The Great Reset
Several years ago, I learned a very hard lesson about the saving business. Now, as a pastor, you might think that's a metaphor for something spiritual, but sadly it was a very unspiritual problem. I had a laptop that contained about 3-4 years of my work on it: sermons, documents, letters, etc. You can see where this story is going. One day, the hard drive in the laptop failed. Catastrophic crash. I'm sure somebody, somewhere could have worked to retrieve everything - for a price. For all intents and purposes, it was all gone. I had to start over. However, I learned a very hard lesson about saving that day. Thank goodness for the "cloud" that saves for me so I don't have to think about it anymore.
If there is anything good about a catastrophic crash, it is this: you DO have to start over. But you start over with a different frame of reference. In a computer, you realize that there was a lot of stuff that you really didn't need, a lot of programs that were just taking up space and slowing down the machine. You start over with a better plan for organizing, a fresh perspective on workflow and efficiency, a new understanding of what matters and what doesn't.
On March 1, 2020, we had 181 people in Sunday School. Two weeks later, we had zero. On March 8, we had a full house in the worship center. Two weeks later, we had to suddenly try to pretend that the camera lenses were somehow sufficient replacements for smiling faces (trust me, they're not).
For a year now, we've been looking at our church situation much like I looked at that failed hard drive. Surely there's something that we can do to revive it. If I can just reboot it one more time, it will come back just like I left it. I think we know the answer.
When my computer failed, I didn't quit my job. I got a new computer. I started over. I learned. I improved. I became a better person as a consequence of my catastrophe. The question is, are we going to do likewise as a church? Are we going to take the spiritual catastrophe of COVID and let it make us better people. In Isaiah 48:10, God says, "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction." Any metal that has been through a furnace ought to come out better on the other side. I hope that's true for you as a member of Chatt Valley.
I know that our staff is committed to building the best version of our church possible. They're ready to work. They're excited to see God do great things in our midst. I hope you're ready! I had a college professor who always said that we ought to work like it all depends on us, and pray like it all depends on God. I would challenge you to allow that to become your mantra as we begin this new stage in the life of our church.
We celebrated our 150th Anniversary in the middle of the COVID-19 Pandemic. What if we all agree today that we're going to start working and praying that, if the LORD should tarry, the next 150 years are CVBC's best. We can do that if we do it together.
As you look around our community, you can't help but see the telltale signs of growth. In spite of being in pandemic-mode as a church, homebuilders have continued to move dirt and our community continues to welcome new residents. In the last 12 months, dozens of homes have been bought in the zip codes immediately surrounding CVBC. And in the next few years, hundreds of new homes are going to be built in our own backyard. We have to start asking the question, "How do we reach all of these new folks?"
I am grateful for the work of our Trustees who have started working on plans to help address some of our current limitations from a facility standpoint. I would challenge you the next time you come to church to look at the church through the eyes of a first-time guest. Consider just how confusing it is to find the kids' ministry area. While we look to make improvements to our campus, we've also got to change our perspective. The Great Commission is a call to go, not a call to sit and wait. In years past, it may have been "enough" to have a pretty building and good music to get a full house. We need to recognize that those days are gone. It isn't the music or the preaching or the flashy website that will make the difference. Those things, when done poorly, can certainly be a hindrance. However, what will truly make a difference is you and I, in our daily lives, loving our neighbor, pointing them to Jesus, and inviting them to church. If we're not willing to do that, then we may as well close the doors today.
We will only reach our community when we catch a vision for going to the community to show the people of our area that CVBC cares. We've got to stop waiting on the community to show up here. I hope you'll join us in the journey and that we will make the most of this giant RESET button for the good of God's church and the glory of his name.
P.S. - If you want to join with me in praying a big prayer. I'm asking God to provide us with a fully-stocked concession stand trailer. We would certainly be able to utilize a trailer like that for our recreation program. However, I would love to see CVBC roll this trailer into some of our poorer neighborhoods during school breaks to help provide hot lunches for the kids who live there. We could take that trailer into some of our subdivisions with free ice cream on some hot summer afternoons to be a blessing to those neighbors as well.