California Dreamin'

The rocks around the tide pools at Laguna Beach.
One of my favorite places to visit, and
I got to go there today!

The NEXT Conference, hosted by Provision Ministries in Irvine, California, started last night with a stimulating discussion led by Greg Nettle. He described his struggle with the question, "What is our church doing to make disciples?" This came as he saw longterm attendees at his church who were as scarred by the sins of our culture as people outside the church. He challenged us with his church's decision to create communities in neighborhoods to reach and serve their neighborhoods and make disciples. And his congregation is seeking to invest 30% of its budget on their weekend gatherings in the church building and 70% on ministry outside the building, instead of visa versa.

Today Paul Williams presented material based on his doctoral research that shows the connection between the DISC profiles of church planters and the success of their new church plants. He followed this up with material about how family systems influence church function--or dysfunction, as is often the case.

We spent some time discussing our individual landing spot with regard to our identity with and for the fellowship of Christian churches and churches of Christ, and then broke for the day.

Jeremy Brown and Greg Lee were two in our beach party.

Bart Stone, always smiling, especially
in this beautiful spot.

I had the chance to ride with some others for a quick walk on Laguna Beach during our afternoon break. The conversations to and from the beach were filled with talk of ministry problems and opportunities and approaches. The same was true for the animated discussion around the dinner tables at  Bluewater Grill this evening.

A good day. A challenging day. I'm tired, but I need to pack up and be ready to start again at 8:30 tomorrow for a session that will last till noon. Then a flight to St. Louis through Denver to meet Evelyn who will be attending a conference for college English teachers the rest of the week.

Spent the Day with Jennifer

Jennifer and I are both attending the NEXT Conference in Irvine this week, sponsored Provision Ministry Group, Orchard Group, and Christian Standard. She flew in Saturday and stayed with some friends. I flew in last night so she and I could hang out together here in beautiful California before the conference starts this evening. (I'm writing this after 4:00 on CDT, so evening hasn't come here yet!)

My flight last night was through Chicago and then to Orange County. We were landing in Chicago just as the sun was setting, and the clouds above the city were beautiful.

It was only 10:30 in California when my plane landed at the Orange County airport, but of course that was 1:30 on my old body, so I was pretty tired, but I still had trouble sleeping well. So I'm going to be tired for this opening session of this meeting tonight, too.

Jennifer picked me up at 9:15 this morning, and we drove to Newport to eat breakfast at Pacific Whey, a trendy little coffee/pastry/breakfast/lunch cafe not far from the Pacific Ocean. In fact we could see the Ocean past the parking lot beside the window where we sat.

Then we drove through Newport a little and ended up at Roger's Gardens, a fabulous place that was more like an arboretum than a garden store. Jennifer and I are both flower fans, and we spent at least an hour looking through every nook and cranny of the place.

Then we met her friend and host Heather at Watson's Drug Store in Orange for lunch and a long visit about everything from what to do in Cincinnati when Heather and Paul come to the wedding to dysfunctional families to essentials for a marriage that works to race relations and prejudice. All that accompanied by lots of laughter helps me see why Jennifer values Heather's friendship so highly.

If this evening's conversation is half as stimulating, the day will have been quite memorable. More about that tomorrow.

Headed to Irvine

This is a quick post just before I leave for the airport and a trip that will take me through Chicago to the Santa Ana (Orange County), California airport. Headed there for the NEXT Conference, which will convene tomorrow evening. Sponsored by Provision Ministry Group, with a little help from Orchard Church Planting and Christian Standard, the conference is an attempt to listen to and learn from emerging younger leaders among the Christian churches and churches of Christ. It lasts through Wednesday at noon, and then I'm flying to St. Louis to meet Evelyn who is attending a conference for college English teachers Thursday through Saturday. I'm riding home with her and her colleague Paul Friskney and his wife, Sev.
More about all of this in this space as the week goes on.