StretchyChurch

I know, I know… I haven’t posted anything new in over a week! I guess I’ve been in one of those non-inspired states. Or maybe it’s more like this: I’ve been pouring all my energy into the church and into my Doctor of Ministry, so StretchyChurch has gotten shorted.

I’ll just share a couple quick things:

First, I’m soooo happy living in San Diego! I love the church I’ve been called to lead. I love the people. I love the neighborhood. And I love the potential that this church has to become a vibrant presence in the community of Clairemont!

I’m also happy because we live so close to the ocean. It’s better than I could have asked for! I’ve never been in a place where I could go surfing almost anytime I want to. This past week I went surfing on Thursday morning before work (from 6-8am) and then I went again on Friday morning after dropping Micah off at preschool. It’s just more than I could have ever hoped for!

The second thing I thought I’d share has to do with a comedy duo called Flight of the Conchords. They are hilarious!! My friend, D.G. has a couple posts with some videos from them. Check them out here and here.

Well, today I just found out that Bret (the smaller guy in the duo) played an elf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy! In The Fellowship of the Ring, Bret plays one of the elves at the Council of Elrond. And in the extended version of The Return of the King, he plays an elf who says to Arwen (as she is getting ready to leave Middle Earth) something like, “We must leave, my Lady.”

Believe it or not, there is an entire website dedicated to Bret’s role in The Lord of the Rings. The site is called Figwit Lives! (Figwit is an acronym for “Frodo is grea…who is THAT?!?” Very random…  But I guess the girls think he’s pretty cute!)

Kevin Womack, the pastor of Fletcher Hills Presbyterian Church–and a guy who’s really made me feel welcome this first month in San Diego–just sent me a link to some pictures from the Harris Fire in San Diego. The photographer is one of the firefighters, and is also one of the members at Kevin’s church.

Click here to see the pictures. Slide #112 is my favorite…

So I finally get home from a really long day at work and I turn on Fox News to get updated on the fires out here in San Diego. Geraldo pops up on the screen and announces that he’s at Qualcomm Stadium–which is only about 3 miles down the street from where I’m sitting at this moment! Kinda weird…

Anyway, it seems that we’re in a fairly safe location at the moment. The nearest fire to us is the one that hit Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Santa Fe, Poway, etc. Luckily we’ve got Miramar between us and the fire.

But I have to admit it’s pretty crazy. The air smells like smoke. There’s a fine layer of ash everywhere. And the sky is orange.

Our church is doing what it can by collecting blankets, books, and games (for which there have been requests by the shelters), which we will then deliver to one or more of the nearby shelters. You can see what I wrote about the fires on our church website here and here.

Please keep us all in your prayers. A few in our congregation have had to evacuate and others are in danger of having to evacuate. Fortunately, I don’t think anyone has lost their home yet.

Just wanted to share one of our cutest new pictures of Micah and Macy… (She’s getting bigger–can you tell?!)

On Thursday I told you I’m finally convinced we live in San Diego. Yesterday (Friday) I finally became convinced that we’re back home! Why? Because I went surfing at Old Man’s in San Onofre–my old home surf spot–with my two surfing buddies, Joel and Jeremy. I’m so happy to be home!!

On another note… Clark Cowden, the new Executive Presbyter here in San Diego Presbytery, just wrote his first monthly message on the presbytery’s website. In it, he describes why we have a lot to be hopeful for as Presbyterians. I believe that our denomination is at the front edge of a transformation, and Clark seems to think so, too!

Click here to read Clark’s message.

Today I became convinced that we really live in San Diego. Why? Because this morning I went surfing before work!! Woohoo!

Now I’m sitting in my office at 8:15 a.m. with the smell of salt water and neoprene on my skin. I love it!

And at 8:30 I meet our Executive Presbyter, Clark Cowden, at Starbucks.

Yes… Life is good in San Diego….

As of yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, I am now officially installed as Pastor of Northminster Presbyterian Church in San Diego! Woohoo! No more hoops to jump through! Heh heh…

Anyway, you may have noticed that I haven’t been posting as much the past couple of weeks. Hmm… I guess it’s because I have a job now! I just need to find my rhythm at the church and then hopefully get back into the swing of posting on a regular basis.

Also, I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet that I got accepted into Fuller Seminary’s Doctor of Ministry program. Tomorrow is actually the official start date for the class–although I started reading for the class as soon as I applied for the program a couple months ago. I’m really looking forward to it, since the program I’m doing is in the area of Missional Leadership and is taught by Alan Roxburgh (whom I’ve been quoting a lot lately) and Mark Lau Branson.

Anyway, I’m really excited to start the D.Min. I think it’s going give me some great direction as I begin to lead Northminster toward becoming a missional church. And it’ll probably give me some good stuff to write about on StretchyChurch, too!

Yeah, I know… I should have posted about my first Sunday a little earlier than Wednesday. Sorry about that!

Anyway, the service went great! At least, I thought so… In any case, I got good feedback from people.

Now comes the hard part. Because now I have to do this every week!!

I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to preach on a Sunday morning! On Thursday afternoon I took the order of worship for Sunday into the sanctuary just to go make sure I understood the service and what I’d be doing on Sunday (besides preaching). And when I finished, I had this overwhelming feeling of excitement! I thought to myself, “Man, I can’t wait to preach on Sunday!”

Unfortunately, I’ve come down with a cold, but I’m sure I’ll be fine if I load up on enough medicine. Heh heh… Anyway, keep us all in your prayers tomorrow morning if you think of it! Thanks!

Today is day number three for me at Northminster Presbyterian Church. And here’s a picture of me acting like I’m working really hard! (Not bad acting, eh?)

It’s been a great first couple of days. On Monday I had lunch with Jim Hagelganz, the pastor who’s been preaching on Sundays during the past three months and had some good conversation with him.

On Monday night, the Transition Team had a great meeting in which we started to brainstorm some ideas for reaching out into our community—as one member of the team put it, “Starting with the apartments surrounding the church!”

Last night, I met with the session (our church board) for the first time. It was great to get together with them and simply get acquainted. We talked a lot about the church’s feelings right now: were they hopeful? fearful? nervous or excited about this new, young whippersnapper pastor? We also talked about our community and how it has changed over the past 50 or so years and the need for us as a church to discover how to be the people of God in the midst of this changing community called Clairemont.

And the best part? About an hour before the meeting started I was able to walk to Jamba Juice about a block away! Yes, I think I’m going to like it in San Diego…