Dear Elim Grace, I am certain that we all have seen and felt the growth in our midst. The space in our sanctuary and in our Elim Kids wing is growing smaller. As a result, we have been encouraging one another on Sundays to “pull up a chair” by moving towards the center of the rows or by sitting in the front. This ensures we leave chairs and rows open for those coming in late and/or for our first time guests. We are doing what we can and what we must. So on Sunday October 1, we will be adding a third service to our schedule. Our services will then be at 9:00am, 10:30am and 12:00-12:45pm.
This third service will be an experiment. Joe and I will often talk about “firing bullets not cannonballs,” a leadership principle I learned from Jim Collins. It says:
“Fire Bullets, Then Cannonballs is a concept developed in the book Great by Choice. First, you fire bullets (low-cost, low-risk, low-distraction experiments) to figure out what will work—calibrating your line of sight by taking small shots. Then, once you have empirical validation, you fire a cannonball (concentrating resources into a big bet) on the calibrated line of sight. The ability to turn small proven ideas (bullets) into huge hits (cannonballs) counts more than the sheer amount of pure innovation.”
Here’s what I know: the Holy Spirit knows the size of our building and has still determined to add to us. What He’s begun He can sustain. And yet He calls us to keep pace and to work with Him. Adding a third service is, on the one hand, an experiment in finding a solution. On the other hand, it is an obedient act to steward the growth Jesus is giving us.
Here are ten reasons we’re going to three services.
1. To best steward the growth. For two years we have been hard at work behind the scenes on expansion plans. That much is within our control. We are also in active discussions with banks and capital campaign companies. But not everything is within our control. Supply and demand of materials. Rising building costs. Changing guidelines at all levels of government. The earliest we could break ground on a new project is August 2024. A tentative completion date would be sometime 2025-2026. What do we do in the meantime? We steward what’s been entrusted to us to the best of our ability with the resources we have.
2. To maximize space. We must maximize the space we have. We have to begin to think outside of the box and see if there are some creative options we haven’t thought of yet. To that end, I’ve put together a team to look at the current building from every possible angle to determine if and how we can further maximize our space to serve our Elim Kids ministry. Adding a third service is one way of maximizing the sanctuary space we have.
3. To reach more people. This is a common answer given. But the truth is we can only fit so many adults and children in at any given time. Adding a third time slot means we can open up more space. (This assumes that all those who answered our survey indicating they would attend a third service follow through.) If we can do that, then the kind of growth I am praying for is reaching more people who don’t know Jesus and have no experience with a community of believers.
4. To practice faith. Over the last three weeks I have said “I don’t know” more times than I can count. There’s a lot about where we are as a church in terms of our growth and the changes it brings that I simply don’t know. But we have a great, solid and healthy leadership team, and I am doing my best to learn and to grow as a leader. But the one thing I and we need more than all is faith and trust in God. Being put in difficult to impossible situations reminds us that we live by faith and not by the sight of what we have or understand. We live ultimately not by our own resources, strength or power but by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Him we must seek above all. Him only can we depend on for the wisdom and guidance of God.
5. To practice obedience. The truth is I have resisted going to three services for a long time! I have said to my wife and to Jesus, “I don’t want to.” In organizational leadership studies it has been proven that everything tends to “break” in multiples of 3. By “break” I mean changes and restructuring of some kind become necessary. For us, moving past the 300 barrier means that some of the ways we run organizationally are going to need to change. Going to 3 services means that some of the things we do (and how) will need to change. For me, going to 3 services has meant a reluctant “Yes” to Jesus. It’s meant walking in obedience to Him and the growth (read “changes”) He requires of me. It’s been a gentle reminder that my life is not my own. It’s been a sober reminder that I am a shepherd appointed to “care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). It’s been a timely reminder that the seasons and their boundaries, both of my life and the life of this church, are fixed by Him. This is the season the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!
6. To count the cost. Many times we don’t know the value of something until we’re asked to sacrifice something in exchange. In our discipleship we all know the cost of following Jesus is to take up our cross daily. But the truth is we don’t come face to face with how much we value Jesus, with how worthy He is in our eyes, until something is demanded of us. To tell the truth, to stand up for righteousness, to publicly confess we’re a Christian, to keep silent in the face of our accusers, to walk in obedience. There’s a price to pay. In another way, we don’t actually count the cost of something God calls us to do until it demands something we love: our comfort, our time, our money, our effort, our plans, our independence, our trust, our pride. For me, do I value and love the church of Jesus Christ? Do I value and love preaching to the lost? Do I value and love seeing Elim Grace reach and serve more of the broken and hurting in our community? At some point it demands a practical cost to me and to us.
7. To be found faithful. At the end of my days of pastoring Elim Grace, whenever that is, I want to be remembered as faithful. Loving. Compassionate. Steadfast. Wise. Humble. Courageous. A pastor who faced and walked “into the storm” when it arose. Going back to where we were is not an option. Being content with where we are is not an option. Keeping pace with Jesus by His Spirit is the ONLY option. When He says stop, we stop. When He says move, we move. When He says be strong and build, we are strong in Him and we build.
8. To serve more people. Already hinted at, I have a vision of an Elim Grace where every hand is raised in worship on any given Sunday and where every foot is on the ground on any given Monday. We are ALL, as Paul says, “partners in the gospel”. And the gospel of Jesus Christ both commands and compels us to go out and to make disciples. To serve and to love one another. We are by virtue of being united to Christ partners with Him, not consumers of Him. Celebrate Recovery should grow as Elim grows. The Desens House tribe should grow as Elim grows. Servants Heart should grow as Elim grows. Victory Transformation should grow as Elim grows. Elim Kids should grow as Elim grows. Elim Youth, Elim Men, Elim Women. Elim Worship, Elim Tech, Elim Hospitality. Elim EVERYTHING and everything Elim is involved in should grow as Elim Grace grows, if it truly is—if we truly are—alive in the body and the vine of Christ. If everything and everyone is being acted upon by the Holy Spirit then inevitably, I believe, more and more people will see and feel the impact of Christ’s love through our good works.
9. To be generous. I want to celebrate the growth God is giving us by being generous towards others. I want to counter the human tendency towards self-interest. I want to fight against the compulsion to gather as much as we can for ourselves. So I want to invite you to take a 10 Day Giving Challenge with me. First, ask the Holy Spirit to show you how much money to set apart for 10 days. Maybe it will be $1/day, $5/day, $10/day, $20/day, or any other amount. Put that total amount in an envelope. Second, at the beginning of each day ask the Holy Sprit to lead and to show you who you should give that daily amount to. He may give you a name at the moment of asking or may show you someone walking down the sidewalk as you’re driving. Be ready! Third, be obedient and give that money to that person, whether anonymously or face to face. The point is, Elim Grace, the growth God gives us is not for our benefit. It’s for those all around us. Freely we have received, freely let us give! Let us be known for our extravagant and cheerful generosity.
10. To grow a big people not a big church. Everything I have said above, and everything I could continue to say, is summed up in a sentence which you have now heard me say over and over again: my heart is not to grow a big church but a big people. God gives the growth, Elim Grace, not me. My responsibility is to plant and to water. But I do have a vision, one I am giving and sowing my life to: pastor and lead a big people. A people BIG in Christ. Numbers may matter when it comes to leading an organization, but people matter when it comes to pastoring a church. The disciples we make and the lives we reach are what count most. We could, as it were, build a beautiful trellis and structure, giving it all our attention only to discover the vine is not growing on it at all! What a tragedy! Let the vine that is Christ grow abundantly and beautifully in and through our lives. I’ll give attention to the trellis when needed and required, but it’s the Vine and the life in the Vine that I’m after with all of my heart
Let’s grow, Elim Grace!
Pastor Jonathan