Tag: Romeochurch.com

  • Sushi

    I’ve been feeling introspective lately. What does this mean? Why do I do that? The questions go on and on. And I’m pretty sure it has everything to do with not being a full time pastor anymore. I can feel myself wondering, “Who are you anyway?” 

    Whereas a few weeks ago I was all wrapped up in being a pastor. Right now I am all wrapped up in not being a pastor. That doesn’t mean I’ve flown off the handle or somehow decided to be a different person. It’s just that my mind is consumed with slightly different things this morning than I’m used to. 

    For instance. On a typical Sunday morning at 9:00 AM I’d be directing people, the band and the tech team, greeting folks, making sure that everyone was in their right places, and giving last minute reminders to other people who might be going to the front. Today it is 9:00 AM and my family isn’t ready for church. We’re clearly not going to make it to the first service and we’re settling into the fact that we will head to the in between time of church, hang with some friends, and meander into church. 

    On the one hand I miss the responsibilities, the fun, and the wonder of helping to “make church happen.” On the other, I’m really enjoying this time in my life when I’m not on a staff. It’s awesome to go to church without much to do other than go to church. It won’t be satisfying for very long but it is satisfying for now.

    It’s like sushi. There are parts of it that are yummy goodness and there are others that you just chew on and get past. 

  • A birthday fact

    birthday candles

    June 2nd is my birthday. I’m not a huge “happy birthday” kind of guy, but I thought since I am starting a new job on my birthday it would be timely to share a fun fact about me. 

    Pretty much every job of my adult life has been started within a day of my birthday. 

    Monday I start with Youth Specialties. June 1st 2003 I started with Romeo. June 1st 2002 I started with EFC Oroville, CA. Roughly June 1st 2001 I started an internship at a church in the Chicago area. June 1st 1996 was my first day at Timber-lee as a summer staffer. And going all the way back to 1994, my first “real job” as a painter at Moody Bible Institute started on June 2nd. 

    Pretty weird little detail, eh?

  • Leaving Romeo: Jimmy

    Last week I talked about leaving Romeo and my relationship with our senior pastor, Bob. Next, I want to talk about our music dude Jimmy. Jimmy, like Jason before him, has been an awesome friend to me. There is something about being in that “associate” role at a church that I’ve always found kinship with. 

    Jimmy joined us in November 2007. Like the rest of the staff Jimmy came from “big church land.” Jimmy and Ashley have an amazing personal story. Not only do they have an amazing story, they love talking about it as they realize their pain… ultimately… can and should be used for glorifying God. If you don’t know their story, take them out for a steak dinner and have them tell you!

    It goes without saying that Jimmy is talented. Even if you don’t care for his style of music you have to recognize the gifts God has given him. (Of course, his dad is a musician and music is part of what it means to be in his family.) But in the last 6 months I’ve learned that there is so much more to “The Savage” than just musical talent. 

    In my post about Bob I pointed to two qualities I’ve always looked for in a staff member at the church. Does this person passionately love Jesus? Is he wild eyed enough to follow God and not man? If you’ve ever talked to Jimmy for more than 5 minutes you’ll know the answer to those questions. It’s a scary combination when a man is both talented and passionate about Jesus. As I told his mom a couple weeks ago… that a combination she must be proud of. 

    Jimmy is game for silliness. At his very first staff meeting he jumped on board with the Elf videos we used. I knew right there we’d get along!  There’s nothing worse than a guy who is super talented and “too cool” for silliness. Not the case with Jimmy. (I really was worried about that.) Jimmy is a gamer.

    Jimmy is game for leading Romeo’s worship to the finish line. As I think back on the music at our church over the last 5 years I can think of a single description: Liquid. I liked the music when we first arrived… super vibrant and fun. Then we went through some dark times musically, the people were fine, it was just an issue of preference. From there we went through a steady embrace and transition to where we are now. Music is a big part of what Romeo is now all about as we try to reach Romeo for Christ. The goal is worship excellence. (High quality musically, high quality worship experience) I look forward to coming back to Romeo often and telling him, “the music is solid.”

    Leaving now stinks. After years of toil, snares, and bumps… things are just getting good! And Jimmy is a big part of that. He adds an element to the staff that was missing. 

    Beyond work, Jimmy and Ashley are awesome people. Kristen and I are looking for opportunities to be in Romeo so we can hang out with our new friends. Their daughter cracks me up as she is a synthesis of both of them. She is a little bit wild like Jimmy yet sweet like her mommy. The bad thing is that she has one of those smiles that’s going to cost mom and dad a lot of money! She’s going to get whatever she wants. 

  • Our Big Move

    our big moveThe last few weeks have been a whirlwind… literally. First, there was the crazy phone call that started it all. Then there was a lot of prayer. Then there was the trip out there. Then there was a lot more prayer. This was followed by some very tough conversations, more prayer, and a decision. Then some waiting, some finalizing details and finally here we are.

    What’s the scoop? A week and a half ago I met with the deacons of our church to formally tell them that we are leaving our beloved ministry in Romeo to accept a new calling on our life at Youth Specialties.

    Following that, we told our students and parents followed by an announcement to the congregation on May 11th. I’ll talk more about this later… but the people here in Romeo have been amazing to Kristen and I for the last 5 years. They are either truly excited for us or are really good liars. I’d like to think they are excited for us. If they aren’t, please let me believe they are!

    In the coming days I’ll begin to share a little bit more about my time here in Romeo and describe a little more about what I’ll be doing in San Diego.

    Kristen and I are just a mashed potatoes of emotion. We are sad to leave a place we love. We are thrilled by this door God has opened for us. We don’t want to move. We do want to live in San Diego. We don’t want to leave the security of our life here. We love a little adventure.

    The byline of my blog and subplot of my life is: Crazy enough to want to change the world. The last few weeks God has gotten up in my devotions and said, “Oh really? Wanna prove it?” I don’t know about the changing the world part… but this is the most exciting and craziest thing God has ever asked us to do.

    More to come…

  • My prayer for Romeo

    God of this cityI thought it would be good to let everyone know my prayer for Romeo. I know this isn’t a new song or a new twist or even a new video for anyone in the Romeo family. But I’ve been listening to this song and watching this video a lot lately. Will you join me in praying for our community? Greater things are yet to come here in our city. I believe it, do you?

  • A Satanic Wii Title

    Wii-JiHere is a little insight into my strange sense of humor. During today’s message Bob talked about Ephesian believers who, as an act of obedience, burned their magic books. To apply that to our people Bob suggested that believers not read horoscopes, got to tarot readers, or use Ouija boards. When he said, Ouija boards… my weird sense of humor thought, “I wonder if that’s a game for the Wii yet?” Obviously it isn’t so I made this mock-Wii graphic in Photoshop just for kicks.

    Speaking of today’s service… there was a major difference between the first service and second. In between services I heard a loud “bang” come from the projector. The bulb had exploded and we didn’t have the time to change it before the 11:00 AM service. Believe it or not, we actually had a plan for that because we knew it would one day happen. I was very proud of our team who adapted to the problems and managed to deliver a fantastic service. Bob and Jimmy earned some stars. Kudos to them as they reacted beautifully.

    For me, today’s service was a reminder that it isn’t about how well you use technology. It’s about bringing a heart of worship. I know that in my mind… today was a tangible in-your-face reminder from God. I love it when God does that!

  • What Makes Romeo Different?

    differentWe’ve had a lot of visitors lately and I’ve gotten this question a couple of times… “I’ve been to a lot of churches, why does this one feel different?“ This was a reminder to me of just how different we do church at Romeo.

    I don’t mean musical style or programs that we offer… though that is very different from a traditional church… I mean that we are different in how staffing works.

    Let me share the two typical ways churches are run.

    Traditional church staff = The senior pastor calls all the shots. He hires and fires to his specifications associate level staff. Practically speaking, he both gets all the stuff done and he is lord over the church’s programs.

    Contemporary church staff = There are ministry directors who run their own departments. Each department head, “Pastor of Students” or “Pastor of Music” or “children’s director” all report to the senior pastor but they are pretty much lord over their departmental domain. Generally, 90% or more of their time is invested in their department and they compete for people, resources, and money to each grow their own ministry. The other 10% of their time is either voluntarily or involuntarily spent helping in “general” church ministry stuff.

    I dislike both of those models. They are good but not geared at “whole church” ministry. In other words, participants in the youth program don’t typically regard the children’s director or senior pastor or music pastor as their spiritual leaders. Their allegiance is to the youth pastor… and that’s bad for the long-term health of the church. Likewise, the department heads are always seen as replaceable if their particular department fails. This is simple-minded since it’s not fair to judge the adult music program when music hasn’t been fostered in children and youth. Just like it isn’t fair to blame poor Sunday school attendance on the pastor’s preaching. In a small to medium-sized church a departmental-style or a traditional “pastor-ruled” method actually acts as a growth limiter. The growth of the church is limited by the capacities and talents of either the senior pastor or the individual department heads. That makes hiring nearly impossible. Each department is looking for a person who can do everything! No wonder people fail. Expectations are completely unrealistic.

    In the past, Romeo has used both of those structures. And both didn’t work out too well long-term. At least not in my opinion.

    That’s how we now come to the question, “What makes Romeo so different?” I call our structure a “holistic ministry staffing.”

    Holistic church staffing = This starts with an understanding that a diverse staff team makes for a well-rounded and healthy church ministry. Instead of basing a staff member’s ministry around an age-group— each staff member’s ministry is based around their giftedness. For me, I’m the tech/video/internet guy on top of my love and desire to reach students. So about 50% of my time goes to non-student ministries with the goal of making each ministry area excellent in what I am strong at. The same is true with all the other areas of our church. Also unique to our set-up is the expectation that each staff member contributes to the other areas… this shocks people who work in the other two methods! That’s why you’ll see our pastor be a big part of kids ministry and the children’s director adds a lot of administration to all of the other church ministries. From our perspective, this methodology gets the most bang for our staffing buck. Likewise, our hope is that every staff member is regarded as a spiritual leader of the whole church. Of course, we all are subordinates of the pastor… but that doesn’t mean we all don’t work together any less. Just like I’m interested in making Sunday morning services the best we can possibly be, the other staff people pitch in to make students or music or children’s ministry the best we can.

    I know this is unconventional. But for us it works. Moreover, I think this style of staffing is where most church staff’s need to work towards.

    How does this start? It starts with brave senior staff and leadership teams who are comfortable in their skin. By admitting that there are things you aren’t great at you can focus more of your time at what you are good at.
    From there… it’s mostly a matter of submitting oneself to the greater good of the ministry over your personal preferences.

    Why didn’t you talk about lay leadership and volunteers? Next time.

  • 10 Things I Did While My Friends Were in Florida

    I mentioned this project earlier today, here is the video. I think it turned out pretty funny. What do you think?

  • Sunday’s Comin’

    Anyone who was at the service last night will remember this video. (Totally digging the subwoofer on this one) I blushed when a couple of people assumed that I made the video… I wish! Here it is.

    By the way, if you are somehow on the bubble about the service tommorow… it’s going to be worth it! 7 kids have chosen to follow Jesus and get baptized, including our daughter Megan. It’s going to be awesome!

  • God of this City | Door Hangers

    Door hangingToday, Bob and I went with some other folks from church to place door hangers. So, if you live in the south west area of Romeo… check your doorknob!

    It’s kind of crazy to compare this year to year’s past. In the past we’ve said “hey, invite your friends.” This year… we’ve gotten everyone out there to actually do it. By our rough count the people of Romeo have placed cards on over 2500 doorknobs in the last two weeks. Awesome!