Next Generation Leadership Community

There Will Be No Preaching This Sunday at Grace Fellowship

Linda Stanley

No preaching and 10 hours of continuous worship this Sunday. What’s that about?

It’s about Grace Fellowship Church’s tenth birthday celebration. We got the party started on Saturday evening. Jim Leggett, senior pastor at Grace Fellowship met me at the equestrian center building (or horse barn as we usually call them in Texas) to show me around their future new worship facility. On this night, there is a concrete slab, a roof and framework for the walls standing on this site, and thankfully, surrounded by clean dirt - formerly home to a bunch of high priced horses.

Grace Fellowship, located in Katy, Texas, was rockin’ the house Saturday night with four (or was it five?) youth bands leading worship during the church-wide tenth birthday celebration. The worship was phenomenal and the barbeque was fantastic (and I don’t even like barbeque that much).

Everybody was dancing “The Soldier” except those of us (like me) who are seriously dance-challenged.

There was a giant sandbox for the kids along with a couple of “bounce houses,” balloons, ice cream and a special appearance by the Chick fil-A Cow. Groundbreaking ensued for the new worship facility, hopefully ready by New Year’s Eve (that’s only four months away). Before I left the party, the church family was invited to write their praises and prayers on sheets of plywood that would be used building materials for portions of the walls. It was great to see kids, teens and their parents grab a marker and go to it. I walked around reading some of their praises and prayers. Some were funny but most were heartfelt and full of gratitude for the love and blessings this church family feels God has poured out on them over the last ten years. We said our goodbyes and promised to see each other on Sunday morning for the rest of the tenth birthday celebration.

I love everything about tollways on a Sunday morning except having to pay to use them. What a great way to burn rubber and make it to church on time when you leave the hotel 15 minutes late. So anyway, I screech into the parking lot at Grace Fellowship just as they are beginning their first hour of “An Audience of One – Worship With Prayer.” This Sunday, there is no traditional preachin’ taking place. To honor and thank God, Grace Fellowship is offering up 10 one-hour praise and prayer worship services, continuously, beginning at 8:45 am. Each service is designed to be a little different. Folks are encouraged to stay for as long as they wish today. Grace Fellowship is all about prayer, not only on this Sunday but all the time. Prayer ministry is a big part of their DNA and it shows. Their worship band is awesome and the people really get into the music and worship. I’m looking forward to spending more time with the staff to learn more about the prayer ministry along with the other great ministries happening here.

I’m attending the early service at 8:45 am so I can check out the Taste of Community ministry fair that’s happening outside the building today too. Each ministry area has its own information booth and food – Taste of Community – get it? I cruised from booth to booth and stopped in to talk with a few folks and ask about the various ministries. It was a great way to find out more about Grace Fellowship and to meet some of the leaders. The Children’s ministry booth was drawing the biggest crowd since they had the best toys (bubble machines and sidewalk chalk – yeah!) and food. Except for the snow cone machine of course. And the line was way too long for me to wait for that one. I stayed a while talking with folks and asking questions about Grace Fellowship and then it was back to the tollway and on to my next stop – Faithbridge Church in Spring, Texas – but that’s another story.

It’s Methodist Week!

Linda Stanley

The Orchard in Tupelo

Recently I visited Elvis’ hometown in Tupelo, Mississippi and didn’t see one look-a-like during the entire visit. However, I did see Bryan Collier and staff at The Orchard Church. I arrived at the hotel in Tupelo early on Saturday and since it was a slow time in the afternoon, I struck up a conversation with a couple of the front desk hotel staff. Eventually the conversation wound around to religion so I asked these gals what churches they knew about in the area. They had both heard about The Orchard but never attended. It’s on their “I’m going to visit that church soon” list.

“What do you know about the church?” I asked. “Well, it doesn’t look like a church cause there’s no cross on it. I thought it was going to be a new restaurant – a really big one! And since I like to eat, I was really looking forward to that. But shoot, it turned out to be a church,” commented one of the ladies. “I just heard that it’s a big church but I didn’t know where it was,” added the second front desk lady. “Do you think you might go sometime,” I asked. “I might try it after this year. I don’t really like the church I go to now,” said the first front desk lady. After that, things got busy at the front desk since there was a big softball tournament in town and I never got back to ask why first front desk lady needed to wait until next year to visit The Orchard.

The Orchard is one of the largest, contemporary style churches in the area. Planted by senior pastor, Bryan Collier and his wife, Wendy in December of 1998, the church has grown to almost 2000 attending on weekends. Phase I of the campus development plan was completed last year. The building design is unique among churches in this part of Mississippi – no steeple, no big white columns, no cross on top. Thankfully, there is room to grow The Orchard since attendance has exploded since relocating. The Orchard plans to start its first multi site ministry this fall. Church planting is also in the works here. Bryan and staff have a heart to increase the number of faith communities in the area since they have identified at least 20,000 unchurched people in the area.   

After the typical Southern breakfast of fried everything, grits, and biscuits and gravy, I joined the crowd for Sunday morning worship at The Orchard. It was a packed house but I was able to snag a seat close to the front so I wouldn’t miss any of the action. The worship band was rocking the house with some jazz thrown in the mix. Bryan’s message was clear and straightforward but full of grace and love for not only the people that had gathered this morning but also for those yet to be reached in this city. We shared communion this morning. It was an awesome time of worship.

Monday morning, I joined the all-staff weekly gathering. There were the usual update reports along with the Monday morning play by play of the previous Sunday. We had some fun with a brainstorming session on the future of The Orchard and the implications both for the staff and the community. Keep this church on your radar since it’s sure to continue its growth and impact in the Tupelo area.

Read The Orchard’s story in Bryan’s new book, Becoming an Orchard – Fruit Bearing Strategies for Any Church. It’s published by Xulon Press, ISBN 1-60034-001-6. 

Check it out The Orchard’s leadership conference - The Become Conference on September 15-16, 2006 at the church.

ClearBranch Church in Trussville, Alabama

I said my goodbyes to Elvis and Tupelo and made my way to Trussville, a suburb of Birmingham. It’s a beautiful drive in this part of the country. Green grass, (a novelty in Dallas) towering pines and huge oaks dripping with long, thick strands of Spanish moss. I saw a deer off to one side as I drove along the Natchez Trace Parkway. The beauty almost made up for the oppressive heat and humidity. After driving and driving and driving, I was beginning to doubt my map reading skills when I saw the huge sign next to the interstate for ClearBranch UMC. Their website includes the taglines – “a new United Methodist Church – clearly different.”

So what’s “clearly different?” Well for one thing, ClearBranch has about 2,000 people attending worship on most weekends in an area that’s typically Southern Baptist land. The worship style and ministry approach is contemporary in an area where more structured, formal styles of worship are predominant. Although ClearBranch seeks to minister effectively to its congregation, they are also well aware that the bigger picture includes reaching out far beyond their walls to those living and working in the area around them. A new youth building is in the works along with long range expansion plans to accommodate growth. Several fall concerts at the church are on tap also.   

Once you exit the interstate and enter the beautiful tree-lined drive to the site, the first thing you see is the billboard for Exit 148, an alternative ministry experience for twenty-somethings. Since I was visiting mid-week, I wasn’t able to take in the full-on ClearBranch worship experience. I did spend some time with Tommy Gray, senior pastor and a few staff members that were in the office that day. Seems my visit coincided with vacation time for several staff members so no doubt I missed out on some great conversations with those guys and gals.   

As Tommy Gray gave me the lay of the land and how ClearBranch fit into the picture, I could see a definite pattern emerging among churches I’ve recently visited. Lately my visits have been to churches located in “second tier cities” (cities with smaller populations and geographic areas) or recently developed suburban areas that were formerly rural communities in the middle of nowhere. 

• These churches are sometimes the only contemporary worship experience (or one of a very limited number of contemporary style churches) in their area.

• The area is typically one of dramatically changing demographics – droves of new people are relocating to the area for various reasons – employment opportunities, boomers looking for retirement communities, young families seeking a better quality of life environment, and even large numbers of families displaced by the recent hurricanes that aren’t rebuilding on the coast.

• People that attend these churches are either seeking a worship experience that is entirely different from what they’ve previously experienced, or they are un-church or de-churched, or they’ve relocated and are seeking another church home similar to the contemporary worship they enjoyed in their former location. In short, they aren’t the indigenous church crowd for the most part. So not a lot of sheep stealing involved.

Before I left Trussville, Tommy and another staff member took me to lunch. We drove out to a small local place – the kind of place where they write the menu on a whiteboard up on the wall and erase items as they run out of each one. For the very first time, I tried a dish called slumgullion. If you don’t know what this is, ask those guys. I really liked it though. I’ll be back another time for the “clearly different” ClearBranch experience.

Pinelake Church – The Big, Honkin’ Mississippi Church You Can’t See From the Road.

Linda Stanley

My first visit ever to Mississippi and it was to visit with Chip Henderson, senior pastor and the staff at Pinelake Church in Brandon, Mississippi. Just in case you aren’t familiar with the neighborhood, Brandon is a small community located a few miles east of Jackson. Brandon is one of those small, quiet little rural communities experiencing a development boom. The usual suspects are turning up – the chain restaurants, the big book stores, the usual retail clothing stores, all the cell phone stores including some I’ve never heard of, the cineplex, and the occasional live bait and discount fishing license depot. And oh yeah, big doings – Bass Pro Shop just came to Jackson. I stayed in Pearl so I was right down the road – literally – from Waffle House and Starbucks (they share a parking lot – how convenient) Cracker Barrel, Tinseltown movies and Bass Pro Shop. A few miles down the interstate and I found the mall. Just like Dallas only the people are nicer. Everyone called me Miss Linda and held the door open for me. What more could a girl want?

  I had this great map to guide me from the hotel to the church, I thought. Easy enough. So 30 minutes into the drive, I stop to ask for directions. No one has ever heard of this certain road I need to find, and again I answer no to the question I’ve been asked ten times today already, “You ain’t from around here are you?” Back in the car, retrace my route and try a different road. Eventually I get to the highway that should take me straight to the church. I’m driving and driving and driving. I zip past church after church after church. I’m still driving. I’m late already. Finally I see a sign that simply says Pinelake with some kind of scribbly scrawl behind the word Pinelake. It’s a nice sign but I don’t see a church. All I see is a broad expanse of gorgeous green grass, a row of towering trees in the background, a small pond off to the side, and a winding driveway beside the pond going up a hill toward the trees in the distance. I’m looking for a large church and this can’t be it or I would see a building or something. I blow past it and keep going. After a few more minutes of driving, I decide I need to go back and check out the winding driveway beside the Pinelake sign. Of course, that was it.

There is a big, really big, church on that hill behind those trees. Lots of folks are coming and going since it’s shift change – time for the 11 am service. As I enter the building, I see on the TV monitors that baptisms are happening. There is a video booth set up in The Commons area to record stories of how lives have been impacted by the ministry of Pinelake. Later, during the service, we view some of those video stories and hear first hand from some of the people that attend Pinelake how this church has dramatically impacted their lives. I find a seat in the auditorium as the worship team cranks it up on the platform. It’s a packed house. There is an unmistakable energy vibe here and an excitement and enthusiasm among the people gathered that can’t be ignored. Even though this is a very large church, with some 5,500+ attending each weekend, there is a feeling of welcoming and warmth. Lots of families with kids, young adults, boomers like me and gray hairs too.

I spent the day with the pastor and staff and heard the Pinelake story. This church has been around for a while and has relocated a time or two. The current campus includes about 170 acres and a new facility completed in November 2003. Pinelake is surely one of the largest churches and campus sites, if not the largest, in Mississippi. Pinelake’s relocation and subsequent expansion spurred tremendous growth, practically doubling attendance. Plans for further expansion include opening the first multi site campus in September 2006. Long range plans include opening an additional 4 or 5 sites in the area.

Chip Henderson, Pinelake’s senior pastor, participates in Leadership Network’s Next Generation Pastors Leadership Community group. I asked Chip why he decided to join a pastors’ group like this. Chip said he’s in it for the peer networking – pure and simple. It’s all about the connections and networking opportunities. The shared learning that occurs within the group context is an added bonus but the real value for him lies in the opportunity to hang out with the other pastors. He explained that this is something he doesn’t get anywhere else.   

As one would expect, there have been a few new staff hires lately. One of the new executive pastors tells me that Pinelake is in the process of transitioning from traditional programs to more organic ministry forms. Small groups is about to go through a major overhaul. There is a need for a small groups pastor who is looking for a new challenge to come to Pinelake.

The new communications pastor tells me that major changes are coming in this area also. It’s a new day at Pinelake and they need a new approach to communicating internally and externally, especially with the new multi site campus opening soon. He asked me if I know of any national watering holes for communication pastors. I don’t.

The executive pastor of operations is also looking for any national watering holes for church staff serving in similar roles in large churches like Pinelake. I’ve heard similar requests from other large church staff members at other churches around the country. The larger the church, the more specialized the staff roles become. Like the communications pastor, the operations pastor also wants to hang out with others serving in similar roles, in churches of similar size.

During staff meeting (which was balanced between fun time and some serious prayer time) there was talk about the upcoming Ignite 2006 – Pinelake Church Leadership Conference in August 2006. Originally designed for in-house ministry leaders, the conference is now open to any ministry leader who would like to attend. More information can be found here - Link.

Another pressing need is for a legion of children’s ministry servants since Pinelake is bursting at the seams with kids. There is also a school on site that includes kids in kindergarten and 3rd-6th grades. Pinelake wants to partner with other Christian schools in the area rather than continue to expand with a full range of grades solely for its own Christian school.

I still had questions but time was up and I had a plane to catch back to Dallas. As I walked across the parking lot, I was greeted by the maintenance supervisor who thanked me for visiting Pinelake and told me his own story of how Pinelake’s ministry had transformed his life. This is definitely a church to keep on the radar screen and one that lives their tagline – “It’s not just church…it’s Life!”