The Evolution of a Blog (one pastor’s experience)

Monday, October 12, 2009 (10:15 a.m.)

Wow! That’s all I can say about this past weekend’s worship experience. I could feel the power of the Holy Spirit in each service, and I know that everyone who was present was blessed and challenged. But I have to be honest and tell you that I was really disappointed (It has always been hard for me to hide my disappointment) in the number of empty chairs…especially at our 9:00 service. Several months ago when I first began to imagine this series, I actually checked the Colts schedule and the school calendar so that I could schedule this particular weekend at a time when there were no obvious conflicts. That’s because I knew how powerful it would be. That’s why I took the time to encourage everyone a couple of weeks ago to make sure they didn’t miss the last two weeks of this series. The end result was our lowest “What’s Your Story” weekend attendance…almost 500 fewer people than previous weeks. Someone told me they believed the low attendance was due to the temporary seating in the Worship Center. I suppose that could be a possibility, but I just can’t bring myself to believe that something like that would really keep someone out of church, not unless they had some genuine physical disability. Someone might read this and think that I’m overly concerned with numbers. That’s really not the case. I just know how much time and effort went into last week’s service, as well as how important the message was. (Whoa. There’s no way I can publish this. It’s way too negative/honest. I should know better than to try and write a blog on a Monday.)

Tuesday, October 13, 2009 (8:45 a.m.)

Wow! That’s all I can say about this past weekend’s worship experience. I could feel the power of the Holy Spirit in each service, and I know that everyone who was present was blessed and challenged. But I have to be honest and tell you that I was really disappointed (It has always been hard for me to hide my disappointment) in the number of empty chairs…especially at our 9:00 service. Several months ago when I first bean to imagine this series, I actually checked the Colts schedule and the school calendar so that I could schedule this particular weekend at a time when there were no obvious conflicts. That’s because I knew how powerful it would be. That’s why I took the time to encourage everyone a couple of weeks ago to make sure they didn’t miss the last two weeks of this series. The end result was our lowest “What’s Your Story” weekend attendance…almost 500 fewer people than previous weeks. (Apparently Tuesdays are not much better)

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 (2:37 p.m.)

(Nope)

Thursday, October 15, 2009 (5:14 p.m.)

This weekend marks the conclusion of our special “What’s Your Story” campaign. I hope you’ve been blessed by what God has done each and every week. I have been particularly thankful to those who have had the courage to share their story whether it’s been in the main service, on our web site, or in a small group setting. One of my main goals for this series was to try and communicate that we are not a church filled with “stained-glass saints” but real people with real lives in real need of God’s grace. We have a very special element planned for this final weekend that I believe is something we will all remember for the rest of our lives. I hope that you are planning to be present at one of our four services so that you can be a part of what God is going to do. I have to tell you that we will once again be sitting in temporary chairs. It’s painful for me to have to write that. We tried to synchronize our re-model schedule to only have to do this for a couple of weeks, and this will be the sixth straight week with the folding chairs. It’s not our fault. The only thing we’ve been guilty of is believing the people who sold us the new seats when they gave us our delivery date(s). I apologize for that. Please don’t let it keep you from worship this weekend. Thanks for your patience.

Jesus cares,

Pastor Chris