Saturday, June 24
Start with the ending...
Below is an e-mail originally sent out June 6Dear friends…
Okay, let’s see, where do I begin…I need so desperately to catch you all up on what is going on in our lives…I apologize for not communicating sooner…I’m not sure the best and quickest way to do this, so, let me ‘start with the ending’ (that phrase is for you David Wilcox fans)…
I’m writing to you from Naperville, Illinois and Community Christian Church. I am in day 1 of an 8 week residency with Community and New Thing Network. Monica, the kids and I moved into a house yesterday for the 8 weeks (A family going to Rwanda for the summer is allowing us to live in their home), we unpacked and bought groceries and consider ourselves settled in.
How the heck did we end up here? And what happens after the 8 week residency? Well, I’m so glad you asked… Sometime in March I shared with the staff & elders at West Towne (the church we were at) that I continued to feel like we didn’t fit there, that we had been there almost two years, yet continued to feel like ‘the piece of the puzzle that no matter which way you turn it you can never get it to fit’. I told the elders, that unless God directed us differently that we’d probably be done sometime in June. We felt like, for the most part, that Knoxville was still the place for us…we had come here for the community for our kids, and that had been great. Knoxville appears to be the best place for our kids, and if that was why we came to Knoxville, we didn’t see God calling us to give that part up for something that was ‘less’ for our kids…
In the midst of all of this God seemed to be ‘doing a new thing’ in some people’s hearts and minds…there were people groups, mostly non-church, non-believing people that were expressing things like ‘I feel like God is chasing me’, ‘I don’t want to have anything to do with the church’, etc. I continued to hear story after story…each time wondering why I kept being told these things…
About 6 weeks ago, while at a conference in Orlando, some of the leaders of Community Christian asked us about things in Knoxville…we told them where we were in terms of West Towne, we told them some of the stories of people seeking and wrestling…and at a 10pm meeting one night in a hotel lobby in Orlando, God put together a plan: We are spending these 8 weeks here in Chicago this summer…we will be back in Knoxville in time for the kids to go back to school and Monica to student teach…during the fall we will be meeting with different small groups, raising money, putting together a staff, etc…and in January or February we will be starting a ‘new thing', a new church work in the Bearden/UT Campus area of Knoxville with the full blessing and support of the elders at West Towne.
So, I resigned from West Towne on May 28th and we left on June 4th for Chicago…
Three organizations, (Stadia East, Smoky Mountain Men’s Fellowship, New Thing Network) are supporting the work via training and financial support. It cost, on the average, $250,000 to begin a new church. We are going to have raise $50,000 to $100,000 of our own money for the start up as well…
I hope it goes without saying, maybe not, but just in case…’we are extremely excited about what God is doing’. We feel very called to this work…we feel like He has put some incredible pieces into place to set this all into motion…some of the relationships we have had for almost 20 years are now coming into play in a way that God is using to accomplish His desires for Knoxville…
In a nutshell…we believe God is calling us to be a part of Jesus community that is open to those that ‘feel like God is chasing them’, who ‘won’t have anything to do with what they perceive church to be,’ etc. We feel called to create a space in life where people can gather to worship and study, and places where community can happen in smaller groups.
We feel like we have a ton to learn, but we trust that God will continue to provide all we need…
You may have heard me say it time and time again, but just in case you've forgotten…Buechner: ”Your calling is where the world’s greatest need and your greatest joy cross”…it seems like that at certain times in your life this is more true than others, and for Monica and I this time and this next season in our lives is one of those times…
We’d love to hear from all of you, and hear what God is doing and how He is moving…and, I’m sure this goes without saying, but if you’re interested in moving to Knoxville…come on down, you’ll learn to love the color orange.
One more thing…I’ve changed my e-mail to markrobertnelson@gmail.com and I have a blog that will be going live in a week or so (boy, am I learning the tech language or what…) if you want to keep up with us in more detail, www.standingonthedesk.com
We love you all…
shalom,
m5
Mark Nelson at 12:55 PM 2comments
2 Comments
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at 12:05 AM
said... Mark,
Welcome to the blogosphere! This will be a great way to expand your influence. And welcome to Community Christian Church and the NewThing Network. We are thrilled to be partnering with you and Monica. I know God is going to do great things through this new church in Knoxville! Dave-
at 2:32 PM
bill said... hey mark. great to have you in the blog world. i'll be putting a link to you on my site, if that is cool with you. have fun in chi-town...or nape-town, rather. by the way, i dig the picture on the top the page.