I know that many of you were not able to stay for the
potluck we did nearly two weeks ago, so you might not have heard from my mouth
what the Lord has been up to in the life of the Anderles. God has called Kellie, Joshua, and I to go
and plant a new Vineyard church in College Station Texas, the home of Texas
A&M.
Let me start by saying that we did not seek this out, this
is something God has orchestrated. We
are not mad, we are not frustrated, and we are not leaving to take a larger
church or a larger salary. As a matter
of fact The Vineyard Chattanooga is in the healthiest place it has been in
years. We are growing again. You guys who stuck with us through the
“school days” are like 101 Airborne; we have truly become a band of brothers
and sisters. You guys are the saltiest,
battle tested, most wonderful people a pastor could ever hope for. Kellie and I
are secure in your love for us and we love you very much!
People’s most common remarks when they come and visit our
church these days is that we are a very friendly and authentic group of people,
and that they feel that there is a spiritual depth to our church that they have
seldom seen. As far as Chattanooga is
concerned we love the city more than we ever have. Living in our little apartment on the
Northshore has made us feel like we are living in a resort. We agree that Chattanooga is one of the most
beautiful and amazing cities in the U.S.
If we were going to bail on Chattanooga because it was hard or because
we believed the grass is greener in Texas we would have done it sometime
ago. The Lord knows we were content to
live in Chattanooga and pastor The Vineyard here for the rest of our lives.
To go to College Station means we will be walking into a
situation with no guarantees. We are being
called to risk it all to go into a situation where we will be starting from
scratch, again. Why would we be willing
to do such a thing? Simply stated,
because God has asked us too. Let me tell you how he asked us.
In April we hosted a night of worship at The Vineyard. As Kellie and I were worshiping that evening,
the Lord reminded me of a prophetic word that had been given to the Vineyard by
a member of The Sugarland Vineyard the week we moved out of HCC, the week
before we went into Tyner. The letter
said that the Vineyard Chattanooga was a ship that was going to hit a
reef. That the ship was going to be
completely ripped apart and that out of the broken wreckage would be built a
second church that was much stronger than the first[1]. Well if you were there during the “school
years” you know that is exactly what happened[2],
but since being in our new building things have turned around. But as I was worshipping that night the Lord
reminded me of that word and said, “You know, Jeff that word was true for the
Chattanooga Vineyard[3],
but for you it’s going to be true of the church I want you to plant in College
Station.”
The word was pretty overwhelming to the point that I teared
up. I leaned over and whispered into
Kellie’s ear what I believed the Lord was saying. She looked at me and
laughed. So I thought maybe not… must
have been the bean burrito. But it
stirred something in me and it began to be part of my prayer times.
During the second week of May. I sat down in Coolidge Park and told the Lord
I felt double minded. I told him I
didn’t have the emotional energy to do this anymore and I needed him to make it
clear to me what he wanted me to do. I
told him I was willing and happy to stay in Chattanooga for the rest of my life
if that was what he wanted, but if he wanted me to go to College Station he was
going to have to make it really clear, so clear that even I could comprehend
it. I then said a phone call would be
nice.
The next day I’m driving to pick up Kellie from work when I
get a phone call from Raymund McDonald.
Raymund pastors the Conroe Vineyard and is the new regional rep in the
southwest for Multiply Vineyard[4]. Raymund said that the Bryan/College Station
Vineyard was being laid down and that they were going to begin the close out
process with the region, but that morning when Raymund was praying about the
church God had told him to not file the paper work until he had first talked
with me. I had only had one fifteen
minute conversation with Raymund before that point, but God told Raymund to get
in touch with me about the church in College Station. Well, I got my phone call from God.
I sat Kellie and the kids down and asked them what they
thought. They said we needed to do
it. I then invited the elders into the
decision, I told them the story and asked what they thought. They all thought it was the Lord. I asked our Regional Leader our Area Pastor,
my mentoring pastors and some of my close peers, they all said they felt like
it was the Lord. They confirmed what I
already knew. God was calling us to
plant a Vineyard in College Station.
What Does this Mean
for Me?
I know what many of you are thinking. Great Jeff, but what about us? What about the Chattanooga Vineyard?
God has not been caught by surprise. I was, but not God. God is moving in this,
and if he is calling the Chattanooga Vineyard to send out its ninth Vineyard church
plant then he has already formed the plan for who is going to succeed me. I like that word succeed, because I think it
completely frames my heart in this. I believe
God is going to bring our church someone He wants to lead it for this
particular time. My prayer is that
he/she succeeds me in every way. That
they take the church farther and deeper than I have ever been able to take
it. I believe they will.
We are in one of the most beautiful cites in America. We have a great team of people who love
Jesus. We live in one of the most
beautiful and coolest cities in America.
We are going to have no problem finding candidates who want to pastor
this church. We are going to have to
hear God’s voice so we are able to choose the best fit for our culture out of
many great candidates.
So first I would say do not worry. This is going to work out great. Second, I
would say for the next 6 months very little is going to change. We are going to be gathering your feedback on
what you love about the Chattanooga Vineyard.
We will be asking why do you enjoy making this your church home? What about The Vineyard do you want to
preserve in the future. I will also be
out for a couple of Sundays because I’m in Texas getting things ready.
In the fall we will bring in candidates whom we will
interview. We will be getting Vineyard
USA’s help. They offer succession
assessments that help churches identify the right person to fit their
culture. You will probably see several
faces preach that we haven’t seen before.
We will tell you if these folks are interviewing.
We are hoping that by the turn of the New Year we will have
identified our new pastor and then we will begin the process of transitioning
the church over to them. Kellie, Josh,
and I will be here until Memorial Day Weekend of 2016 helping the church
transition into this new season. Then we
will be taking a two month sabbatical to get rested up and then we will hit the
ground in College Station.
How Can You Help?
- Don’t Freak Out. Many of us are not big fans of change. I promise you that no one has more skin in the game for seeing this new leader succeed than I do. One of the consistent practices of ministry in this church through the years has been my consistency in giving ministry away. I am fully committed to finding the leader who is the right cultural fit for our church and who can take the church beyond where I ever could. I will be visiting Chattanooga either during Thanksgiving or Christmas every year and I want to see a healthy Vineyard Chattanooga.
- Tithe. The only thing that is preventing our church from achieving all that it is capable of right now is weak finances. There are many of you giving at a sacrificial level, thank-you. There are many of you who are not. Being a church is about each family or individual coming together to see the kingdom work of the gospel go forward. We each partner with each other through using our money and our talents to create a beautiful community. If you don’t do your part, someone is picking up your slack. Don’t be a consumer. Be generous.
- Serve. We need everyone to step up to the plate. Find a job and do it unto the Lord. We need greeters, parking attendants, coffee hospitality folks, children’s leaders, youth leaders, and administrative people. We need craftsman and carpenters and artists and visionaries. We need small group leaders and teachers…you name it we need it. So this is a time to increase your serve.
- Invite. Let’s grow during this season. We are a church planting church. That’s what we do. So let’s invite as many people to come along for the ride as we can. This is going to be a fun season. I’m excited for every part of this next year. Let’s bring as
[1] I
know…real encouraging word.
[2] We
moved into one of the lowest performing schools in our city, because we felt
like that was what God was calling us to do.
During that time we turned over almost the entire church and got a peek
at the subtle racism that permeates America’s middle class. We also got to see the ugliness of American
consumerism up close and personal.
[3]
That those who walked through the “school days” were forming a much stronger
church than the one before.
[4]
Multiply Vineyard is Vineyard USA’s church planting arm.
