The Bethel Story...Intermission

I've had a few folks who have asked me how we "knew" that Bethel was the place for us.

That's a great question...if you've ever served in a church or if you even been close to a minister, you probably know that leaving a church to take a new place is a pretty weird thing.

I believe God "speaks" in many ways, but for us and for this particular move, here's what led us to accept this position:

PERSONAL

• This is what grabbed us first and foremost...every person we met at Bethel seemed like a long lost friend. This may not seem overly spiritual, but from the very start and on the surface, Kristen and I both felt like we were meeting people that we would enjoy serving alongside.
• Bethel's mission was in-line with what I consider our family's ministry philosophy. I group that in the "personal" category because Bethel's mission was voiced by many different folks from many different walks of life. That encouraged us...we knew immediately that the leadership of the church had worked hard to instill in the congregants and understanding of the driving force for the church's existence.
• It should also be stated that the previous two factors were definitely present at First Methodist, too. Sure, Bethel's a little bit different from FUMC, but these same two ideas - friendliness and mission - reminded us of what we liked about First Methodist from our very first Sunday.

PEACE

• We left our initial visits very encouraged by what we had seen and heard. But, we wanted to be careful and spend time praying about our decision. We had lots of reservations, concerns, questions, etc., about leaving FUMC and Lufkin. As most of you know our parents and extended family live in Lufkin, so we were fully expecting this to be a tortured decision. And then...it wasn't. Kristen and I both instantly felt God's assurance that this move was right. It's as if we knew were supposed to be upset/scared/stressed, but God was giving us tons of peace. It was amazing.
• Through prayer, I also had a very real sense of peace regarding the future of FUMC. If you've read some of the "Bethel story" already, you know that Chris (from my team) knew what was up. God began to work ideas and plans in my heart and mind regarding Chris and the other members of my Sunday morning team

PARTICULARS

• As ministry goes, this new church had needs that fit right in my skill set. I have learned a ton of stuff at FUMC, especially in trying new things that I had no experience doing! It's been a great learning experience and I feel confident in taking those abilities to Tyler.
  
• While Tyler is a new town and a bigger place, it's still so close to family, which is important to us.
• A lot of folks have asked if I'll continue playing "gigs." I'm not sure. I enjoy heading out to lead worship as it provides a whole new set of challenges, approaches and rewards. In my time at FUMC, I tried to limit my travel dates so that I'd be able to serve on Sundays. In a new place, I'm sure I'm going to be very busy getting settled in and I have a lot of ideas about stuff to try at Bethel...I'm guessing that may push the gigging out of the picture for at least a little while.
• I'm excited to begin writing songs within a new church...I really enjoy getting to know the people and trying to write songs that capture where we are as a church.

Next time, we'll continue the actual story of Bethel...parts 3 and 4 get GOOD!