A Number of Surprises

I don’t know about you, but I’d have to say that moving into our new ministry center at Madison Park has brought a few surprises.

Surprise Number 1: Even though the building is many times larger than our last church home on Scatterfield, this one feels more friendly and welcoming. The auditorium actually is a more intimate space than the smaller Sanctuary at Scatterfield. The vast Commons has become a community of conversations—people show up an hour before the first service and stay until an hour after the second service just to talk and visit. Awesome. The Crossroads Auditorium, Main Street, the Children’s Center—they all just feel more comfortable, more user-friendly, more like-home, than anything we’ve experienced in years. How can it be? Maybe it’s the high ceilings. Maybe it’s the generous daylight that floods into building. Maybe it’s the fact we don’t feel crowded and “in-the-way” anymore. Maybe it’s because God has anointed the place. Maybe it’s all of the above.

Surprise Number 2: Lots more people than we imagined have stopped by to visit. We expected to see some new faces, but the sheer numbers of guests have been, well, astounding. Hundreds. Maybe even a thousand. In just four weeks. New friends stop in every day of the week (hundreds have signed our guest book during the weekdays, alone). New friends come by on Sundays (our Hospitality Room ministry team and 320 other Front Door Ministry volunteers have been especially important, as they welcome folks to Madison Park). Our first Lighthouse Café in the Commons served three times as many people as it used to routinely serve at Scatterfield. Our children’s ministry has seen three times as many children on Sunday mornings. Whew! More helping hands are always needed. Connect. Grow. Serve.

Surprise Number 3: Many dear souls who originally believed they would not, for one reason or another, find their way to Madison Park have felt led to “go south” with the larger church family, after all. To see these precious friends still a part of the family has been marvelous. Every one counts. And, while we know the Lord may lead some Scatterfield friends elsewhere, it’s still tough to stay “goodbye.” What a joy and blessing to say, “hello,” instead, each Sunday morning. Thanks to each one who has made the extra effort and taken a chance to join us. We love you.

Surprise Number 4: The building is fast becoming a “life center,” very much like the “life centers” we have helped build in India. More than a Sunday-meeting-house, life centers are community resources that become venues for all kinds of life-giving events and ministries. Our Fourth of July community celebration, for instance, proved to be an astonishing success, drawing huge crowds, with kids, families, seniors, young adults, and everyone in between eating, talking, strolling, playing, listening, and enjoying. Weddings, bereavement dinners, baptisms, child dedications, family reunions, support groups—they’ve all found a place in our first month at Madison Park. We did not anticipate so much, so fast.

Surprise Number 5: More volunteers than ever have stepped up to help. The building’s opening has somehow inspired a legion of new volunteers to get involved. There’s always room for one more and more to be done. But, this congregation has never before had so many people volunteering to get so much done.

Surprise Number 6: The roof “talks.” Well, it’s not in a language we can understand, but the roof does make itself heard every now and then. Don’t worry, though: our contractor, the roofing subcontractor, and the roofing supplier are all working together to help “quiet ‘er down.” The roof’s “talking points” have been diagnosed and remedies are being developed. It may take some time to make the necessary structural changes, but, they will be done. In the meantime, tell your friends that this is a building with a personality all its own.

Surprise Number 7: Nobody’s complaining about the roof. Not that anyone in our congregation would complain about anything, anyway, but, usually, we’d hear a ruffle or two about such things. But, so far as I can tell, everybody’s in a positive frame of mind and full of good cheer. In fact, with a rare exception here-and-there, you have been fabulous in the whole move, riding the wave as we make adjustments, embracing change and extending selfless grace and kindness to all. That’s why I love you, Madison Park Church. It’s not the building or the music or the visiting in the Commons or the programming or anything else that makes this congregation great and good—it’s the Spirit and the generous attitude toward others that He inspires that makes this congregation a gem. Every night, before I sleep, I pray that God will be glorified at Madison Park. And I believe He is. That’s not really a surprise, after all. Not with a people like you. Thanks for letting your light shine; thanks for your encouragement and faithfulness.