Monday, July 10, 2006

Brutal

This blog is supposed to be about the journey of starting a church within the NYC art community, but it also goes into general emerging stuff also. This post is very much about our journey.

We are on a bumpy part of the road, rather than a boat in a storm, we are a sailboat in the doldrums. No wind, really hot.

70% of our congregation is gone for the whole summer - and when you have 20 people and only 5 are left, it's quite hard to hold a meeting. After two and a half years of struggling and battling, with amazing miracles and signs of growth, to suddenly hit this wall of nothingness has been brutal. The only word is brutal.

To make it worse, the building that I live in, and that the church meets in has just been sold and we need to vacate by Sept. 1st. Finding space in NYC is very difficult, and with human and other resources so low this summer, it adds it right into the brutal category.

I'm going to God for my strength, but I have been quite depressed for two weeks now. So, there you have the journey...brutal and depressed. If anyone in the future ever gives me any grief about taking a salary or having too much power in the churches decisions, I am going to just remember this brutal, hot, dry doldrums and ignore them completely. They weren't here.

I'm not despairing, but I am depressed. I know God is with me, but it's still brutal.

By the way, I knew this was coming, I just didn't think it would be this bad. The other ministry I used to be a part of here with NYC artists, would just take the whole summer off because of this same thing. I'm hoping next year we have 50 people going into the summer, so then we can carry on with 20...that would be fine.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey bro,

Sorry to hear you are going through such a rough time. You are in our prayers and thoughts. Let me know if there is anything I can do.

Peace,
Jamie

Jared said...

Jeff-

Bro, I feel ya. As a NYC church planter, there is an empathy so deep, all I can say is 'I feel ya.'

Thanks for your comments on my blog. I'm hoping to come to the September cohort. Hope that's cool...

Peace.
-Jared