The Browning's
 
Dear Journey Church Family,

Merry Christmas, Journey Church family, I am so proud to be your pastor. While another year has come and gone, it is obvious that I have much to be grateful for as I reminisce about 2009. The love that Tarah and I feel for you is deep and long-lasting. Most evenings our family debriefs on the personal reasons we have to celebrate while sitting at our dinner table. This year, many of my stories of celebration have come after moments that you all exemplified Jesus to our world.

This year I watched our church forge a new vision to reach our community with the gospel. I witnessed many of you make painful sacrifices to ensure that this vision will come to fruition. When tragedy struck, I was so proud of our church family and the love that was extended to our hurting friends. I am overjoyed at the new, wonderful people that God has brought to our family who embody the bright future of our church.

I wanted to take a moment to wish you a Merry Christmas and thank you for being an encouragement to our family. I hope that this year you have been challenged to give your reigns over to Jesus, whose birth we celebrate this week. I pray that you will look back at this year as one in which you drew closer to our Savior Jesus. Finally, I request that you continue committing yourself to leaving an eternal legacy which points back to King Jesus in your life. We love each of you more than you will ever know.

Merry Christmas,

Will <><
 
 
After a couple of weeks in a waiting pattern - due to a stoppage by the Berkeley County Permitting Office that put our project  on 'pause' - we are finally moving again. All of the issues seemed to be clearing up, but our builder has a few new items he must comply with - all of which will improve our building. Once the builder has gotten the permit in hand, our sign company should be able to start fabricating our signage for the front of the building and, with a little luck, we should have our sign up in the coming weeks (for an idea of what this will look like - see below). The Christmas holidays are a time for many workers to take some time off with their families, which we validate, but that means things may not move at the predictable pace that they would if it were a different time of year.

What is in our hands now is preparing for the projects we are responsible for.  Clay has been working diligently to identify a lighting system that is inside our budget and has the capabilities we desire for the auditorium.  This week we have ordered some test lights to hang in the building to see if we approve of their functionality and design. One of the projects that we will take on as a church will be painting the ceiling in the building.  Secondly, we have ordered all our data cabling for our technology.  Once the walls have been constructed by the builder we will be able to come behind them and run our cabling.  John Mills will be leading our team in this task.  We are so proud of those of you who have volunteered to help in these areas amongst many others.  If you have not told us where you would like to volunteer, please email Clay at clay@journeychurchsc.org or fill out a volunteer form at the information desk this Sunday at church.  We will be in touch with everyone who has filled out this information in the coming weeks. These are exciting times and having each of you alongside both in body and in prayer - makes the progress that much sweeter.
Picture
'Mock up' of how the signage should appear when it goes up.
 
Developments 11/25/2009
 
Over the last several months we have been raising money for our Rebuilt campaign.  At this point we are around 82% from where we need to be to take care of our needs for the next two years; leaving us in need of donations around $40,000. One of the unexpected new developments has been how God has provided in other means outside of such generous financial giving.  Lately, God has been providing through specified donations.  We've received wood donations for the stage and riser system that will go in the worship center and most recently, a good friend in Kentucky, Jim Powell, has agreed to help us with all our cabinetry, our coffee bar, and check-in stations.  The awesome part of this partnership is the quality of the pieces being donated. Below are a few mock up drawings for some of the work that is being donated to us.  These small touches will make our facility feel state-of-the-art, while allowing us to stay under-budget in each of these areas.

The Interior Design Team is working diligently at this time to develop a scheme that will work throughout the building.  God has been so great to us and I am confident that He is going to provide for us in ways we never expected.  Right now we are looking for QUALITY donations in the children's area.  We need cribs, toys, baby swings, bouncy seats, books and puzzles.  If you have any, and I stress, QUALITY items that you would like to donate please contact Katherine Williams at katsjourney@gmail.com.  

We are humbled and so grateful for all of the various ways that everyone is supporting and giving to Journey. This is an incredible walk of faith - trusting in God's continuous provision - thank you for being a part of His great plan.  
Top Left: Reception Desk; Top Right: Coffee Area - Overhead View.
Bottom Left: Sound Booth - Side View; Bottom Right: Children's Check-In Counter 
(Designs subject to change.)
 
 
After the Presidential State of the Union, there are all kinds of pundits that weigh in on what the President has said. Newscasters and analysts all give their opinions, trying to make sense of all the minutia found in the words of the address.  While no newscasters will be wading through our State of the Church address from this past Sunday night, and no pundits will ever weigh in on that same church service, I truly believe that God was listening in and I pray that He was pleased.  (If you missed it, download it here).

We spoke honestly about our failures and our successes.  We addressed areas where we need to improve and directions we are preparing to take.  No strategy is more important than our call to define our 'circle of responsibility'.  We have been challenged with finding six people who we will take responsibility over.  Six, out of the more than .5 million people, who live in the Charleston Metro area.  Once these 6 people have been identified, we will love them, serve them, invest in them, and invite them into a relationship with God and a relationship with us as a church family.  It is a simple plan, but it is the plan that we feel will allow us to make the greatest impact on our community.

As we move into our new location, I dream about seeing new faces walk through these new doors.  New people who walk in the door with you - that have been truly affected by your ministry.  People that you have invested in by having them over for dinner, buying them the occasional lunch, or serving their needs over the course of the next few months.  We are going to need everyone to take on this responsibility amongst other responsibilities.

The next 3 months we will be accomplishing a great amount of work in the new building and we need you to volunteer.  We will need painters, wood workers, lunch providers, builders, electricians, and technicians.  We have a lot of work ahead of us.  It is going to require hours and hours of volunteered work.  If you can help, please contact Clay at clay@journeychurchsc.org and tell us about your skill and expertise in any of these areas.  God is going to do some great things over the next few months.  Please join us as we change the landscape of this community with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
 
 
I'm very excited about this coming Sunday's, State of the Church address.  Sounds presidential, right?  Maybe you are wondering, what is this State of the Church address all about? 

Each year I want to spend some time looking honestly at how the last 365 days have transpired.  Every month, as a staff and elder team, we evaluate ourselves.  We look at the progress that we have made over the 30 days prior with honest evaluation.  These are always very fruitful discussions and often challenge us to move towards new ideas and new strategies.  I believe that evaluation can aid individuals and churches to reach their potential if used as a motivator.  This Sunday, I will give an honest and full evaluation of the state of our church.  We will celebrate what we have accomplished.  We will speak openly about our failures.  We will even spend some time thinking about where we are going and what it will take for us to accomplish our goals.

One thing that you are going to hear me say is, "We have failed when it comes to communication."  Currently, we are brainstorming new ways to keep our church family abreast of all that is happening in our church.  Here is the plan.  First, I will be using this blog as a means to communicate information on many levels.  Second, we are planning on sending out weekly emails to the church body with important information.  Finally, I am planning to give a verbal update each Sunday at the beginning of my sermon.  Hopefully this will keep us all on the same page and heading in the same direction together.  I recognize that I need to give a big shot in the arm this week in the area of communication.  Here are a few questions you can look forward to being address this week at the State of the Church address:

     How are we doing financially as a church?

     Where are we at with the New Building's construction?

     Can we see the blueprints of inside of the building?

     When will we move into the new building?

     What is the plan for the next 6 months?

I'm super excited to share the answers to these questions and much, much more.  Please be with us.  Keep checking here for more updates.
 
Stressful Love 10/22/2009
 
I talked with a friend last month, and he made a statement that has been on my mind for the last several weeks.  My friend, Marshall, said, "I've noticed that the things that stress me out the most are also the things that I love the most."  Wow!  That is so true.  The top 10 factors that bring me the greatest amount of stress are also the top 10 passions of my life.  Maybe you aren't following me.  Let me give an example.

I love being a pastor.  I get to help people in their greatest times of need.  I get to see their life find purpose through their relationship with God.  I get a front row seat as He builds His Kingdom before my eyes.  While it is the greatest thrill on earth to be used by God in a mighty way, it is also most stressful.  I feel the weight of being God's mouthpiece.  I feel the immense pressure of being a visionary on His behalf and when people in my flock hurt, I hurt alongside of them in a transcendent way.

Okay, I recognize this experience is unique to me in comparison to the typical reader so let me give another example.  How about you guys who love golf?  Does it bring you any stress?  When your fade turns into a slice or when every putt seems to lip out, does your passion turn into frustration, anger, or stress?  How about parenting?  I love my kids, but they bring about a great deal of stress.  My 9 year old daughter is the love of my life, but she stresses me out to no end. She is already asking me when she can have a boyfriend.  I told her yesterday that she already had a boyfriend (her daddy) and I wasn't ready to breakup yet and probably won't for a long time.  I can only imagine what it is going to be like when she is a teenager.

How about marriage?  Your Career?  Your favorite sports team?  Why is it that the things we are most passionate about bring about the greatest amount of stress?  I think about Jesus on the cross, which must have been the greatest moment of stress in His incarnate life.  Why would he endure such stress?  Why endure the whips, the mockery, and the abuse?  If my illustration is implied to Jesus' death, the implications would say that Jesus had an unquestionable, deeply passionate love for God's children.  So much so that He would endure such excruciating stress that made the pores on his brow sweat blood.  Oh how He loves us!
 
 
There are so many things to be excited about at the Journey Church.  We are seeing life transformation happen in families, individuals, and in our community.  Next month we will be having our third baptism service as we celebrate the milestones in several of our family members lives.  Also, we are seeing 85% of those adults in our worship service attending a small group each week.   This tells us that the people in our church are serious about growing in their relationship with Jesus.  We are currently planning multiple mission projects.  This month we will be hosting a movie night at a local elementary school where we hope to engage with hundreds of unchurched families in our community. 

We are also excited about the recent growth in our worship services.  Each month since June we have seen our average monthly attendance rise.  Because of this growth, we have been forced to plan for our future.  We plan to move into our new location in the beginning of 2010.  These plans are going to require a lot from us.  A major theme at our church lately has been sacrifice.  We know that our people are responding because over the last few weeks we've seen our church sacrifice in a major way.  We had our "First Offering Sunday," last weekend where we raised over $35,543!  Added to the money that had received before the first offering service, we have raised a total of $49,891!  That is real sacrifice for a church made up of families, new professionals & college students.

We still have a lot of work ahead of us.  In the next 4 months we will be building a stage for our new santuary, painting a building, constructing a riser system, and decorating an entire interior.  We are also about 20% below our total pledge goal, which represents about $40,000 more in pledges that we need over the next two years.  If we could identify 10 givers who would pledge $3,000 and 10 givers who would pledge $1,000 we could reach our goal.  If you could play a part in these plans, please let us know by turning in a Rebuilt Pledge card.  We can accomplish this together!
 
Building Update 09/17/2009
 
This post has been delayed because we have been waiting on a few final answers to come in that I wanted everyone to be made aware of.  Over the last three weeks we have been receiving pledges from our church family.  The responses have slowly trickled in and while we have two more Sunday's to hear back from our people, we are about 60% towards our goal.  If you haven't sent in your pledge card please do so over the next two weeks.  On Sunday, October 4th, we will have our first offering Sunday.  The following Monday, we will make several decisions that will effect our final plans for the building.  So it is imperative that our support network communicate to us the sacrifice they are willing to make in the next two weeks.  We are taking every precaution to be good stewards of the resources that God is bringing to us.

Over the last three weeks we have been working with the architect to finalize the drawings for the building.  We are very excited about the final layout of the building. The worship center will seat around 300 adult worshipers and the children's space, made into a jungle theme, will have a kid's worship center and four rooms to give our infants, toddlers, & preschoolers a safe and exciting environment to grow in.  Now we wait to get all the plans approved and gain permits so that construction can begin.  This is a very exciting time.  While these plans have been going through the finalization process we have witnessed our church both grow and gain momentum.  The last four Sundays we have seen an average of about 130 worshipers at our Sunday gatherings and nearly 90% of those adult worshipers have gotten involved in a small group.  God is blessing us greatly and we must remain faithful to his calling.  The road is going to be exciting, with its share of bumpy terrian, but together we will see Him work mightily right before our eyes.

Keep praying.  Keep sacrificing and keep serving with all your heart.
 
 
This Sunday we talked candidly about the God-sized challenge that is ahead of us at Journey Church.  As we plan to move into our new space in 2010, we have a lot of work, sweat, and tears to invest in order to make this happen.  One of the biggest tasks will be to raise the $225,000 it will take to sustain this plan.  Over the last two weeks we have met with the leaders of our church (small group leaders, servant leaders, and elders) asking them to lead our church in sacrificing for this project.  I am happy to report that these 12 family units committed to over $62,000 over the next two years.  Since Sunday, after receiving more commitments from both inside and outside our church, we have received $98,000 in pledges.  This is a fabulous start but we still have a ways to go.  Over the next five weeks we are asking our people to bring their pledge card to one of our worship services and place it in the offering plate.  If you are one of our out-of-town family members we ask that you also pray about this challenge, and if you decide to be apart of our team, please mail in your commitment card to PO Box 3392; Summerville, SC 29484.  Everyone in town can either pickup a pledge card at the information booth or download it here or on our website. Please be considering what you can do to help us reach our goal.  For a full explanation on our plan please download this weeks sermon.

We will continue to post information on this webpage each week as things develop.  We will announce plans, update our status, and make requests from this webpage.
 
Honduras 08/13/2009
 
Picture
Wednesday morning around 4:30am, I finally crawled into my bed after 21 hours of bus & plane rides, layovers and van rides.  It was some tough traveling and delays were possibilities at every stop, but God was faithful to get us home.  This traveling was the culmination of a great mission trip by an impressive team.  The team was commissioned to do VBS ministry, door-to-door evangelism, abstinence training to youth, painting, sports evangelism, and we were asked to lead a church planting conference for local indigenous church planters (see picture for a few of the church leaders we trained).  My team was exceptional.  They served with a sacrificial heart, persevered through roadblocks, showed flexibility, and had the gospel at the heart of all they did.  We were fortunate to see God draw 22 people to himself through our ministry!

I would like to share two stories that touched my heart.  First, I met a little old lady in a village who had an infection in her foot.  She gave us permission to enter the house and her bedroom because her daughter wanted us to pray for her.  Our team knelt at her bedside and prayed for her.  Before leaving we ask, "Do you believe that Jesus has the power to heal your foot?"  Said responded in the affirmative so we pressed on, "Have you also trusted Christ to forgive your sins and be your Savior?"  So said, "No, I haven't."  We pressed even further with the gospel and she obliged us to share.  To my joy, she said that today she would like to give her life to Jesus.  We prayed and celebrated together.  In itself that is a great story but the most amazing part happened as we were leaving.  The daughter stop me and said (through a translator), "Many missionaries and church members have stop by to talk with my mother but every time she told them she was uninterested in receiving Christ.  I am so happy that you came.  My mother saw something different in you."  How cool is that?  God sent me around the world to have a divine appointment with a little woman named Norma.  She was unwilling to hear the gospel from others but God was set on gathering his harvest through me!

Second, there was a young man at our church planting conference (he is the 2nd person from the left wearing a black shirt).  This kid couldn't have been more than 12 years old and he was at a church planting conference!  We spoke every day for 8 hours and his focus was completely unhindered.  He was soaking in all that he could.  As Neal McGlohon rattled off complex-metaphorical concepts about church planting, he never lost focus.  I was amazed as he took pages of notes and plowed through his Bible passage-after-passage.  I was reminded that God is doing great things through this generation and he hasn't given up.  He is moving in the hearts of young men and woman to change the landscape of our world, our nations, and our communities.
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