Just read a post titled "Don't Be Afraid of Reproducing" on Dave Ferguson's blog (Dave is our Lead Pastor here at Community). He talks about how God blesses us when we reproduce and send people out to accomplish his mission. I've been thinking about this a lot the past few weeks. I have experienced God's grace so much in this recent launch.
See 6 months ago the Associate Kids' City Director at the campus I lead made the decision to become the Director at the new Plainfield Campus we launched this past weekend. I totally supported Cathy in this decision seeing it as the best next leadership step for her and also the best choice for Plainfield. But I have to admit, it also scared me to death. See Cathy had been a key leader at our Naperville-Yellow Box campus for years. She had 8 years of history at this campus and was far more connected with people there than I am (I've only been at this site for a year). Cathy carried the bulk of the work load of the campus even though I was the Director as I also juggled my responsibilities overseeing the ministry across all 8 campuses and the development of our curriculum products. How could I lose Cathy?
But I knew I wasn't losing Cathy. I was sending Cathy. Sending her to a new place to take the Jesus mission there. And I admit I felt a certain amount of satisfaction feeling like sending Cathy was a great statement for our reproducing church. No one is sacred. Nothing is more important than reproducing.
Still, I knew I was in trouble.
Yet God showed up as only God can. One day in early January as I was standing near our check-in table I noticed someone I'd never considered before. She was a proven leader in other areas of the church. She'd been with the church since it's beginning. And the thought popped in my head..."Maybe it is Sue?" That thought moved quickly out of my mouth and several conversations and weeks later Sue said "yes" and joined our Kids' City team at Naperville. She started on Cathy's last day at the campus. And I have no doubt she's going to be phenomenal in this role.
I haven't even mentioned this other piece... We sent somewhere around 20 people from the Naperville-Yellow Box Campus to serve in Kids' City at Plainfield. We were proactive about encouraging people to go. We wanted them to go. And how did God show up in this? In late January we had a recruiting weekend and as a result at least 25 people have joined our team. When Plainfield launched this past weekend, we had already replaced every contributor that we'd sent. God is faithful.
Now I'm not saying there won't be bumps in the road or challenges to overcome. But I know that God desires his church to expand and reach those who are far from him. If you are wrestling with your church's decision to go multi-site... Wondering how you will make it... Feeling yourself wanting to hoard your volunteers... Far more consumed by the challenges than the opportunities... Remember that God is faithful. Abandon your fears to him. Release with a joyful heart. And then get ready for him to show up in the chaos.
One of my dreams for Kids' City is that we will drive the reproduction of our church instead of reacting to it. I want to have so many ready leaders that we are chomping at the bit to start another site. Multi-site really is fun. Don't be afraid.
