More than a pastor's wife

One of the things Kelli and I have learned in our relatively short time in ministry is that people view the title "pastor's wife" in different ways.  To be honest, when we went through our initial training as church planters 6 years ago, the "wives" were often separated off from the "pastors."  We initially thought this was going to be invaluable time.  However, we were quickly disappointed as we learned more often than not the "wife" time was spent doing stereo-typical things like shopping, manicures, and talking about emotions more than ministry.  

Don't get me wrong, there is definitely a need for women to gather for emotional encouragement and relaxation.  Also understand that I believe God has set aside the office of elder for men.  We're not better, that's just the role God has called us to play.  But correct me if I'm wrong, God called all of us Christians, man, woman and child, to be "ministers" of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We are all the church.  I for one am thankful that my wife has embraced that call.

Prior to entering the world of church planting, Kelli and I always served shoulder to shoulder in ministry.  Everything I did, she did, and vice-versa.  Then we moved to Tacoma and everything changed.  We were graced with not one but two precious babies and they had health problems to boot.  The first year of their lives was spent filled with doctor visits and remaining quarantined in the house for the sake of safety.  Kelli describes this as the hardest year of her life.  Was she really called to be a minister of the gospel or was she called to wipe noses, shop and get an occasional manicure (actually, for those who know Kelli... the manicure never happens!)?  Or could wiping noses and being a mom actually be ministry?

You're welcome to email Kelli and ask her for more insights on the lessons she learned during that first year (ckhigg@gmail.com), but I got to see God transform her perspective first-hand.  She never once settled for being "just a pastor's wife."  She embraced her calling as a minister of the gospel and we both embraced the reality that as "one flesh," her ministry is my ministry and my ministry is her ministry.  Her victories are my victories and my victories are hers.  And the same goes for our joys and sorrows.  Kelli realized that for a season at least, shoulder to shoulder was not the way our ministry would happen.  But she began to view our kids as her number one (and two) disciples, and our home as her platform for ministry.

Three years later Kelli's week is filled with women in her home.  Mostly single moms coming over to get rest, talk about what it looks like to follow Jesus in the midst of chaos, do laundry or just to pray.  Currently the people that frequent our home are more single moms than I can count, a lesbian couple with four kids that God is doing a slow work in, a couple we're discipling together, a college student who lives in our home, a teenager who lives with us and multiple young single ladies who frequent our living room to talk, get advice, prayer and honestly, more than they realize, be an encouragement to Kelli in the process.

As Kelli's ministry ever evolves I'm amazed at the new ways that God uses her.  We have a transitional house in our neighborhood for single moms coming off various addictions.  Kelli has gotten to know several of these women and discipled a few personally.  Several of these ladies have become Kelli's close friends.  Kelli felt compelled some time ago to try and minister in a more tangible ways to all of these ladies but because she's a "pastor's wife," and they receive government funding... blah, blah, blah!

We decided to pray and Kelli approached the Director of the house.  We shouldn't have been surprised but Kelli's offer was welcomed with open arms.  Kelli is starting off by doing the programming for the ladies on Mondays this month.  She came home beaming last night.  The whole night she got to teach 10+ ladies how to be a mom.  She got to share with them what God has taught her.  She got to share with them what she has learned from her role models.  She got to sit down with them, shoulder to shoulder, and share with them what God has created her to be.  Kelli got to continue to be a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  And her joy is my joy!

I thank God for my wife and how God has grown her over the last several years.  I want to ask you to pray for Kelli as she continues to be the minister of the gospel that God has called her to be.  Please pray specifically for the ministry God has given her at this transitional house.  I would also encourage all of you who are reading this to know that God has called you to ministry too.  You may not be called to be a pastor, but you are most definitely called to ministry.  Look at where God has placed you.  Look at the people around you and say "yes" to Jesus.  If you are willing, he will begin to open doors for you like crazy!

Go HAWKS!

Go Hawks!

This is a phrase that those of us in the Seattle area have become extremely familiar with.  Russell Wilson, the Seahawks star quarterback, utters this phrase after every interview he gives.  It has become his call sign.  It has become a slogan of unity in our city and our region.  Go Hawks is a phrase and the Seahawks are a team that has brought people together.

I don't know Russell Wilson personally (although Kyler Phillips had the opportunity to introduce me to him and she hung me out to dry!), but I do know he loves Jesus.  He has been unapologetic, along with several of his teammates, that winning the Super Bowl is a dream of his, but it's not the most important thing in his life.  Jesus is the most important thing in Russell Wilson's life and I believe making Jesus famous should be the motivation behind the Super Bowl plans of all believers.

Last week The Pathway hosted a watch party at The Spot for the NFC championship game (Go Hawks!).  It was amazing to see how this team brings people together.  We had well over 50 people, from all walks of life, crammed into one room to cheer on this team.  I have a friend named David.  David has only come to our Sunday gathering once and one Intentional Community gathering, but he is almost always willing to watch the Hawks with me.  David came to the game.  We got to talk, hang out, and he got to see what being a follower of Jesus is like.  Following Jesus is real life,  we just have a different purpose than most.  Following Jesus means having fun, watching football, spending time with friends and working hard.  But when we take ownership of the missionary call Jesus has given all of us, all those things have an underlying purpose... making the name of Jesus famous.

This week we'll gather for the Super Bowl.  I'm excited about the game.  I want the Hawks to win.  I want Russell Wilson to show the country he's more than a "game manager."  I want our watch party to be fun and have a great turn out.  But more than that, I want to have the opportunity to hang out with David.  I want him to get to be around the body of Christ, the people in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. I want to have the opportunity to share with him why we gather... for worship and for football.  I want to have the opportunity to share the gospel with him and invite him to be a Jesus-follower too.

Please pray for us as we have invited more lost people than I can count to watch the Super Bowl with us.  Please pray for relational connections, gospel opportunities and for the Holy Spirit to do something amazing.  I know Russell Wilson wants to win.  But if he could trade that victory for one lost soul finding hope in the risen Savior Jesus Christ... I don't think he would even hesitate.

Thank you for praying for our party.

I'd encourage you to go to one... or throw one of your own.

Go Hawks!

We MUST disciple our kids

For parents, discipleship MUST begin with a focus on our children.  Do you believe this?  It's a reality that I'm becoming more and more convinced of every day.

Like many of you, we find ourselves daily staring brokenness in the face.  Broken lives, broken perspectives, broken relationships, broken spirituality and yes, broken families.  It's painful and it's often discouraging.  Time and again we find ourselves talking about a desperate need to break the cycle of brokenness.  For those who have followed our journey from the beginning, you know that back in 2009-2010 we adopted a teenager named Tiffany.  The brokenness in her life, and more specifically the brokenness throughout the generations in her family, was of epidemic proportions.  Although Tiffany has taken strides... the cycle has not been broken.

We have many families in our church who currently have or previously had their children in CPS custody for a variety of reasons.  Several of these families are among our closest friends.  When we speak to them about it there is a sense of normalcy in their tone.  They don't want to lose their kids.  We've seen them shed so many tears over it.  But the normalcy with which they talk of the experience speaks volumes to the brokenness that they have experienced in their own lives.  The acceptance of the vicious cycle of brokenness screams loudly of the need for the gospel.

Most recently Kelli and I have invited a teenager to live with us for the remainder of his high school days.  One of four brothers, he has been immersed in brokenness for the 3 years that I have known him.  He and his brothers have a unique bond that is hard for me to describe. All 4 of them are walking separate paths, mostly alone, because of the cycle of brokenness in their family.  Kelli and I know all too well, from our experience with Tiffany, that we cannot break the cycle of brokenness in this young man's life.  But we believe, with all our hearts, that the gospel can.  And that is our prayer.  That is our aim.  Will you pray with us?

In regard to our church, I have been having lots of conversations with our KiDCity director Jenna about this horrible cycle and the role God has called our church to play in introducing the gospel into the brokenness.  We are convinced the answer is not more programs, more VBS, better curriculum or a bigger budget for the kids ministry.  We don't know the full answer, but we're convinced it has less to do with kids ministry and much more to do with the gospel, families and prayer.  Our role is not to disciple kids, but to equip parents to become disciples of Jesus whose first focus is to make disciples of their kids.  It's the only way to truly break the cycle.

Encouragement. We launched monthly concerts of prayer the first Sunday of this month.  No childcare.  No kid program.  We invited our church to come together, for an hour and a half, to pray for our city.  We encouraged parents to use the time as a discipleship opportunity for their kids.  To bring their kids, keep them with them the entire time, teach them the "why" of prayer while showing them the "how."  Of course I could talk the talk, but I was nervous about walking the walk with my own kids.  Four year old twins and an hour and a half prayer gathering seems like a recipe for disaster on the surface.  But you know God, he knows what he's doing.

There were moments of chaos, moments of frustration, but there were moments of discipleship with my son and daughter.  Beautiful moments.  I got to take them, one at a time to read about some of the people in our city that we are called to pray for.  I let them pick who we would pray for together and then I took them to a quiet space in the room, showed them how to kneel down before the Lord, explained to them why we would kneel down before the Lord, and then let them pray for our city.  It was incredible.  It was worship.  And it was a direct result of the gospel having an impact in our family.

The results, I believe, ran far deeper than my family and my kids.  There were other new believers in the room.  They too experienced moments of chaos with their kids.  I know they didn't know what exactly to do, but they watched me teach my kids to pray.  They saw my attempt to model for my kids what it looks like to ask God for the salvation of my city.  One of our good friends was there with her son but her husband had to work.  I had the joy of getting to teach her son the "how" and the "why" of prayer and in the process got to teach her the importance of discipling our kids.

It's not a perfect process.  But if the gospel is the foundation, prayer is a priority, and our children are the number one recipient of our discipleship efforts, I truly believe the cycle can be broken.

2013: More than Imagined

I guess it's only natural to look back as we prepare to move forward.  This year has been full, like most, with ups and downs, twists and turns, joys and sorrows, victories and defeats.  But through it all there has been a constant, his name is Jesus.  I know that's what I'm supposed to say... I am a pastor right?  But I truly mean it.  There are days when I just think what we're doing here in Tacoma is impossible.  There are days when I want to punch people in the face and throw them into the Puget Sound.  I want to scream at them... "Why are you being so stupid?!  Why are you getting frustrated at me?!  All I'm trying to do is introduce you to a living Savior and walk with you out of the crap you've been living in!"  But when those frustrations come.  When I feel like there's no point... there he is.  There's Jesus.  Through his indwelling Spirit he wraps his arms around me and reminds me I'm right where he wants me to be.  Our family is doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing.  And the Holy Spirit is working.  He's working in ways we can't see... but make no mistake, he's also working in ways we can see.

So that's what today's post is about... the things the Spirit of God has done and is doing and has graciously allowed us to see.

This was 2013...

We asked God to show us how to launch a one-on-one discipleship process.  We wanted it to be easy, reproducible and helpful.  We thought we should write it ourselves (In know, don't laugh).  But then God introduced us to an awesome tool that many in our congregation are using.

We baptized 13 people in 2013!  But we decided we wanted to make baptism a big deal instead of an afterthought during a jam packed worship gathering.  So we started holding baptism gatherings.  We share the gospel, explain baptism, hear testimony, dunk 'em and then we eat cake... celebrating new birth!  It's been so good.

For 4 years we've been praying for God to give us a connection on the campus of the University of Puget Sound.  For 3 years he's said "no."  This year he opened a small window in the back room of the smallest building... metaphorically speaking.  But there is one undergraduate and one graduate student that have connected to The Pathway and we're asking God to show us how to serve those students.

We hosted a Good Friday Worship gathering.  Our Worship Leader Donna Christian planned and ran the whole thing.  It was one of the top 2 best things our church has ever done.  It was incredible.

We moved our worship gathering to Franklin Elementary and for the first time ever had over 100 in attendance on Easter Sunday... Wow!

Under the leadership of Stacie Hooks, God allowed us to launch new Intentional Communities, raise up new leaders and we now have an IC gathering on every week night!

We connected with a mom of 4 during one of our events named Tiffany.  She was uniquely interested in Jesus and community.  She assimilated quickly but was hesitant to put her trust in Jesus.  My wife discipled her.  We welcomed her into the church.  We prayed and prayed and prayed.  She grew and grew and grew.  And finally she trusted Jesus!

We learned that you don't have to gather just because it's Sunday.  We're still small and holidays are hard.  We decided to take some Sundays off to save money and gather with family and our IC's.  God blessed it and it taught us to value Sunday gatherings all the more!

We were averaging 15 in our Kids ministry in June of 2013.  In November of 2014 we had launched KiDCity under the leadership of Jenna Jones and we were averaging 32!

We heard God say he wanted our church to think bigger than Tacoma.  He knows we're young and still immature, but he made it clear he wanted us to think about the nations from our earliest stages.  We said yes, with very real fear, and God raised up a team of 3 to go to South Africa this February.  The Pathway is sending missionaries to South Africa... in awe of God.

We had over 140 in worship on an intentional outreach Sunday... wow!

We held our first Covenant Partnership class (membership) and we were overwhelmed by the attendance.  We had 26 people become covenant partners.  That's 26 people committing to take ownership of this body of believers... thankful and amazed.

What will God do in 2014?  As always we're dreaming big.  We so appreciate all of you who pray for us and support our church in a variety of ways.  Please keep praying.  Please keep dreaming.  Please keep believing.  We have no idea what God has in store, but we're asking him for life change and we're asking him for Kingdom growth.  I just can't wait to see what I get to write about 365 days from today.  To God be the glory!

Year of Prayer... Please Pray

It's been an exciting year for The Pathway and most ultimately for God's kingdom.  We've seen God do some pretty incredible things.  He's answered so many prayers, he's raised up leaders, multiplied Intentional Communities and most importantly he's brought life change.  In 2014 we saw 13 baptisms, God allowed us to finally reach the point of having Intentional Community gatherings on every weekday night, we moved our worship gathering to Franklin Elementary and we raised up our first global mission team!  We saw numerical growth in the number of Intentional Communities that are gathering, the number of people gathering in those IC's and the number of people attending our Sunday gathering.  But most importantly we've seen growth in discipleship.  We've got a long way to go, but we were able to implement a discipleship process and see many people enter into disciple-making relationships.  All glory to God!

So what's next?

Going into 2013 I would have told you that The Pathway has 3 core values: the gospel, biblical community, and the mission of God.  If an idea, strategy or approach to church pops up that does not encompass these values, we won't do it.  Even if it's a great idea.  But as I prepared for this years vision series, God began showing me that he wants us to intentionally value something else.  Something vital.  Something that really comes before and leads into the other 3.  Prayer.  At the same time, or probably before, God was working in our Intentional Community Director, Stacie Hooks heart that our church needs to value prayer and lean into prayer if we want to see a movement of God beyond our capacity.  Beyond what we could make happen on our own.  It seemed like a God thing to me!

So what have we been doing?

Well, over the last few months we've been preaching prayer... not just on Sunday mornings, but any chance we get.  Stacie has headed up a small team of people to read multiple books on prayer and how God has used it to spark spiritual awakening in the past.  We brought it to our open leadership gathering as well as our Leadership retreat.  Stacie's team has been praying, learning about prayer, and planning to launch monthly concerts of prayer beginning the first Sunday evening in January.  We really don't know what to expect, and I think that's a good thing.

So what are we expecting?
We are expecting BIG things.  We are doing our best not to dictate to God what he should do and how he should act.  But we are asking him for things.  We're asking him for growth.  Somethings we're asking specifically, somethings we're asking generally.  But we are expecting him to do what he does in an Ephesians 3:20 manner.  We know that prayer brings in the power of the Holy Spirit in a unique way and we know that he can do more in a minute than we can do in a lifetime.  Our request is that you pray with us.  Pray for life change.  I'm asking God to more than double our baptisms in 2014!  Please pray with us for that.  We're asking God to double our IC's in 2014.  Please pray with us for that.  Most importantly, please pray that God would spark in our church a passion for prayer that goes beyond our leadership.  Pray that we begin to value prayer so strongly that we cannot, we will not function with out it!

If my people who are called by my name ghumble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.  2 Chronicles 7:14

Lucy

What is our purpose as followers of Jesus?  I believe our ultimate calling, purpose and mission is to give glory to God by making disciples.  It's that simple.  We complicate it, fancy it up, avoid it and come up with all sorts of things we can do in place of it, but when the rubber meets the road, we are called to make disciples.  All of us.

As a full-time pastor I have always been aware of and sensitive to the challenges Christians face as disciple-makers in the secular market place.  Coming from a family of teachers, I understand that the laws of the land often work against us being able to preach the name of Jesus and make disciples without fear of persecution.  While I'm incredibly sympathetic to the reality that as a "professional Christian" I'm expected to make disciples, and the majority of you who make up the local church face obstacles and challenges that I never experience, I was reminded over the past week that despite the circumstances, fears or threats of persecution, all of us are commanded to make disciples.  Pastor and principal, student and teacher, doctor and lawyer, hourly employee and corporate executive, all believers are called to the same mission.  Let me share my experience with you.

Last Sunday our Intentional Communities Director, Stacie Hooks, finished up a 3 part teaching series on the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) as a part of our current series on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. In part 3 Stacie talked about the reality that as followers of Jesus, we are blessed when we are persecuted.  In fact, we have a heritage of persecution as Jesus points out when he references the prophets of old who endured great persecution for their faith.  And the crux of the message centered around a belief, based on the teachings and accounts in Scripture, that as Christians we should expect persecution.  If we're faithful to Jesus' mandate to make disciples, persecution will inevitably come.  This is serious.  This is not fun.  But persecution is the path to blessing that begins with obedience.

This week one of our Intentional Communities that has decided to make the teenagers of Tacoma their mission field held their first official outreach.  They hosted a Thanksgiving dinner and had 15 teenagers show up!  Several of the teenagers are connected to our church.  But a good number of them are students of Kyler, one of the IC leaders.  Kyler has only been a teacher for a short time and you don't have to be around her long to realize she loves it.  She is definitely a "math nerd," but her primary motivation in teaching is not to develop a generation of students who excel in mathematics.  Her passion, purpose and objective in teaching is simply to make disciples.  That's what led her to invite those students to Thanksgiving dinner with her IC.

But Kyler understands disciple-making is more than an event.  She has been prayerful through the process, getting to know her students and gauging their spiritual openness to find out where God is working.  There is one student in particularly, her name is Lucy, that God has placed on Kyler's heart.  Lucy is a Hispanic student whose parents speak mainly Spanish.  She has a Catholic heritage that includes attending mass a couple times a year.  Last week Kyler asked Lucy, her student, to go to coffee.  Kyler's purpose was not academic, it was spiritual.  She told Lucy she wanted to teach her about Jesus and help her figure out her faith and what she really believes.  Lucy was caught off guard but was interested.  Last night Kyler met with Lucy and her parents and asked permission to disciple Lucy.  While her parents were guarded and hesitant, they agreed, and Kyler begins meeting with Lucy on a weekly basis next Wednesday!

I am amazed and inspired by Kyler's faithfulness in one of the most difficult places to make disciples, the public school system.  Did Kyler stand on the desk and preach that her students should repent?  No.  But from speaking with her, I can tell you that she prays for her students regularly, looks for gospel opportunities, takes those opportunities every chance she gets and leaves the results, including her job security, in the hands of the God of the universe.

All I can say is Wow!  I don't know that I would be as bold as Kyler if I was in her situation.  I hope and pray that I would.  But what if all of us, no matter our situation, decided to obey Jesus' command to make disciples?  I'm sure the unemployment rate would increase! But I'm confident the Kingdom of God would grow exponentially as well.  Please pray for Kyler and Lucy and for who God is calling you to disciple.

Reaching a Milestone & pursuing a new value

Had an amazing weekend with The Pathway leaders.  From the time we moved to Tacoma one of my primary prayers and goals was that God would bring 12 passionate and committed leaders to join our leadership team.  At times it felt like that was a pipe dream that would never actually happen.  At times I have to admit that I placed people in leadership too early and paid the price for it.  But God has been moving, God has been providing, our leaders have been training and raising up new leaders and this weekend I realized we hit a milestone.  

Although our leadership structure has changed, one of the keys to multiplication and kingdom growth is still raising up new leaders.  As I looked around the room at one of our first gathering times during the weekend I was counting the crew to see if everyone was there.  For some reason at that moment it struck me.  There were 12 of us.  With several part-time staff and 5 Intentional Communities going strong it's amazing to see the people that God has raised up and brought to us.

Thank you Jesus for answering that prayer!

But does that mean were finished?  Heck no!  There is still so much to be done, so many people to be reached, so many hurting and broken individuals and families to serve.  The gospel is so deep and so wide but the lostness in our world is vast as well.  Penetrating that lostness is going to take even more people, even more buy-in.  The work is far from complete.

We did a lot at the retreat.  We rested, we played and of course we ate!  We dreamed, we updated, we heard stories from some of our newer leaders so we could get to know each other better.  We calendared, we shared ideas and we debated.  But the most important thing we did was pray.

For quite some time now if you asked me what the core values are of The Pathway I would have rattled off 3 words: Gospel.  Community.  Mission. Everything we do or don't do is decided and filtered through the lens of those 3 values.  But leading up to our vision series this year we realized that something has been missing.  There was a value that we have cared about, but have not emphasized nearly enough.  We realized that this new value was going to have to be emphasized in 2014 if we really wanted it to become a part of who we are.  That value is Prayer.

It seems odd at first to suggest that we haven't valued prayer.  But to put it very simply... we haven't valued prayer.  And it's my fault.  I think strategically.  I think big picture.  I think in terms of vision and what I think could ultimately be accomplished.  But too often, far too often, I get so focused on vision and strategy that I neglect inviting the God of the universe into the mission that he has sent us to accomplish.  Crazy right?  But our hope is that this will no longer be the case.  2014 is going to be a year of prayer for The Pathway.  We don't know what all that entails, but I want to ask you to be praying for us as we figure it out.

We've already gathered a small team of passionate prayer warriors together to seek the Spirit's guidance on how to make prayer a true value, on how to make it a part of the DNA of our entire congregation instead of a passionate few.  This small team is gathering weekly to pray.  They're reading multiple books on prayer and prayer movements.  And they're searching the Scriptures to see what God has done while we ask him to spark a new movement.  We are planning to launch a monthly Concert of Prayer in January.  We don't know exactly what it will look like, but it will be a time of worship and crying out to the Father to move in power in our city.  We believe he will respond.

So to kick off our leadership retreat, we prayed.  We spent an hour praying.  Repenting of sin, asking God to prepare our hearts, praying for God to remind us that our work is not in vain.  We asked God to spark something in us during the weekend, a flame that cannot easily be extinguished.  

Where will this lead?

Only God knows.  But I'm excited to be a part of the journey and I'm expecting the population of the Kingdom of God to grow exponentially as a result.  To God be the glory!