Back in the Day...Part Five

I left off with us moving to Virginia Beach...

Vince and I are both introverts, so moving into a new town isn't exactly like a party waiting to happen. It's hard for us to meet new people and most of the time we'd rather be by ourselves than with others. Because of this I needed to get out and force myself to be with people on a daily basis, so I got a job in the secular world. I have a strong conviction that in order to be salt and light to the world I have to actually live in the world I'm trying to reach. I got a job with a company that produced job fairs around the country. It was fun and I got to meet a lot of cool people. They weren't exactly excited about what we were doing (one co-worker, upon learning that we were starting a church screamed, "NO F***ING WAY!") but they were nice.

In September 1997, we passed out fliers to about 10,000 homes inviting them to a Forefront picnic. We had no idea how many people would come. We were hoping for 10, but 104 people showed up. We were so excited and immediately started small groups. Vince and I led 2 small groups, as did Tim and Lisa Cole, the couple who had moved down to Virginia Beach with us. We had been involved with small groups before, but never with such a large majority of non-Christians. It was very interesting, to say the least.

During this pre-launch time, my main focus was on my full-time job and building relationships with my co-workers. I also hosted small groups and spent time with small group members. Ideally I think it's great if you can determine your role as cp wife ahead of time (what ministries you'll be a part of and how much time you're willing to commit to them). But, in my case I was clueless. I had no idea what I was signing up for!

Looking back I can see how much less I was able to do because of working full-time. But, at the same time, I'm glad that we did it that way. I've seen too many church planting families become "obsessed" by the church plant; it becomes this all-consuming part of their lives, often leaving family members feeling bitter and resentful.

One thing that was important during this phase, and that we've always done well, is creating and sticking to family boundaries. Even before we had kids we were careful about our time and maintaining a balance between Forefront and us. In the beginning, since I worked during the day, our family time was at night. Vince made a "rule" that he still tries to live by that other than our small group, he won't schedule meetings or other events at night. It takes sacrifice and determination (for instance, a lot of his meetings are at some ungodly hour of the morning), but it's worth it for the health of our family.

As I think about the pre-launch phase of Forefront I wish I had prayed more, worried and nagged my husband less, and enjoyed the time more. I have a friend who is on bed rest right now and I keep telling her to enjoy this time because once the baby comes her world will never be the same. It's kind of the same with church planting. Enjoy the pre-launch phase because once you launch your world will never be the same!

Featured on newchurches.com