Preview Service Series

Preview Service Series: “Cultivating a Connecting Culture”

This fall we are gearing up to launch into weekly worship services. We will explore the kind of church culture we are working to cultivate. We are calling it a “connecting culture”- an environment where people naturally gravitate into a deeper relationship with God, others, and the world around us. We believe there are five vital nutrients that need to be present to create this kind of culture- trust, acceptance, truth, healing and connection. Take away even one of these, and the culture will not be able to flourish. But with each one present we will flourish.

We hope you’ll come as you are, make a connection and bring others with you.

Sept. 30- “Cultivating a Connecting Culture- a Culture of Trust”
What would it take for you to trust yourself, to trust other people, to trust God? What would it look like to be a part of a community where trust is the norm?

Oct. 14- “Cultivating a Connecting Culture- a Culture of Acceptance”
Have you ever felt like you could really just be yourself with another person or in a group? Or have you never known what it’s like to be accepted for who you are and how God created you?

Oct. 28- “Cultivating a Connecting Culture- a Culture of Truth”
What are the lies the world feeds us, and we gladly accept? What would happen if we spoke the truth to others, and they spoke truth into our lives?

Nov. 11- “Cultivating a Connecting Culture- a Culture of Healing”
Everybody’s broken. Not everyone finds healing. Is there a path that leads to hope and wholeness?

Nov. 25- “Cultivating a Connecting Culture- a Culture of Connection”
I’m lonely. You’re lonely. Why can’t we find a way to connect? Is there a way to connect?

Lessons from an Illusionist

My beloved wife surprised me with a trip to Niagara Falls this past weekend. It has been a year since we moved to Canada and I still had not soaked up the glitz, glamor and kitsch of the 7th wonder of the world. So off we went to celebrate our 10th anniversary/my birthday.
It was awesome! So much of what I expected- neon signs, big crowds and casinos that seemed to stretch on forever. Oh yeah, the actual falls were pretty nice too, but I was there to see what man had made.
I was there to see the 8th wonder of the world- illusionist Greg Frewin (I'm not making that up, it was on one of the posters!). Robin and I had a great time, and I'd actually recommend the show based on the facts that 1) I had a good time, and 2) I have no idea where else in Canada you can see a show like this. But here are a few of my observations which may, or may not, have something to do with launching a church:

1) Entryways matter. While the theatre was very nicely renovated, they still have some work to do on the entryway. You may never notice a nice foyer with great signs, friendly greeters, and accessible information, but you sure do notice when it's missing.
2) Great food is great! Hospitality is so important. It's better to have a few items that are really good than a endless supply of garbage. The buffet did this well. The only disappointment was dessert- don't miss the most important part of the meal!
3) Good help is hard to find. I felt so bad for Greg- it would appear that he had a new techy on staff, and I wouldn't be surprised if the guy got fired after the show. He missed his mark at the start of nearly every trick. The "magic" was broken almost every. And while Greg was on his game, you could tell he was getting very upset. Finding the right help, hit the marks, making the program work is everything. While the individual tricks were great, we never got "lost" in the show. Greg was helpless to make things work during the show, but I'm sure he's done everything in his power to fix the problem for the next show.
4) Typos are a distraction. I should learn this lesson much better. A church is inevitably going to have mistakes as the information changes so much every week, but never should a mistake be carried over to the next service.
5) Don't mis-represent what you are. Here is was what disappointed me most- from the pictures I saw I expected smoke machines, pyrotechnics, wild animals and dancing girls in giant feathery hats and sequins. And that's what I wanted- over the top, larger than life, I can't believe it type of show. It just wasn't quite that. The dancers were great, the costumes so-so, the animals were amazing, but we didn't see much of them, and no smoke- come on!

But I don't want to sound too negative- I still had a GREAT time at the show and appreciate my wife for all her work. The food, the magic tricks themselves, the whole evening out- I loved it.

Here's my final thought on the weekend- our insatiable need to try to improve on things. Humans have this burning desire to take something in its raw form and try to develop it further. In its best form it takes something like, say, a chunk of stone, and turns it into the statue of David by Michaelangelo (but even at that you wouldn't want every stone turned into a naked dude).
At its worst, it takes a majestic waterfall and turns it into "Niagara Falls." We take the 7th wonder of the world and add lights, boats, tours, games, rides, wax museums, casinos and haunted houses. What the deal with haunted houses? I counted at least 4.
So while I loved basking in all the glitz of Niagara, after one day, Saturday, Robin and I were ready to escape. So on Sunday we hit the Falls Parkway, hiked into the Glenn, which was awesome, took a sail boat ride in the afternoon (thanks Uncle Dave and Aunt Joanne).
And I must say that I wouldn't have wanted it any other way- after enjoying all "man" had built up on Saturday, it felt right that on Sunday we should worship, enjoy creation, escape the noise and the lights and the busy-ness of it all.
And likewise, while our church might meet in a theatre, while the band will rock and the venue is about as built up as one can imagine, still we hope, we pray, that it is a place to find refuge from a world of glitz and glam, and find connection with God and His people.

Losing my religion

When I was a frosh as college the band REM released a song titled "Losing my Religion." At a Christian Liberal Arts College it spurred a bit of conversation, mostly trying to decide if losing religion was a good or bad thing. In the end, most of us agreed that it depended on your definition of religion. In general, "religion" is a rather vague term and can refer to many good things, and many horrible things.

Fast forward to Monday night- I had the opportunity to hear and talk with Bruxy Cavey, teaching pastor of the Meeting House
who was speaking on the release of his newly expanded book, "The End of Religion." I never asked a question, as I haven't read th book yet, but if I did, I would have wanted to ask Bruxy to give me his definition of religion.
I'm not going to pass any critique until I've read the book, but here are my initial thoughts.
First, the idea of ending religion as we know it must be tempered with another seminal work from 1991 titled "The Myth of religious Neutrality" by Roy Clouser. This book stirred up heated feelings in favor and against, as I'm sure Bruxy's book will.
I agree with premise of the myth of religious neutrality- which is, that we really are not neutral. We have a "religion," a set of deeply felt beliefs, examined or unexamined, that influence and drive what we do, think and understand (I'm avoiding words like epistemology and the like, which is helpful, but can be confusing if you haven't had the blessing/curse of going to seminary). The idea that we can somehow escape or get past our religious bias is itself a bias/belief. Thus the circular reasoning begins.

I also agree with Bruxy, if I grasp his argument correctly, that Jesus essentially ushers in the end of religion. But I will add this- the end of religion in all the ways that it has basically gone wrong, which is most of religion as we know it. Because, and this is the crucial thing, Jesus doesn't so much end religious Judaism as he fulfills it. In his own words, he fulfills the law, he doesn't abolish it. The law was given because we missed the heart of religion, the heart of a relationship with Jesus. So while I could be said that Jesus takes us back to the start, because he is that start, it's better understood that he takes us through the mistakes. The brings the full circle to the relationship with God as we were designed for.

I believe we are religious creatures by nature- designed to worship. It's inherently part of our "creatureliness" and our creators glory. So if you attach the word "religion" to this created norm of worship, well then, religion is a good thing again. Now we don't try to end religion all together, we just take it back to it intended design and place in creation.

Instead of rambling on for ever, I'll just add that throughout Jesus' ministry and the New Testament letters I think a strong case can be made for the right place of the right kind of religion. And perhaps that can be seen nowhere better than in Revelation 22 and the glorification of Jesus and consummation of redemptive history- an image of all of creation worshiping God. I suppose I'm just fixated on seeing that as a "religious" action.

So, I'm grateful to both books as ponder these matters- we are creatures made to glorify the Creator, but we've certainly messed it up. Let us boldly slaughter all the sacred cows of false religion that keep us from the relationship with God offered through Jesus and His Holy Spirit, and the kind of religion that our own Lord Jesus finds pleasing (James 1:27).

Our first article!

I meet Rob Hueniken, the editor of "Christian Life in London" a few months back. At the time he said he'd be interested in doing an article when Connections started public services. True to his word, we put this article together for the October issue. If you're on the team, been to our service, or regularly read the blog, there's nothing really new. I just wanted you to be aware and check it out when it hits London on October 4 in print or online at www.clilondon.com

We need your help!

Holding our first preview service last weekend afforded me the opportunity to talk with a fresh group of people about Connections. Which is exactly what we hoped for.

However we did not get the avalanche of Connections Cards we were hoping for. I don't know any other way to say it except that we really do covet your input and insight. We'd love to hear from you:

• how did you find us,
• what did you like,
• what there anything you didn't like,
• would you come back again,
• would you bring a friend,
• would you like to be a part of a Connections Group,
• would you like to be a part of the launching team?

It's more than just getting an attendance chart. Of course we want an attendance chart- we what to know how many people come to our worship services, our Connections Groups, our service events and who on our teams. Every perosn matters to us because people matter to us. It is one of our values.

Which is also why feedback is important to us.
It matters so that we can better do what we want to do. Which is, of course, help people find a connection with God, other people and the world. We need to know if our ministry is hitting the mark and making and impact. We need people to be brutally encouraging and gently honest.

In other words, if you have nothing good to say, it's clear that this ministry isn't for you. I think we've been pretty clear with our mission, our values, and the basic parameters of this ministry. If you don't have some degree of "buy-in," then you can't really give helpful feedback. You can only criticize.

But if you liked a lot of what you've seen or experienced, but have a question or concern or comment, that would be immensely helpful. That would help us grow, stretch and mature this church.

It will be helpful because this is a crucial part of cultivating the kind of culture we envision. We want a culture of dialog and participation, of finding a voice and a place. I think it's in the very act of giving and receiving feedback that people will begin to find a connection with Connections.

So when I say we need your help, we need it on many levels. We need help in crafting a pulling off a service that connects with the culture around us and with God. We need help in creating more Connections Groups- host homes and leaders, and people helping out by committing and bringing others. We need help to connect with the world- to serve and love the community and world around us. We need help in the most basic of ways- just telling us about yourself and what you think.

7.2 Millions Dollars

Yesterday one of our Team leaders called me and asked if I wanted to go to the united way luncheon. I was shocked- shocked I hadn't heard about it! Me, the guy whose trying to network like crazy and go to every community event I can to meet people. Me, the guy who literally studies the community events page in the paper!
Anyway, I did miss the ads, but did make the lunch.
7.2 million in London in the next year. That's their goal.
An awesome goal which got me thinking about our dreams and the resources we need to make them reality.
I don't have any answers for you now, but I will say this.
If 200 people at our first service was NOT a flash in the pan, but a sign that we may attract a crowd, and turn that crowd into a church, then we can work to turn that church into a force.
A force with a big dream and big goals to help us move toward it.
That's what I'm thinking and praying about tonight.

Simple Church

While we've been dreaming and designing Connections Community Church I found myself often going invoking the word "simple." At first I was just used as an encouragement when the thought of launching a church seemed overwhelming, which it still does. Then I realized I was using it more and more as a value. In other words- it wasn't just an empty reassurance in light of a very different reality. No, we really did want to keep the church simple by design in it's mission, vision and process.
I kept trying to break things down to the essential elements, stripping down the fluff and the extraneous, and mapping out very clear course of direction. Even the other design elements came to take on this quality- keep the service simple, strip down the program, keep the website clutter-free.
So when I saw a book called "Simple Church" a few months ago I had to pick it up.
It was one of those reads that was a first very frustrating.
Why?
Because I was literally living and writing the book!
But then it became a tremendous encouragement. I wasn't the only pastor/church planter thinking these thoughts, having these feelings, coming to these convictions. That while planning, launching and being a church is in now way "simplistic," it can be, in a good way, simple.
What has been most helpful from the book was therefore not the stories and principles which I already know, but a common lexicon to speak about church in this way. Here is what they came up with:

Clarity- Movement- Alignment- Focus

Simple churches are abundantly clear on what they do and why they are doing it. This is clarity. They define it as "The ability of the process to communicated and understood by the people."p. 70
Simple churches know where people are going. "Movement is the sequential steps in the process that cause people to move to greater areas of commitment." p. 72
Simple churches are on the same page. "Alignment is the arrangement of all ministries and staff around the same process." p. 74
Simple churches know the target. "Focus is the commitment to abandon everything that falls outside of the simple ministry process."
It's awesome to work with a team that seems to truly get this.

So here's your test- can you remember and state the CCC mission? If so, we've already begun to do our job, and you already understand our vision, our mission and our process for ministry.

Making the Connections

I'm pleased to finally be able to include a new feature in the Connections blog- my sermons!
Just click here and you'll be directed to this week's sermon: "Making the Connections".
In the future all sermons can be accessed through a link on the side of this blog.
PS Maybe someday soon we'll have "podcast" - we'll see!

Sneak Preview #1

This is what I thought the service would like like...


But this is how it turned out...


What can we say except "To God be the glory!"
Thursday morning we had no equipment.
Thursday night we had our first practice with our sound and lighting.
Friday morning we had 2 hours in the theatre to figure things out.
Sunday morning at 8am we started to set up.
By 10a.m. we had (rough count) 194 people!

I said it at the service and I'll write it here- where did these people come from?!
All I can say is thanks to God and thanks to everyone who worked so hard to pull off our first Preview service. Whatever happened between Friday morning and this morning was definitely a God thing!
It was one of those experiences where I can genuinely say it was so much more than I expected. I thought it would be good, but it was great! The set up went smoothly, the Cafe was great, the check-in of kids all came together, the band sounded awesome and a few people said the preacher wasn't half bad. Even the manager at Silver City said he had never seen anything like what we did this morning!
Now we take joy in a job well done, and start the work of faithfully following up. There's so much we can do now in service and in Connections Groups. And between now and September 30th we can do a lot to make the Sunday service even better. We received some great feedback, and some very constructive insights.
But all things considered, the most awesome thing was simply that people invited their friends and family, and they came. It really can be that simple.

Only a few hours away!

Robin found this old picture of me on the web! It think it was supposed to inspire me- it did inspire a laugh! Sitting by the old stained glass at First Presbyterian. Those were the days....

Tomorrow will certainly be a different venue, but we will worship the same God!

So what am I expecting? A few weeks ago I was just expecting to get the first service under our belts. Now I'm starting to think we may actually have a pretty strong preview service. I say that fully aware that setting the bar high can set one up for great disappointment. But with all the work the team has done I think this might not be half bad!

So what about numbers? Everyone asks. That's in God's hands. I've said we are going from "grass roots to glossies." We haven't done any advertising. In fact, we've been pretty low-key about this. But once we pull off a service, once we see we can do this, once we know what "this" is, then we'll pull out all the stops. We'll open the gates and try to get teh word out to the whole city!

So if we only have our fifty people there, We'll have to wonder- did we invite anyone? If we have more than 100, I'll be shocked, and we won't have enough coffee. Then, with each of our 5 following preview services, will try to build the numbers each time- holding a service, evaluating, following up, inviting more. Bu the time December hits we are praying for a pool of one hundred volunteers and the resources to go weekly!
But tomorrow is go time, and now it's time for me to pray and go to bed!

But if anyone interested, this is what I worked out for an introduction tomorrow...


I’d like to welcome you to the first sneak preview service of Connections Community Church. We are a group of people with a fairly simply, but rather grandiose dream- to begin a church here in London that will become a place where people find a connection to God, to other people, and to the world. That’s our mission statement- Connecting with God... with people…with the world. I hope you saw that printed on our materials, our banners, our shirts, and just about everything we do.

We want to provide a worship service that helps create and nurture a direct connection to God that would start Sunday morning and take your throughout the whole week. We are serious about connecting with people too. We believe without apology that people were made not only to connect with God, but also with other people, in meaningful, intentional relationships, to share with one another in good times and bad times. We are creating Connections Groups that meet throughout the week and you are welcome to be a part. But more, we want to connect with the world, in service, in love, in mission. We want to create opportunities to connect with the world here in our own backyard and abroad. We want to share and serve in the world out of the gratitude of our hearts.

We have a team of some 50 people working behind the scenes and up front to make this service, and the ministries of Connections, happen.

My name is George Saylor, my wife Robin is helping our behind the scenes today, and my three children are desperately trying to help out with things this morning, which is really the sweetest thing to see them wanting to help so much. In fact, a few weeks ago my dear Karis, 5 years old, was talking to our neighbor and said - “Please come to our new church- nobody comes to our church.”

(NOTE: THIS NEXT PART IS WRITTEN IN ANTICIPATION OF SOME FOLKS ACTUALLY SHOWING UP) Folks, it’s good to see a few people have come to our new church. If you’re here, chances are you were personally invited. We haven’t had any mass mailings, phone call campaigns, radio ads or anything like that. We’ve meet in homes, we’ve organized as a launch team, and we’ve served the community in a few special events. But we’ve come to the place where we wanted to offer a Sunday morning worship service, for we are, after all, a church. And churches for two millennia have gathered on the first day of the week to worship together as the people of God.

This is our first sneak preview service. The thing about sneak previews is this- while it’s the movie; it’s also a work in progress. They might try some alternate scenes or endings. They’ll fidget with the soundtrack and the way scenes are edited together. They’ll screen these films because they actually want some feedback. And the audience actually gets to impact what might be the final version of the film. A few months ago I had the opportunity to see the sneak preview of Michael Moore’s movie “Sicko.” As much as the movie itself, what I remember from the evening was the energy, the excitement, the feeling that something special was happening.

Well I hope you get that same feeling here. We are here to worship this morning, but this service is a work in progress. We are still playing with the music, with the lighting, with the way we want to edit this thing together and all the parts we want to bring to it. And like those screenings, we definitely want your feedback. We want to know what you think of the service, how you heard about the service, what you loved about the service, what you’d change about the service. We want your input. And to encourage you to share you thoughts, ideas, feelings, we have these connections cards that came in your bulletin.

The point is- we want to hear from you, and we want to connect with you. You have information on our Family Ministry and our Connections Groups. We have a group joining in the Terry Fox run next weekend and we are celebrating with a picnic in Gibbons park and you are welcome to be a part of it. And you are welcome to join us back here in three weeks, Sept. 30, for our next worship service.

Right now, the band is going to continue with a little more worship to set the tone for our service…

This Sunday!

Let me get folks up to speed...
The trip up to Cypress Lake wasn't a half bad idea. In fact, I came back and was amazed at how much was done. Our storage boxes were built. Supplies for the Family Ministry, First Impressions Team, Worship and Media Teams were on site and getting organized. Plans were made for our volunteer training, and even more volunteers had started to show up! We had almost 40 folks out to our training on Tuesday.
Which of course brought on the amazing revelation that this is no longer just my dream, not that it ever was. But still, to see how people are mobilized and motivated to see make this happen. The work being done is just remarkable. Tonight, watching the band play for the first time with our own sound equipment, I was humbled and thrilled to see how helpless I would be to do this by myself. From my perspective it was like things were just magically happening- the equipment was set up, the band started playing, the sound team was adjusting levels, the media team had our worship set projected on screen, live video of the band was being fed in- it was amazing. Not to mention the work of the guys preparing at the equipment needed to store and transport the gear.
(Subsequently, the only thing that amazes me more than how much work it takes to do portable church, is that there are people amazing gifted and happy to do it.)

Tomorrow morning we have our first "dress rehearsal" at the theatre. The signage will all be delivered. We'll finalize our bulletin and promotional materials. And I'll finally sit down to pray and write a sermon.

I've had a million ideas and thoughts running through my head. I'm still amazed we're actually beginning our public services. Amazed, excited, and a little frightened.

Tonight one of our team members said, "Being in the will of God is sometimes the scariest place to be." That was just the encouragement I needed.

Oh yeah, and Robin been just as busy as me, but watching three kids in the midst of it all- she's the best and our kids are awesome.