Yesterday (after a long period of blood, sweat, tears and prayers) Calvary Fellowship held our first service at Conard High School. My head is still spinning a little, but here are some of my thoughts in the aftermath:
- We have an amazing staff and dedicated group of volunteers that worked diligently and selflessly to make everything happen...it is great to work with such high-caliber people!
- Also, the staff at Conard has been a HUGE help in making everything run smoothly for us (love ya, Carlos!)
- Despite several last-minute challenges up to the 11th hour, everything came together (and nobody was even aware of some of the issues we faced)!
- While we came up with a bunch of little things to fix, they were all LITTLE things. No BIG problems (this is huge considering how many details went into everything).
- After our staff meeting we came up with a list of things that we can do this week (via our own observations and some helpful feedback from church members) to make next week even better.
- Being at Conard felt completely different; it's bigger and badder and it feels like we're in a whole new church league as we launch Calvary 5.0!
- I think everyone felt a little strange as we all adjust to our new digs (it took 1/2 of my message before I felt like I was connecting with everyone)
- Roping off the seats and having everyone sit towards the front helped to create a smaller feel in a BIG auditorium.
- Having lots of new empty seats motivates me to work harder to fill them! (And I think it communicates to everyone that we are on the move and not willing to be complacently comfortable in our mission)
- The music was awesome! We still have some sound issues to tweak, but all fixable stuff.
- It felt a little weird preaching...the whole environment feels very professional; it kind of makes me feel pressured to write better messages. :) (Love my new podium!)
- The kids' environments looked inviting, energetic and well put together (we had to get creative with the space for some areas, but it worked out great!)
- I love the new courtyard extension area outside of the cafeteria for food/fellowship time; perfect for perfect weather like we experienced yesterday (plus I like the new Starbuck's coffee!!!)
- It was really cool to see the enthusiasm and excitement on the faces of our church body as they walked in and checked out our new church home. (Everyone has prayed, given, served and done so much to make this happen...it felt good to experience and celebrate the payoff of those efforts with everyone)
- I am more excited than ever about what God wants to do with this church. I am honored to be the pastor of such a great group of people in this really cool Christ-community that God is forming and expanding!
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