I'm wrapping up the week out here in Sterling, Virginia. It's been fun to spend time with Brian and the people of Riverside Presbyterian Church. This is an exciting congregation. The people here are serving the Lord with much enthusiasm and grace. I hope we can display the same kind of energy at Village.
I'm in the process of sorting through my observations before I try to figure out what will work for us and what works only here. This project is several years ahead of us in terms of development. We've got a long way to go but I'm excited by what I've seen here.
Here are my random observations:
Much of Brian's thinking has been influenced by the book When Not to Build. It's not that land is not important to the development of a congregation, it's simply one resource among many.
Leaders here assume responsibility for major programs. The staff seeks to resource others who do the work. This allows people to invest themselves in creative ways. For example, on Sunday a video will be featured in the worship service that was produced by several men in the church. I'm sure the people watching it will have as much fun as the people who made it.
It's good to have adequate office space where volunteers can serve, choirs can rehearse and people can meet.
Riverside does lots of different things to get the word out: postcards, banners and signs on the streets, welcome packets, newspaper ads, etc.
The people of this church have fun together. They do something called "Slopfest" every year and it looks like a muddy mess (of fun). The staff here works hard but there's lots of laughter and fun around here.
Brian seems to be in touch with everything and it appears he does very few things by himself. He does everything through teams and team leaders.
The people of Riverside care about the world. They started a Spanish speaking congregation last year that meets at the same time as the English speaking congregation. They do many things together because they believe they are one in Christ. Riverside has multiple ongoing projects in Kenya. They find creative ways to make money and to get people involved in mission.
The people here give generously and giving is a major emphasis. People are expected to invest time, talent and money into the work of this congregation.
They pray alot here. In the middle of the day the staff gathered to pray for people and for the projects they were working on (like Christmas Eve). Prayer is not merely an obligation but it gives energy to the work they are doing.
The Session (that's the gathering of active Elders) met on Tuesday night. They had only two items on the agenda: the 2007 budget and prayer. It wasn't a short meeting but it was good. Delving into these two items was enough in relation to maintaining the vision of this congregation.
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I think that's enough for today. Tomorrow I'll be spending the day touring Washington, D.C. We saw the Holocaust Museum and an exhibition of ancient manuscripts at the Smithsonian on Wednesday. We walked the mall and so I saw the Capitol, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, the Roosevelt Memorial and, from a distance, the Lincoln Memorial. Tomorrow I want to get a close up of Lincoln and I want to see the Vietnam Memorial and the White House.
On Sunday I'll be in worship with the people of Riverside. I'm really looking forward to it even as I'm eager to bring back plenty of energy, insight and enthusiasm to Ladera Ranch.
