Redemption (in Athens)!

Bill Couchenour | Monday, September 05, 2011

“When the Word was made flesh, there was no compromise on God's part!
God, in the Incarnation, became flesh…by the taking of mankind into God.
That is the wonder of redemption!” (A. W. Tozer)

We were bought with a great price. The sacrifice of Jesus paid a debt for us that we could not have paid on our own. His death and resurrection provides the opportunity of redemption and fellowship with God.

The transformation of a building is, in a sense, a metaphor for redemption. We have been repurposing a number of former Walmarts, Ashley Furniture warehouses and strip centers. They were sitting empty and decaying when we partnered with churches to transform them into places of ministry and worship – to, essentially, redeem them. Bringing new life to these facilities can be a powerful image for a community. It’s a contextual solution with minimal environmental impact. The redemption of a facility that in turn serves the community.

But the real redemption of the facility can only be done through its use. The space is redeemed by the activities that take place in the space it. When we connect with the spiritual through prayer or song or scripture or service, we redeem the space, wherever we are. Space becomes sacred not through physical geography, but through spiritual proximity. This has happened in a big way in Athens, GA. Athens Church, a North Point strategic partner, is committed to be a church that people unfamiliar or uncomfortable with “church” can attend. Athens Church is bringing the gospel of redemption to the people of Athens because…

Athens Church loves Athens!

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” (I Peter 1:18 & 19)

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The Story of Quarry

Bill Couchenour | Monday, August 29, 2011

Quarry Community Church is bringing the hope and compassion of the Gospel to Monticello, MN, about an hour northwest of Minneapolis. Lead Pastor, Michael Grose, and his team are doing a great work for Jesus. You get a glimpse of what they stand for with the analogy they use of a “quarry” (click here for the full Story of the Quarry):

The quarry is a place where you seek to find rocks.
The church is a place where you seek to find lost people.

The quarry is a place where rocks are formed, shaped and hewn for a specific purpose.
The church is a place where new believers in Jesus Christ are mentored and discipled to become fully devoted followers of Christ.

The quarry is a place where rocks are sent out to build something outside the walls of the quarry.
The church is a place where people are built up to be sent out and minister wherever God has called them.

The church is in the process of purchasing a building owned by the city. It was originally built as a bowling alley and over the last several years has fallen into disrepair. We are working with them to renovate this facility to develop needed ministry space and I had a chance to visit them, personally. We’re right at the crux of discerning vision, determining priorities and developing financial plans. It is always thrilling for me when I can be close enough to the vision to feel it.

I love this part because this is the very heart of what we do. The facilities are only tools for ministry but, because of the size of the capital expenditures, the facility decisions are critical. And I am more convinced than ever that bringing the right team into the room with the right process from the beginning results in the best facility decisions for church construction or renovation. I see this approach imitated by many under a variety of names but the “right team” and the “right process” are difficult to duplicate.

Please pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Monticello and the surrounding area.
May God use Quarry CC in a powerful way!

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Using Bamboo for Church Structures

Bill Couchenour | Monday, July 18, 2011

I was interested to find out that they utilize bamboo scaffolding for construction in Hong Kong. It struck me as odd that they even use it for skyscrapers. As it turns out, bamboo is incredibly strong. In Oxford studies from the 1920’s they proved bamboo to be similar in strength to steel. Add to that the fact that bamboo plentiful, cheap, renewable and lightweight and it’s no wonder it’s used throughout Asia.

A new friend, Chris Weinand, used the metaphor bamboo scaffolding recently in a way that captured my attention: We need to use bamboo scaffolding to build our church structures.

Think about the life cycle of a church. A church typically begins with a vibrant, compelling story. The atmosphere is electric. There is excitement and sacrifice. People seek God’s wisdom and guidance through prayer and the scriptures. As the church grows there’s a need for the scaffolding of procedures, practices and processes. Unfortunately, somewhere down the road it starts to become about the procedures, practices and processes and not the ministry. If the story is not redeemed and retold, the scaffolding strangles the structure. The challenge for most churches is that their scaffolding is made of steel and becomes undistinguishable once it’s intertwined with the structure. That makes it very painful for churches when they realize they need to change the scaffolding to be true to the story. More often than not they don’t change, they slowly pass away.

But what if we built our procedures, practices and processes out of bamboo? What if we saw them as temporary from the beginning? Means to an end.

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Pragmatic vs. Spiritual

Bill Couchenour | Monday, June 06, 2011

I was in a meeting with a church staff recently when they asked us to speak with their Board of Elders. They wanted us to advise them on some practical governance issues relative to the DNA, vision, strategy and tactics of the church. But one of the specific issues had to do with reticence on the part of some Elders to let the pastor attend the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit this year. The Summit is an event the pastor has attended a number of times, but this time there was concern that there would be some “secular business people” speaking. The implied thought was that business principles had no place in the church.

I believe the concern was genuine, but it’s founded on a false dichotomy of the sacred and the secular. And it’s a dichotomy that we tend to apply arbitrarily. We will allow the laws of physics to inform how we do a worship service, yet be skeptical of what we might learn about great organizations from Jim Collins. We study computer manuals without regard for the spiritual condition of the author, yet won’t consider what we can learn about trust from Warren Bennis. We follow accounting principles precisely, yet ignore some of the best leadership insights from Ron Heifetz. We even ignore jewels of wisdom from fellow believers, like Peter Drucker, because they’re primarily associated with business.

It’s kind of like saying gravity is a physical principle, so it doesn’t really apply in the church.

There is a spiritual dimension to the church. But, if I understand correctly, that same spiritual dimension exists in all facets of life, including business. Aren’t we to commit all we do, all we are and all we have to God? If we do, wouldn’t that make it sacred? If there is a conversation over coffee that leads to a spiritual breakthrough, is that table at Starbucks any less sacred than a chair in a church? Faithfulness and trustworthiness are fundamental Biblical principles AND they are vitally important for sustained success in business. It seems to me that a principle is either from God or it’s not - regardless of whether it’s applied in the church or in the marketplace. I guess that means the…

Pragmatic is Spiritual (Remember: God made math)

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