The Final Countdown

Just one more Sunday before the official launch of Ascension Presbyterian Church and the excitement is building. We had a meeting after the worship service this past week to discuss outreach and follow-up for the big day and beyond. Everyone was excited shared several ambitious and creative ideas for inviting and engaging with friends and neighbors. It's encouraging to see such enthusiasm from our launch community and to consider some great outreach and evangelistic ideas. Several in our church family have expressed to me how thrilled they are to be a part of what God is doing and will do here in central Queens through Ascension Church.

We also have lined up some great musicians to play on Palm Sunday. Our regular pianist is unable to make it that week, but we've found an excellent replacement in a friend of mine from my pre-seminary days. We also have an impressive ensemble which includes a flute, guitar, and stand-up bass. We also have some additional musicians lined up for Easter so we don't have a tremendous letdown the week after our launch... not to mention that it's Easter after all.

We are also renting a smaller space for a Good Friday service and church-wide dinner. One of our home groups is having a Passover Seder with a Messianic Rabbi which will be a more directed outreach given the Forest Hills demographic, and considering that Passover and Easter occur together this year.

This time of year is busy for any church, but for a church about to launch, it's particularly busy for us. Please keep Ascension Presbyterian Church in your prayers during this crucial period.

Big Things Brewing: There are some huge developments with regard to our worship service location. Because the final details about it have not yet been finalized, I'm not at liberty to explain much further. Rest assured, however, it's pretty much a done deal. I can hardly contain myself. I expect to be free to let you know by next week's blog entry. Of course, I can tell you anything you want to know over the phone. Just don't call my cell phone during weekdays before nine at night (EST).

Baby News: Reyn Cabinte, one of my fellow Church Planting Fellows (Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Manhattan) became the proud father of a baby boy today. The only details I know at this point are that his name is Soren and baby and mother are doing fine. Check Reyn's blog on the link to the right. I'm sure he'll post some pictures soon if any of you are interested.

Already. Not Yet.

A couple of entries ago, I discussed the dynamic of March in New York. The tension between winter and spring is pronounced here, making this month one of the most dramatic and, depending on your perspective, the most frustrating times of the year. Although Monday marked the vernal equinox, the winter chills have plagued us all week.

The image of March is similar to our status as a church plant. We've already begun worship services and home fellowship groups. We've already got a name. But we've not yet gone public. The next two weeks will be a frantic push of publicity. We've got fliers and postcards; we're going out into the streets and the subways to invite people; we're inviting our friends and neighbors. I guess you could say we're gettin' busy. It's exciting and potentially exhausting and we will certainly need your prayers during this critical time. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to be at work both in the lives of the people of our church and in those of individuals in Forest Hills and the surrounding neighborhoods. We are confident that God will draw His people to himself, and we are praying that we will be used in an effective way to be used by Him to do this.

This week, each of our home groups is having a prayer meeting over the church's outreach and launch. We want to seek the Lord's guidance in our efforts and look for opportunities to engage people and invite them to Ascension. I will also be using the boys in our youth group to hand out fliers and postcards. I must admit, church planting is quite a rush.

In the next few weeks, we expect to introduce an operational website for Ascension Church so it launches as closely as possible to our church launch on April 9. Once we do that, I will post the URL here and add a link on the sidebar with the other links there.

Country in the City: Working in a church plant, sometimes I feel like I'm strapped to a whipping post. Michael and I took a break Tuesday night and went with a Lutheran minister friend to see the Allman Brothers Band at the Beacon Theater. The band plays 15 sold-out shows in at the Beacon each March and they put on quite a show. My Deep South Bretheren (one of whom I spoke with recently on the telephone) find a touch of humor in the fact that I spent three years in Mississippi and end up going to see a legendary Southern Rock Band here in New York. Surprisingly, New York, Boston, and Atlanta are the band's biggest-selling venues. It would likely be a safe bet that we were probably the only three people in the theater employed in full-time church ministry.

Inspirations from St. Patrick

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day and people all over New York City mysteriously claim some Irish heritage in order to excuse the volume of alcohol they take in. I always find great humor at watching people who, by their physical characteristics are obviously not Irish, stumble out of local pubs donning kelly green attire and belting out off key Celtic folk songs.

Most people, however, have no understanding of St. Patrick himself and what he did to earn his own holiday.

Born in 387 in Scotland, Maewyn Succat was the son of Roman immegrants and considered himself a pagan until his early teens. At 16, Patrick (his Christian name) was kidnapped in a raid and shipped to Ireland as a slave, working as a shepherd. At the time, the Emerald Isle was populated by Celtic Druids and Patrick developed a heart for the people, learning both their language and customs.

At the age of 20 he escaped slavery and was able to reunite with his family in Britain. His desire was to preach the Gospel in Ireland and he went to study in Rome in preparation for ministry. Eventually, he was assigned to be Bishop to Ireland where he preached throughout the country and planted churches. In the course of 40 years, he preached and discipled to the extent that most of the country was exposed to the Gospel and many converted. He died on March 17, 461 in the town of Saul, Ireland, the town where he planted his first church.

When we consider the difficulties of planting a church in Queens, one can only imagine the obstacles St. Patrick faced in ministry. The effectiveness of his ministry can be attributed to his love for the people, his familiarity with the language and customs, and his ability to disciple others who could teach and preach the Gospel. This is what we are continuing to do as we seek to reach central Queens with the Gospel through Ascension Church.

The clock is ticking toward our public launch on April 9 (Palm Sunday). There is much to do between now and then and we very much appreciate your prayers during this critical time. Michael and I will need to maintain focus while juggling multiple tasks and we will be enabled to do so only through God's grace and the fervent prayers of His people.

Marking the Days

Today is March 9; exactly one month to the day before Ascension Church's public launch. It's hard to believe that this church, which was merely a concept known as the Forest Hills Church Plant when I came on the scene, is actually coming to fruition. During our pre-launch stage, which began at the end of October, and our broadening stage since January 15, we have slowly developed our worship services in light of the big day on Palm Sunday.

This past week, we finally introduced our weekly celebration of the Lord's Supper. Michael did a great job of incorporating the Supper into our order of worship, but we had to drop one hymn near the end because the service ran quite long. Our keyboardist (who lives in Manhattan) and bass player (who lives in Brooklyn) each had commitments after our service to which they had to rush and our originally-planned music line-up would have made each of them quite late to these appointments. As much as I like a lot of music in the service, we need to keep in mind how the Lord's Supper lengthens the service.

I had an opportunity to see a dramatic presentation of C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters this past Saturday throuth The Fellowship for the Performing Arts. It was superb. If any of you are planning to be in New York City before the end of April, I would highly recommend it to you. I wasn't sure how it would play out on stage, but Max McLean is an outstanding performer and brilliantly portrayed Screwtape in all his brooding and devious glory. We are currently attempting to reserve some tickets for later this month so several people from Ascension Church will have an opportunity to see it. Between taking the youth to see The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, our recent church outreach on the topic of love (using Lewis' model from his book, The Four Loves), and this performance, we've been heavy on the C.S. Lewis lately. That's okay. You know, his friends called him Jack.

Last week Michael, practical joker that he is, convinced me that we were going to conduct a funeral for a dog belonging to an individual in our church. He told me that it would give me an opportunity to practice in the event of a real funeral. I wrote a eulogy featuring a fond recollection of the dog based on my brief encounter with him several weeks ago. I also included some carefully worded encouragements for the dog's owner, making sure I offered real comfort without making theological leaps with regard to the dog itself.

Telling me that his son needed to practice using his newly purchased video recorder, Michael had the camera rolling as I rehearsed the eulogy before the "service." This was followed up by a battery of questions from Michael about the souls and afterlife of pets. He said that it's possible that I may face such questions on the floor of Presbytery when I stand before them for ordination. I, of course, believed this, having been to Presbytery meetings both here and in Mississippi and seen some bizarre questions asked of ministry canditates. Eventually, I was informed that this was a joke. Michael now refers to me as the pastor of pets at Ascension Church. Just call me Rev. Doolittle.

Seriously though, we have much going on at Ascension Church and we covet your prayers greatly. Take care for now and God-bless.

In Like a Lion

Growing up, I always heard that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. I've got a lion outside as I write this entry as we have our first installment of March-like weather. A friend of mine once told me that March in New York is three months long, and to most people, that's how it seems. Working stiffs get no holidays during the 31-day stint on the calendar, though many of them attempt to drown their winter frustrations mid-month in the name of the Irish Patron Saint. It's the month where winter leaves us kicking and screaming. It's not so much an easing of Winter into Spring; it's more like an all-out, knock-out brawl. Today's weather is typical March mush. It's not the crisp, dry snow we experienced a few weeks ago during the blizzard of the century. Temperatures are slightly warmer creating a mixture of snow, sleet, and rain, leaving something the texture of Cream of Wheat (only much colder) on the streets and sidewalks. It's downright nasty.

Our March will be something befitting the mush and maddnes. This week we introduce our weekly observance of the Lord's Supper, the logistics of which are still being worked out. This practice is a growing trend amongst newer churches which I think is a great thing. Many recent seminary grads, like myself, have developed a conviction that the Lord's Supper ought to be a part of regulative worship elevating it's importance amongst the community of believers. While this practice is not a mandate, it certainly seems to us to be something that we as church planters are excited about introducing. We are also trying to increase our outreach opportunities as we head toward our April 9 (Palm Sunday) public launch. These things, among other unknowns will certainly keep us busy this month. Please keep all these matters in your prayers.