First Elders Gathering

Tonight was the first of what will be many elder gatherings. The men serving in this role are (L to R), Chuck Taylor, Luke Fields, Bill Sinzinger, Rob Dubois, Kyle Mielke and myself. We all share the privilege of shepherding those that call Encounter Church their home. Please pray that we will be examples for the flock, leading with tenderness, humility and passion.

Good-bye to the Painter's

This morning in the service we got to celebrate the lives of Matthew & Jennifer Painter. They have been part of Encounter since the very first practice service on February 1, 2009. Over this past year they both got involved in our small groups and served on Sunday mornings: Matthew with Ekids and Jennifer with the worship team. They are moving to Wyoming this month b/c of a job Matthew has taken at the University of Wyoming to be a sociology professor. After I spoke about them and how we have deeply appreciated their being part of our church body, they spoke about their experience of Encounter being the first church they've been part of as a newly married couple. I asked the elders to come up and lay hands on them as I prayed for their future as a couple and that they would find a new local church body to grow with.
We will miss having them with us. I pray there will be people to fill the ministry positions they leave behind.

A time of prayer at LC

This morning at Leadership Community we took a little extra time to get before God and commit ourselves and this summer to Him. We used our core values celebrate, grow, serve and multiply to have a concert of prayer. Some of it was open prayer, some silent, some in groups and some assigned to individuals.

All throughout the church planting journey we have taken specific times to get before the Lord to bring our requests, offer our thanks and ask Him for wisdom on how to move ahead. It is often one of those quiet things that happen in the backdrop of our personal and church body lives, but it is the backbone of the Christian life.

Real Life

I just got back from the Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC), "Real Life" gathering in Independence Hall on the campus of OSU. It was awesome. There were approx. 650 college students and a fantastic worship band leading them in authentic praise of our great God. It was the last Thursday night before the summer break. They will start up in late September again and that's when we will begin to partner in ministry with them.

Encounter's own Ryan Janosko is now fully on staff with CCC at OSU and will soon tell us more specifically how we'll be serving alongside these young adults.

Party with a purpose

Tonight I had the pleasure of attending a party with about 250 other fine folks to hear about the lives of three golfers playing in this years Memorial Tournament. It was hosted by my friends Rex & Laurie Elsass and the organization putting it on was Search Ministries, Columbus, headed up by Doug Franck. I have to admit, I'm not an avid golfer or spectator, so I knew nothing about these three men. But after listening to them briefly speak of their families, their knowledge of the game and their personal relationship with Jesus Christ, I was very impressed. The men were Stewart Cink, Kenny Perry and Mark Wilson.