I am posting and commenting from 2 emails. One from Jeff Cook, one from Jeremy Snyder. I hope this appropriate (clenched teeth), but I want our discussion to include these things in our past... so...here's hoping for understandingKelI have been very concerned by how little has been communicated tothe folks at Trailhead about what has been going on the last ninemonths. Even in the last three weeks, we haven't given the detailsabout how we got where we are.
Now, I consistently talk with folks whoare bummed that we are involved in a 'church split' and don'tunderstand why. This is not good. I long for us to understand eachother, and possibly to understand what God is doing in all this. This is the skinny from my point of view. I hope to be as fair aspossible, but you should certainly discuss other perspectives on this(others might include Dan Hurley, Jeff Wiley, Scott Hellman, RobynRoggy, Mark and Mindy Keifer, and Tim Coons: all of whom wereprinciple players this year).
Trailhead's mission statement is "Inspiring Christ followers tolove and reach the lost." Many questions come from that, specifically:who are the lost, and how would we reach them. One of the solutionswhich the staff at Trailhead began discussing lastNovember—specifically as it related to lost people who were part ofour community—was the creation of a new ministry (that we have sincecalled Atlas) which could communicate Christianity to that populationwhich had the highest concentration of lost folks. This idea was given verbal approved in February by manyindividuals on the lead team and executive board including pastor Dan.Those involved set a date of May 12th to have the first service. Wecreated a website. We began getting council. Finances were put aside,and we drew up plans to do a church plant with 10-14 people. Atlas wasmeant to be another ministry of Trailhead. And we planned to continuesupporting the 70-80 folks at Trailhead (specifically with our musictalents) and continue serving (in small groups and in leadership). It was obvious that many folks were passionate about reachinglost people through Atlas, and that God had uniquely equipped andempowered some of us to that ministry. Some of those involved evenchanged their jobs and lifestyles in order to do Atlas well. The upfront commitment was very costly. However, at that same point Dan submitted his resignation fromTrailhead saying he wanted to step out of ministry. The Lead Teamrefused it, saying that wouldn't be a good idea. Why not take 40 daysoff to reconsider? When this happened, those of us who wanted to do Atlasimmediately put our plans on hold. We wanted to make sure thatTrailhead was stable until Dan came back, and when he returned wewould then recommit to starting Atlas. As you may know, after his 40 days Dan decided that he did notwant to lead Trailhead anymore. He came to a meeting of ad hoc decision makers and said he wanted to do some counseling and teaching,but no longer desired to lead. He asked for a severance package ifTrailhead could not afford to keep paying him to teach and council folks, and he left the decision to this committee.
The committee decided, given our financial situation, that wesimply could not afford to pay Dan any longer if he was not theprimary personality leading Trailhead. (His salary was much more thanthe total we were bringing in each month, aside from other expenseslike rent, office, insurance, and Tim's Salary.) I'm sure everyonehoped that he would remain in our community, and his leaving has beena huge loss. The question then became who will lead? A board was voted in to oversee Trailhead, and the Atlas folks(who at this point included the three primary teachers and ministersat Trailhead: Tim, Robyn, and I) invited the new board to catch thevision of Atlas. The discussion became, do we want to do what Atlas isgoing to do, or do we want to bring in a new senior pastor to tell uswhat we want to do instead. After many discussions, we decide the best move would be tocontinue the course we had initially set out, and that Trailhead wouldlaunch Atlas as we had proposed before. Again the real issue has beenhow do we achieve our mission: how do we inspire the most possiblepeople to love and reach the lost?
Unfortunately, because of the financial situation we were in(which Scott outlined) we have had to launch Atlas much sooner than wewould have liked, and it gives the illusion of an organization fallingapart, but this is the important point: We are not involved in a church split! What we are involved in is a very difficult situation. 3months ago our senior pastor quit, the two remaining executive boardmembers stepped down, we had no membership in place, we had ad hoccommittees making decisions, and we had run through almost the entiregrant we received from Bethel Baptist. The remaining leaders at Trailhead had been handed a massive task: How do we ensure that the most possible people will be cared forgoing forward, and how can we set the foundation for ministry in the future which will not just survive but THRIVE? We are launching what are essentially two new ministries inorder to see folks thrive and continue to reach the lost. GIVEN WHERE WE"VE BEEN: THIS IS SOMETHING TO BE ECSTATIC ABOUT. We are moving forward! We are creating atmospheres where themost possible people (in our community) will meet God and serve him best.
This is a good thing.
This is one reason God prefers there to be100 churches in Greeley and not just one. People meet God in differentways, under different leadership and teaching, and in differentatmospheres. But just because we are different organizations does notmean we are separate! We all share the same baptism, the same communion, the sameHoly Spirit, and our churches are each part of the Universal Churchled and guided by Jesus Christ. We at Atlas long to continue to support in our conversations andwith our prayers the folks at Trailhead. For those of you who know youare going to stay with Trailhead, we hold you in high regard. There isno divisiveness in my heart toward you, and we wish you God's best.The people of Atlas will always be grateful for what Trailhead hasgiven them, and the memories we share with you. Likewise, we long for your good will, and we long for you tospeak up for us when others talk badly about us. Why should weentertain slander, gossip, and the like? What does it benefit us? Weare all part of the same family. Though we may be on different journeys, we share the same mission. I do hope that we will pray for each other, and may God grant useach success as we make Jesus Lord of our lives.
Please feel free to e-mail me with your questions, anger, regret,frustration, brokenheartedness. I too am filled with questions, anger,regret, frustration, and brokenheartedness. I too long to blameothers, and I certainly could be blamed for where we are now. I longto know where God is in all this. Perhaps you can help me. Above all,we're part of the same family, and I want no walls between us. I longfor the opportunity to apologize.
May all good things be yours.
Jeff
