Together: Women

For years and years when someone asked me how they could pray for The Pathway, my response was the same.  "We need leaders."  Specifically, I meant we needed people willing to step up and take initiative.  People willing to see a need and meet a need.  People willing to get outside their comfort zone and take the lead for the glory of God and the advancement of his kingdom.

Having some fun TOGETHER!

If you asked me the same question today... my answer would probably be the same!  I'm not sure we can ever have enough leaders.  But my perspective would be different because we are seeing those leaders raised up.  And it's exciting!

Becca Hurst came with us to Tacoma over 5 years ago to help plant The Pathway.  So much has happened over the last 5 years that she's not even Becca Hurst anymore, she's Becca Smithwick.  She's got a great husband, a precious baby boy named Ethan and another one on the way.  Becca has always been a leader.  But leaders never stop finding new ways to lead and Becca is living proof of that.

Several months ago Becca came to me and said that after some significant life changes including some major trials, she saw the need for the women of The Pathway to be sharpened together.  To grow in spiritual maturity and unity.  And best of all, she said she felt like she was being called out by God to lead the charge.  And from that the idea for Together:Women was born.  A day of training where the women of all our Intentional Communities come together to fellowship, worship and be trained and encouraged.

Because I'm a man, I wasn't there.  But my wife was and I wanted to share her thoughts on the day.  Glory to God and thank you for your continued prayers.

From Kelli... For the first time ever all the women of The Pathway gathered together and had a day of training & worship led and attended by the women of our church. It was wonderful!  God called Becca Smithwick to do something for the women of our church and she obeyed.  She gathered a team of women to organize this event and together they put on a gathering that was encouraging, refreshing and challenging. 

Becca shared her heart and motivation for putting planning the event. We played games together, ate together, listened to the incredible testimony of one of our own...  a testimony of grace and life change.  We worshiped Jesus together and went to several break out sessions led by women of The Pathway where we were challenged by the Scriptures. Women had the opportunity to learn more about prayer, studying the Bible and learning to love the woman God made us all to be. 

It was amazing to sit in that room of around 30 women, some of whom I haven not yet gotten to know, and all grow and be challenged together in our walks with Christ. It was amazing to see how God has worked in the lives of so many women in our church. There are times in church planting when it feels like we are not growing and we are not impacting this city for Jesus at all.  Legitimate times of discouragement.

But there was no mistaking all that God has done and is doing in the lives of the women of the pathway Saturday at Together:Women.

Big things coming...

This is not going to be a very long post.  I simply want to ask you to be praying.  Be praying for something BIG to happen in Tacoma.

I think every mission driven pastor and church planter is always expecting God to do something BIG.  We are constantly crying out to Jesus and for the most part honestly anticipating the next great awakening to break out in our city.  It has been beyond incredible to experience, over the last 5 years, a church being born.  To literally walk into a city with 4 adults and see a church born is incredible.  And over the course of the last several weeks Kelli and I have met with many of our partners and shared story after story of life change right alongside countless stories of heart break.  It has been a worshipful experience to reflect and recount all that God has done.

But time and again and I come back to the reality that while God has done amazing things, and most importantly his glory has been reflected in our lives and in our church, the growth that we have seen has been incremental.  It has been small spurts of growth both spiritually and numerically.

Don't get me wrong.  I wouldn't trade that growth for anything in the world.  But I still believe God is for us.  He's for our church.  He's for our world.  And he is for the city of Tacoma.  I believe he wants life change way more than I do.  I believe he wants the gospel to take root in our city with a greater passion than I'll ever be able to fully comprehend.  I believe he wants spiritual awakening and revival to break out.  And I still believe he can do that in the city of Tacoma.

So as we approach the season celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, I want you to pray a specific prayer if you feel so led.  Please pray that God would use The Pathway and other Jesus loving churches to see the gospel take root and bring explosive spiritual and numerical growth for the kingdom of God in the city of Tacoma. 

We know we serve a resurrection God because our lives have been changed by a resurrected Savior.  Please join me in praying for spiritual resurrection in our city in a BIG way!  And while you're at it... I'd encourage you to pray the same prayer for your community... for your city.

The Power of Partnership

If you're familiar with The Pathway or follow this blog at all you know that partner churches play a huge role in what God has done and is doing in Tacoma through The Pathway.  Seven years ago Kelli and I were prayed over and sent out by our home church, Trinity Baptist in Ada, OK.  Seven years ago!  And they are more engaged in partnership than ever before.

Now, the focus of this blog will be Trinity Baptist.  But let me tell you the truth, we have 12 partner churches and even more individuals, couples and families that pray for, give to and engage with our family and our church.  But you have to know, unfortunately, this is not a common tale.  Somewhere along the church planting trail of tears, churches got the idea that they should partner with plants for 2-3 years and then move on.  Of course I cannot speak for all plants, all partners and all situations, but for us, that would have meant the death of The Pathway.

But by God's grace alone, and for God's glory alone, our partners have been so faithful, so engaged and so generous to us.  And by God's grace alone and for God's glory alone, I believe The Pathway will become a generous, engaged, reproducing church planting church.  That is thanks, in large part, to the kingdom minded example set for us by all of our partners.

Trinity Baptist, Lifepointe Community & The Pathway

Seven years ago Kelli and I were sent out by Trinity to help plant Lifepointe Community Church in Snoqualmie, WA.  The plan was to spend 2 years helping plant, learning the Northwest culture, and finding the city where God had called us to plant our lives and the gospel.  During that time so many families from Trinity prayed for us, supported us financially and encouraged us as we struggled with this new calling on our lives.  Trinity sent a short term mission team to serve with us and Lifepointe in the summer of 2009.

Then God called us to Tacoma.  And let me show you the power of partnership.  Trinity could have easily said good-bye to us after walking with us for almost 2 years.  They could have easily said good-bye to Lifepointe because they had committed to supporting us as a couple and not Lifepointe as a church.  They could have done a lot of things.

What did they do?  They stuck with Lifepointe & The Pathway!

Over the years Trinity has sent Lifepointe and The Pathway more mission teams than I can count.  Trinity has sent both churches summer interns.  Over the course of the years Trinity has sent us young, fired-up young couples and singles who felt compelled by the gospel and supported by their home church to move to an unchurched part of the country and use their gifts for God's glory and mission.  Incredible.

Then in 2014 God called Trinity's own worship pastor, Adam Forgety, and family to come and serve with The Pathway.  Again, the people of Trinity embraced them, encouraged them, prayed for them, and sent them out.  There are individuals and families at Trinity who have been financially supporting The Pathway for 5 years.  They could have easily said they were done.  They could have stopped supporting The Pathway and started supporting Adam and Khylee Forgety.  Instead, so many have continued their generous support of The Pathway and have decided to generously support The Forgety's as well.  WOW!

But why?

I don't think I have an exact answer for that.  But I do believe part of the reason is that Trinity understands and believes in partnership.  Specifically partnership in the gospel.  I believe they love Jesus and the gospel so much that they are committed to seeing lives changed all over the world... Tacoma included.  I believe it's because that church is filled with families, leaders and pastors who passionately love God, believe the gospel whole-heartedly, and are committed to the Great Commission.

Then this weekend, in an attempted "surprise," (thank you Chris & Courtney!) Trinity sent a 10 member team (5 to Snoqualmie and 5 to Tacoma) to bless our churches and our leaders.  They came simply to encourage our family, the Forgety's and the pastors and staff in Snoqualmie.  That's it.  No agenda other than to bless and encourage us.  And they sent our friends... really, they sent the spiritual family we left behind in Ada, OK.

They sent Irby and Cheryl Clary.  They Clary's stayed with our family for 4 days and we were blessed beyond measure.  Irby and Cheryl were our Bible Fellowship teachers at Trinity.  They were the first people we asked to pray for us about our decision to move to the Northwest.  They came to serve on the first mission team to Trinity sent to Tacoma.  They allow us to stay in their home when we come to Oklahoma.  They genuinely love us, they faithfully support us in multiple ways, and they encourage us all the time.

And not surprising, Irby and Cheryl were also Adam and Khylee's Bible Fellowship teachers.  They love them, support them, and have encouraged them through this entire life transition.  One of Khylee's closest friends, Courtney Folsom, came to love on her.  She came to bless all of the women who lead in our church.  She came and encouraged us.  Brett Wiseman, a close personal friend of both Adam and myself, came to the west coast for the first time to minister to us.  He left his family (thank you Rachel) and all the things in life I'm sure he is falling behind on, simple to bless us.

Partnership.  It's a beautiful thing when embraced fully.  And by God's grace alone we have been blessed with "all-in" partners.  And it's those partners... God working through those partners... that keeps me believing that someday soon, our church will mature to become a generous, reproducing, church planting church.

Breaking the silence

Together: Christmas 2015

Happy New year!

I apologize for the extended silence on the blog.  We've had a fantastic holiday season and I wanted to update you.  The church did great things over the Christmas season.  Attendance in our Intentional Community gatherings was steady and our Sunday gathering numbers were up significantly from last December.  Praise Jesus for that!  This past Sunday we had a slim turn-out for the kick-off of our Luke series, but hopefully now that school is starting we'll see consistency rise and growth continue.  That is our prayer and what I'd love for you to be praying as well.

The picture above is of our first ever Together: Christmas gathering.  It was a blast!  As leaders of the church, we try our best to listen to the church as a whole about what's working, what's not and what we should change.  In recent days we continued to hear a cry to do more things Together.  Everything we do flows through our Intentional Communities and we do not want to lose that.  We believe that approach allows fewer people to get "lost" in the busyness of life and ministry and that it provides the most effective pathway for being the church.  But we LOVE that people want to be with their church so we've started a Together initiative.  These are opportunities for all of our IC's to unite together for a gathering, celebration, training, etc.  Together: Christmas was the first such gathering and it was so much fun!

We had a big family style pot-luck dinner on Christmas Eve.  We had an interactive telling of the Christmas story with all of the kids in the church and then we went caroling in the neighborhood around the school where we gather.  It was crazy, informal, fun and worshipful.  And best of all it was Together!  It was family time and we are learning how valuable that can be.

I also finished up my UPS experiment on Christmas Eve.  It meant I arrived at Together: Christmas a bit late but I didn't miss it all.  Overall the UPS experiment was a success.  It was not nearly as draining on my family as we feared it might be.  It gave me a foot in the door with a good company in case I ever need to go back to work seasonal, part-time or full-time.  It also gave me a great refresher course in what the missionaries in our church face every day in their jobs, on their campuses and in the "real world."  I thought I remembered... I didn't.

The culture was just spiritually dead.  That's the best way to put it.  It was lost.  It was broken.  It was self-serving and cut-throat.  It was sad and it was in need of joy.  It was hopeless and in need of hope.  It was dark and in need of light.  I'm so thankful that we have a church pursuing the calling of being missionaries to their worlds and I pray that God would use my time and UPS to make me a more relevant teacher, encourager and disciple-maker so that our people are better equipped to be more effective as they go into the world and preach the gospel.

Thank you as always for your support and if there's one phrase I would ask you to repeat over and over in your prayers for our church and the people of Tacoma, it would be life change.  Pray that God brings massive, undeniable and supernatural life change this week, this month and this year for his glory and fame alone!

We are also anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first mission team of 2015 tonight.  Please pray for God to use a group from The Austin Stone to reach people for Jesus over the next several days.  Pray specifically for a concert we are sponsoring at a local spot in downtown Tacoma on Saturday night.  Thank you!

Life as a UPS Man... "Big Dog!!! Run!!!!"

I wanted to give you all an update on the UPS experiment.  I definitely have a new perspective on several things.  First and foremost, no one should ever be allowed to order anything on-line again!!!  Come on people, can't you just go to the store, make your purchase and take it to the person you bought it for?!?! (Of course I'm joking considering we just finished our Christmas shopping... the majority of which was done on amazon.com)

Second-- put your dog on a leash!!!  Seriously people.  I know your dog has "never done that before," "won't bite," and all the other things you say when he charges at me barking and growling and showing me his huge, large over-sized teeth.  But come-on, lets just except that all dogs hate the elegant and fashionable UPS brown.  They just do.  So keep your dog on a leash and be realistic that if you're 110 pounds, a child, or an elderly person, you can't hold the dog back... you just can't.

All that aside, the UPS experiment has been really good.  Kelli and I went into it expecting that it would be an exhausting, challenging 5 weeks and choosing to believe that we could do anything for that amount of time.  And don't get me wrong, after working 11 hours day one I realized I could get aches and pains in and around muscles I never knew existed.  But overall the hours have not been horrible, the job has been challenging but very doable.  My driver has been doing the job for 24 years so I'm learning a lot.  And it's really been an eye-opening reminder of what all of you that work in the "real-world" experience day in and day out.

I think high school was the last time I heard the "f-word" as many times as I've heard it over the last 2 weeks.  The world needs Jesus.  UPS needs Jesus.  My driver needs Jesus and I know that so many of the people you work with day in and day out need Jesus.

I want to close with a challenge and a request:
1) The challenge is to persevere.  I know I'm the last person in the world who should say this because I will go back to doing my "ministry" job when the Christmas season is over, but I want to encourage you to stick with your job in the world.  You are light.  You are hope.  You are exactly what the people you work with need and you have the message they need to hear... the gospel.  Hang in there and intentionally pursue the lost around you with the gospel.

2) The request is to pray for me as I seek to be that intentional light for my driver Tony.  I'm praying big prayers.  I'm praying for gospel opportunities.  I'm praying that the Holy Spirit would move in his life.  I'm praying that after 23 Christmas' with UPS, this would be the Christmas God uses to change his life forever!

Thanks for your prayers.  Two and a half more weeks in brown!

Please also pray for The Pathway.  We have been seeing growth and an influx of young families.  It is exciting and we're praying that God continues to move.  Please pray for Together: Christmas that will be happening on Christmas Eve.  We're bringing all our Intentional Communities together for a big family dinner, reading the Christmas story and some caroling.  Praying it will be a time of family, worship, celebration, fun and unity!

Adventures in Church Planting: The UPS Experiement

U.P.S.

Those 3 letters mark the beginning of a new experiment for our family and church.  Today I start a seasonal job as a "driver helper."  I told Jagen and Rylan I'm basically Santa's helper!  Our attitude about this experiment? Gratitude.  We're so thankful that God has given me the opportunity to do 3 things over the next 5 weeks:

1) Put something fresh and new on my resume in case I need to work another job part-time or full-time in the future.

2) Be proactive in our personal and church finances.  I feel like so many lessons I've learned are a result of the pain and struggle of the planters that have gone before me.  I've seen so many planters struggle financially and have to react to unexpected or unplanned budget shortfalls.  My first week in Washington I helped a planter pack up and go back "home."  I've seen planters search hard for jobs but find themselves unqualified for anything other than pastoral ministry.  I've seen planters lose income, lose their homes and lose the church God called them to plant and pastor because of financial hardships.  I'm thankful for the opportunity to be proactive in our approach to church & personal finances.

3) I'm thankful to be able to relate to the people I pastor in a new and fresh way.  For the most part the people in our church work hard... really hard.  They don't work typical 9-5 jobs.  They balance two jobs.  They make minimum wage.  I can speak to them about the struggle, perseverance, hard work, doing everything for the Lord.  But at the end of the day, being a pastor is not like what they do.  It's harder in some ways.  It's easier in some ways.  But it's completely different.  I'm thankful to have gone out and applied for a job, interviewed for that job, and I get to work that job.  I get to balance 2 jobs, family, my own personal walk with Jesus, my own personal mission field.

At the end of the day, we're grateful for all the ways that God cares for our family.  I'm thankful to be able to work physically and emotionally.

We're calling it an experiment for a reason.  We don't really know what to expect.  Please pray for us as I work long days and Kelli bears and even heavier load than normal with our home and kids.  Pray that God uses this opportunity for his glory and ultimately to grow his kingdom over the long haul.

I'll keep you posted!

Vision Accomplished... but definitely not finished!

I feel like there is a lot of conversation in the world in general and church planting circles in particular regarding vision and mission.

What is vision?

What is mission?

Are they the same?

Are they necessary?

I definitely don't have perfect answers to these questions, but I do of course have opinions and lessons learned.  I read a book by Andy Stanley years ago called Visioneering that I highly recommend.  It impacted me in a huge way as I approached casting and pursuing vision in the context of The Pathway church.

In his book, Stanley defines vision this way... Vision is the belief that something could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be.  

This definition has stuck in my mind over the years and has helped me with vision clarity, vision casting and most importantly it has helped me battle vision drift (not perfectly, but effectively).

In short... for me personally and The Pathway church as a whole... clear vision is helpful and non-negotiable.  Even having a cheesy vision statement has helped us keep our eyes on the ball, work hard going after the same things... unity... and knowing when to adjust and when to celebrate.

The first part of this post is for celebrating.  Specifically for celebrating God, his grace, his power and what he has accomplished in Tacoma, through The Pathway over the past 5 years.  My hope is the second part of the post will help you know where The Pathway's going, how we believe we can get there and how you can pray for us moving forward.

Vision Accomplished.  How can I make that statement?  We're definitely not finished.  Jesus hasn't come back yet.  Our church is not financially self-sustaining.  We haven't seen gospel saturation in Tacoma's 8 neighborhoods.  There's so much more to do so how can I write, with a straight face, vision accomplished.

I think sometimes Christians get used to setting goals and casting lofty vision, assuming that it will never be accomplished.  Well, for me, that's not the point of vision.  Vision is something that we aim for.  It's something that can be accomplished and that needs freshening and recasting over time.  For churches and Christians, mission never changes. Our mission is to make disciples.  We can state that in a million different ways, but that's our mission.  Not because I said so, but because Jesus said so.  He's God so I think we should do what he says!

The Pathway's vision statement over the past 5 years reads like this: We want to be a church with beautiful feet (Romans 10:14-15) committed to walking with our city down The Pathway of life by serving  our communities intentionally, sharing the gospel with those we serve, showing people how to grow in Jesus and sending ordinary missionaries to start new Intentional Communities and new churches in Tacoma and beyond.

That statement has kept us focused for years.  As I tried to seek God for the future of The Pathway, he clearly said, Vision accomplished. 

By his grace we have become a church known for serving people and serving them well.

For God's glory alone we have seen a church birthed by sharing the gospel with people personally, passionately, clearly and regularly.

Although not perfectly, we've seen people learn how to grow in Jesus by living life with an Intentional Community and through one-on-one and small group discipleship relationships.

And, by God's working alone we have been able to send out numerous groups of people to birth new Intentional Communities, we sent our first 3 missionaries on a short term trip to South Africa in February and we were able to launch out Tommy Abbott to start The Way in Seattle's U-district.

Wow!  In all of that there have been successes and failures, victories and defeats, joys and sorrows.  But most importantly, God's kingdom has grown and his glory has been made known!

What now?

New vision... remember, we're not even close to finished!

I've prayed and prayed about the direction of our church.  After talking with our leaders, getting input and feedback and most importantly after hearing from God through an extended time of silence and solitude... the Spirit has crafted a fresh vision.

If you're really interested I'd encourage you to listen to our 4 part vision series at www.thepathwaytacoma.com.

In short, here's what we believe could be and should be through The Pathway in Tacoma over the coming years.

Vision Statement:
The Pathway exists to reflect God’s glory and make disciples by becoming a reproducing church in 5 specific areas. We are committed to reproducing disciples, reproducing leaders, reproducing Intentional Communities, reproducing worship gatherings and reproducing churches in Tacoma, across the nation and throughout the world.

Reproduction.  That's the word we've been sharing with our church and it's what I hope will capture our hearts and minds over the coming years.  It's what we believe could be and we are literally being fueled by the conviction that it should be. Our ultimate goal is to reflect God's glory and the way we believe we can best do that is to make reproduction our aim.  If it's good and God glorifying we want to reproduce it.

But how?

Mission statement:

We exist to reflect God's glory by reproducing disciples through Intentional Community.

The mission is how we accomplish the vision.  We believe we can accomplish our vision most effectively as we engage in and whole heartedly pursue Intentional Community.

Please pray for us and with us as we go hard after Reproduction as a means to reflecting God's glory to a city and a world who desperately needs Jesus!