The Next Two Weeks

In the context of Catalyst Church's young life, I have often felt the pressure of busyness, pace and prioritization.  Those pressures are going to be multiplied over the next 17 days.  On Feb. 11th, I have an international trip to Australia for a week.  In the interim, there are huge preparation pieces that need to take place (my first teaching weekend at CATC is Feb. 7/8, we have life-group timelines to line out, we're trying to put together a SuperBowl get-together, I have a potential intern to meet, as well as trying to pull together my potential staff team) and also I'm still having difficulty even getting a first contact returned from the principal of the school we may use as a meeting site.  

This past week I spent in New Orleans with my friends from LaGrange.  It was a great reminder of the power of team, even when some of the tasks we were asked to perform were tasks I had no experience in prior to the trip.  It was a great reminder that while Catalyst is going to be a tireless promoter of missional living, we are also going to be utilizing missions experiences early on, because they build community, they build team, and they often make a very tangible difference in the world for a family or a community.  It was one of the great weeks of my life to spend working with my friends from LaGrange once again.  It was almost like for that week we'd never left.  (A few tears here)  But it was also a reminder that I know God called us to start Catalyst at Exit 14, and has much good ahead for us, and that it wasn't just our decision.  Our decision would probably have been to remain with those we love, you know.  But just as Jesus was unable to stay with his friends outside of town, he was compelled toward Jerusalem (and even his own death) because that was the location where he would fulfill his calling.

Please, please pray for Catalyst this week and next regarding our meeting location.  I don't want to get hung up on a spot that the Lord may be closing the door on.  Let me give you a couple of pluses and minuses on the location, just to help you pray more informatively.  

The great plus is location.  Maple Ridge School sits two miles from our neighborhood.  Every elementary school student in our neighborhood who attends public school goes there.  The same is true for another 300+ home neighborhood in Ingalls (a neighboring community).  Parents know where it is.  It used to be the local voting precinct.  It is the home for all Pendleton Youth Soccer, which means every Saturday and Sunday in the fall and spring, a huge number of people in our target audience are at the site where we'd be meeting.  It has the same cafetorium layout as the school where Crosspoint meets.  It's a beautiful relatively new building.  And its not in the "town of Pendleton," which is a whole sociological and locational discussion for another time.  

The great minus is...location.  While lots of people know where it is, it's not on a main road.  It sits at the corner of two county roads, neither of which seem to get much attention/plowing during the winter.  Unfortunately, it's the only decent meeting location i've seen that's outside the town of Pendleton that we can afford.  (If anyone has $45000 we could have, there is a great location available in an office park at exit 19.)

While I know we're a little more than 8 months away from public meetings, as we begin sharing our vision, people do want to begin considering where you're going to meet as they think about being part of your mission.  I'm not saying we have to know where our location is going to be.  I guess I'm praying that if God is directing us away from Maple Ridge, that He'll make that closed door clear to us and then begin to open doors toward other venues.  Would you join me in this prayer?

Thanks for your interest in Catalyst Church and in us.  Thanks for your prayers.  Thanks for being part of this incredible mission God's calling us to through your concern and thoughts and encouragement as we travel forward.

Grace and peace,

Chris