Lewis Fellows Again

This week, I had another amazing opportunity to spend a week of study with the Lewis Fellows program I was selected to be a part of this year. This gathering was even better than the one on July as everyone began to really get to know each other. It was like a mini-reunion to connect with everyone again and hear about how ministries are going in places from California, to Arizona, Kansas and Georgia. Several of the Fellows either had a new baby since July or have just announced that they are expecting. So much fun news to report! And, so much laughter was shared as we all talked about what it is like to be a young pastor in ministry. (We all have some crazy stories). Needless to say, it was a really blessed time.

But, even beyond the friendships of hanging out with the fellows, I thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent at church site visits. My eyes were opened to the possibilities of what God and a committed group of believers and do together. The church is really not such a dead idea after all-- even as many in the mainstream culture think this is true.

We had the opportunity to share time with Adam Hamilton, the UMC rockstar, who pastors the largest church in Methodism in Kansas City. It was fun to share a morning with him and learn his stories of paying attention to his context in the suburbs of his city. I was inspired by his story of hard work and passion for his ministry.

And Hamilton's Church of the Resurrection was only the tip of the iceberg. We traveled to share in conversation with Tim Keel at Jacob's Well Church- an emergent church movement that is very focused on intentionality in service and community building. I was inspired also by their children's ministry. They love and value the place of children in their church as much as they do adults.

Then, on Wednesday, we spent time at Revolution Methodist Church. A new urban church start as of 2005 that has worked hard to care for the poor (as the run a daily soup kitchen), build community (through what they call movement groups), and do worship really well (I purchased a fabulous hymn worship CD produced by their church that I can't wait to enjoy).

We also spent time with some Baptists (yea!) over the course of our visits. After lunch with the homeless ministry at Revolution, we attended Hour of Power (no lie), a mid-week prayer and Bible Study for the members of Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church led by Senior Pastor Dr. Hartsfield. There was an invitation at the end of the prayer meeting to accept Christ (which made me smile and send the Methodists in the group wanting to ask me if my church was like that). We had a very interesting conversation with him about diversity in the church and the place of the black church in the 21st century. (See my head listening to his lecture in the photo to the right).

Needless to say, from all of these site visits, our lectures from Lovett Weems, director for the Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Seminary on church culture and finances, my cup runs over.

I really do love continuing education! It really does remind me why I love the church and want to spend the rest of my life helping to make it a place where people find God.