Often times, when you've been doing something for a while, you can get caught up in the rhythms. Some people refer to this as going through the motions. I don't think that "going through the motions" would accurately explain what I had been going through, but I'd say its close.
In our young adults ministry (the awakening), we have been struggling to keep momentum. Momentum being the ability to consistently connect with new people, connect with one another, and continue to edify and equip leaders in this context. We had a great opening week where we connected with eight new people, our leaders felt activated, and people were bought in on the vision of Belong Believe Build. Then the next few weeks there would be a number of things that would sweep away the momentum. A hurricane disrupts our schedule, key leaders catch a cold in the same week, core members have other responsibilities to prioritize and tend to (school, work, another ministry or family things).
This over the last year has been a point of frustration for me as a ministry director. "God, I feel like I am doing exactly what you ask, yet I am not seeing the fruit I want to see." As soon as I got to this point of prayer, my frustration shifts to myself. Why in the world am I getting swept into the notion that the only fruit we should bear is the fruit that I want. It has led me to wanting to figure out and seek out what YHWH wants.
At the beginning of 2023, awakening went through a major shift in that key leaders began to transition into new ministries and new endeavors. People got married, people graduated, people moved; it led to the new leaders and even some of the leaders begin to feel a lot more weight in responsibility. While this can be ideal in growth, it is daunting to experience. Praise the Lord for His wisdom and guidance, it has led to some needed changes.
The new regime of our leadership team tends to be introverted. Everyone is called to share the gospel, but this group would thrive in scenarios/opportunities that are created for them on a consistent basis that they can prepare for. With that, we made the decision to solely meet on UNF's campus going forward as opposed to our church's building. If we want to be reaching students, we need to have a consistent presence on campus so they know us and we aren't simply asking them to come a church building they've never been to. Our former leadership was comprised of extroverts who loved forming new relationships consistently and inviting multiple people out, which is how a majority of people were getting connected. Our new leadership has taken this challenge and have oriented their schedules more accordingly to be energized and ready for outreach!
Also at the beginning of 2023, I was praying to God and asking for new young men to begin to pour out to. My heart beats to disciple men and point them to and bring them closer to Christ. I want to share a message I sent to our leadership team on Jan 17, 2023:
"Hey guys. So I have a cool opportunity to be helping Anh out as he coaches Aaron’s flag football team I get to be an assistant coach.
One of the players graduated high school recently and God put him on my heart to begin to try ministering to him.
His name is Bryce, please pray that I would be sensitive to the Spirit in guiding me to having a gospel conversation with him."
Firstly, I praise God for a friend like Anh that allowed me to step into a role as assistant coach for his son's team. Through that opportunity I met Bryce, who had recently turned 18, who is as cool as the other side of the pillow. Bryce and I struck up conversation after conversation and slowly but surely the Lord used those conversations to put more weight on his heart, and in August of 2023, Bryce gave his life to the Lord!
It was a great time, and Bryce and I have grown in friendship since then! This past weekend, Bryce joined the awakening as we went to Universal's Rock the Universe... and... well... this is him on the bottom left.
Safe to say, we had a very fun time! Another person in this photo (sitting next to Bryce) is Ethan. Ethan began coming to awakening in late September of 2023. Ethan is a part of the Jacksonville University baseball program and also studying aviation. He was searching for Christ centered community and found some through the awakening! Connecting with Ethan has also been a really great time. Talking about life, sports, and especially consistently beating him in Madden 24.
My friendships with Bryce and Ethan and seeing them get connected with others in awakening has really been a huge blessing and answer to prayer. Ministering to guys that justifiably tell me I am "old" is hilarious to me. It is also a blessing that the Lord has enabled me and given me the passion to do ministry in this capacity.
The weekend at Rock the Universe, seeing Bryce and Ethan get connected, and leadership team being activated by the shift to campus has really kicked off a whole new era of the awakening in general. A new one since my first year on staff. It has brought a new energy to me and us altogether.
Thank you all for your prayers and questions! I will yet again say I will try to continue to post more regularly about ministry things haha! Don't forget, keep it clutch!
My position on staff at AwakenChurch is made possible by financial partners who care deeply about the mission of reaching and equipping young adults (18-25) with the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you'd like to join these financial partners, you can utilize this link. Once there, you can select the drop down that says "Staff- Chrissian Potter." You can also mail checks to Awaken Church (4820 Executive Park Ct Ste 104 Jax, FL 32216) with the memo "Chrissian Potter."
You may also reach out to me with any questions via email: chrissian@awkakenchurchjax.org
Comments
Post a Comment