Sunday afternoon was a significant time for Church at the Bay. We met to vote on the proposed merge/multisite strategy with Grace Family Church. The vote was overwhelmingly in support of this new direction.
Here is a snapshot of what we have decided:
- Church at the Bay will merge with Grace Family Church and become the 1st multisite for GFC.
- Our name is changing to – Grace Family Church – Citrus Park
- The official launch day with the campus makeover will be Sunday, August 18th. (That will give us the summer to get things ready).
I believe this move will help us be more effective in reaching people for Jesus Christ and give us the opportunity to partner with a Movement of God across Tampa. I am grateful to God for our pastors and leaders who led the charge in this new effort. I firmly believe the currency of Leadership is trust! Because Church at the Bay trusts her leader and the vote clearly reflects that!
As we led Church at the Bay to this decision- I knew that:
- Church at the Bay has always been about reaching people with the good news of Jesus. Because of that, we would never let a name stand in the way of God’s mission. I have often joked- “If painting our building purple and changing our name to the Barney Church would reach more people for Christ- I am for it.”
- It is not about me having my name on a building one day- it is about the message of Jesus and reaching this community.
- We really could be Better Together
The spiritual truth about Tampa is staggering (business as usual won’t get it done)
- There are 51 cites in America that have a population of over 1 million. Seattle is the least churched (number of people who attend church) and Tampa is next. We need to kick a dent in Hell in Tampa.
- Tampa is also the 3rd most depressed city in America- people need hope. I know real hope comes through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
So to use the over used phrase- “at the end of the day”- the Kingdom of God wins because we are Better Together.
By the way- I preached 2 messages on Better Together.
- Week 1 was- The Big Idea
- Week 2 was- The Will of God
Time to fasten your seat belts- we are on the ride of a lifetime! I say we band together and make “Tampa a hard place to get to Hell from”!
Last week Sandy and I went to Lynchburg to be with our daughter (Ashley) and her husband (Sam). Ashley is pregnant with our first grand-baby, due June 19, and it was a great time- although she did put me to work. We were able to worship on Sunday with them at their “portable” church. It was kind of nice to walk in and experience their church. They gave us a tour of the kid’s rooms and then we went to worship. To be honest, it is a little difficult just to listen without looking to see what they do differently from us- and consider if that might be better for us. Our son-in-law serves on their set-up team- he is a hoss. They get to their school at 5:30am to start unpacking their trailers (wow- 5:30am- is God awake then? ) Their church does a great job with the whole process and it made me thankful for the men and women who set us up every weekend and then pack it away. It is also a great experience to see our prayers answered and watch Ashley and Sam love and follow Jesus.
Wow- God gave us a great Easter! Thank you Jesus for the gift of Eternal life! I also want to thank the hundreds of volunteers that made our Good Friday and Easter Sunday services rock! We had an “all hands on deck” call out and you served in droves. How fun is it to worship in a full room with people celebrating our risen Lord? We had 12 people indicate that they trusted Jesus as their savior for the first time- that makes our Easter Celebration even bigger.
