On March 11, I announced to those in attendance at Friday Night Fuel that The Journey as we know it will continue, but only until the end of May. Here’s why…
In the summer of 2003, I was asked to start and lead a young adult ministry at Centerpoint Church (then called Colton First Baptist). For several reasons it was clear that this opportunity to serve and to grow was a wise choice and would be a blessed one. I took it as an assignment from the Lord. It has always been my intention to serve here until such time as the Lord saw fit for me to move on. And though there have been difficult times as a leader when I would have liked to walk away, I pressed on knowing that God still wanted me here.
In the early days, all of my time and energy was focused on leading The Journey and making it great. Since getting married in 2007 and the birth of our son just a year ago, life for me has become increasingly family-focused. Not long after Cristina (my wife) went back to work at the end of her maternity leave, I was laid off due to budgetary constraints at the church and officially became a full-time dad. But just because the church could no longer keep me on staff did not mean my assignment from the Lord there was completed. So I have continued leading The Journey on a volunteer basis. Nevertheless, as 2010 came to a close I felt the Lord impressing upon my heart that it was time to step aside from leading The Journey and allow someone with fresh vision to take the reins.
When the Journey team met to discuss our plans for 2011 I told them that I felt God telling me that this was the year I was to pass on the mantle. As my attention began to turn more toward family and ministry endeavors outside of Centerpoint Church, I thought it was only fair for me to step aside as custodian of this ministry (now a 20′s & 30′s group) and allow someone with fresh vision and more available energy to take over as our “chief operating officer.” I wanted The Journey to thrive and we needed someone new to lead us to the next level. I asked our team to consider whether the Spirit was moving any of them to take on this task.
By our next meeting someone had stepped up to take the reins. He has proven himself as a devoted disiciple of Christ and a leader among us from the beginning. And he indeed has a fresh vision to reinvent The Journey while remaining true to the core principles we’ve developed over the years. Exactly what his vision is and how he will go about implementing it I will leave for him to convey to you at the proper time. For now it is probably safe to say that it will not be Fuel nor will it be on Friday nights. It will be a completely new thing–a fresh start!
With all this in mind we have decided that The-Journey-as-we-know-it needs to come to a full and complete stop before embarking again on a new adventure. We did not want to end abruptly so we are continuing with Friday Night Fuel through the end of May. Our final worship gathering under my leadership will be on May 27 at 7pm. After that we will be taking a break over the summer. Then, Lord willing, Paul Carter will be taking the lead as we press on into whatever the Lord has for us.
If you have any comments or questions you can always reach me at shawn@towardtruth.com. Thanks to all of you for your faithfulness to the Lord and to this fellowship over the years!
Sincerely,
Shawn
P.S.: Don’t think that we’ll be on cruise control these next two months at Fuel. We will continue reading through the Psalms and getting closer to God through worship. Knowing that our time is short just makes it that much more meaningful. So make it a point to be there on May 27 at 7pm in the Basement at Centerpoint Church, and every Friday night until then. As always, childcare is available. Bring a friend!
