God. And we will be held accountable for those resources.  Further, fresh in my mind is the teaching I learned about enablers and that 'love must be tough.'  I just couldn't give him a quarter of a million dollars that he was not entitled to have.  For me, that would be poor stewardship, and we would be held accountable for it.
2. We have treated the builder with fairness and respect.  I refuse to judge his character or his spirituality.  We've had a disagreement that has ultimately brought us to an impasse.  Our differences are apparently irreconcilable and, therefore, we are parting ways.  The builder is not a bad man or unChristian.  We just have a fundamental disagreement that makes it so we cannot continue to work together.
3. We are working now with every subcontractor that the builder hired to try and ensure that they are all paid in full the money he owes them.
4. We believe we have the funds to make all of the subcontractors whole and finish the building.  If we don't, we are very close.  (this includes borrowed and donated monies)
5. We are going to finish the building ourselves.  Most (possibly all) of the builder's subcontractors have agreed to work directly with us to complete what is left to be done.  
6. We will act with absolute integrity.  If we owe the builder any money, you have my word that we will pay him.  However, at the moment it appears that this is not the case.  If this sounds fuzzy to you, it's because we have to assess how much money is owed to subcontractors in order to determine who owes who.  We're doing that right now.
7. Several people on our staff are working enormous hours to get this done.  They are incredibly committed and dedicated to the task and to our church. Particularly, Dennis and Chauncey have put in more than their share of emotional energy and time.  And now, they will be the primarly managers of the project to get it finished.  Everyone on staff will have to shift some responsibilities to fill in the gaps while Dennis and Chauncey become project managers.
8. The Steering Team has been involved in every step of this process.  
9. Most importantly, we have nothing to hide.  Anything you want to know and any information you want to see is at your disposal.  Dennis, Chauncey and I have all agreed to make ourselves available to anyone who wants to meet and talk.  You can call or email us and we'll schedule some time, or you can email us your question and we'll answer it.  There are many details I have not included in this post, only because it would take hours to write and would be more than most people want to know.  But we will tell you anything you want.  

Hindsight is 20-20.  If I could go back and know in late 2007 what I know now, I/we could have prevented all of this.  I'm sure the builder is thinking the same thing. But we don't have the benefit of hindsight when we're in the moment.  We have to prayerfully go with the best information we have.  We did that then and we're doing that now.

Thanks for your understanding and support.  We are shooting to move in to our building the Sunday after Labor Day. September 13 is going to be a GREAT day! 

10B4 May 24, 2009

Just in case you missed it on Sunday, here's Chad with the latest update on what's happening around PCC!