Monday, Monday

Yesterday was a long, but good day! I think the tiredness factor was due to my big trip this weekend to Georgia... But, sometimes you have to pile a bunch of stuff together and make a crazy week out of it. I'm sure you've all been there!

First, I went to work at my part-time job at the HoneyBaked Ham Store near Knoxville Center. I've worked there for about 6 weeks now selling holiday hams, turkeys, and gift certificates to local businesses and manufacturers. Having the job allows Emily and me to not take a salary at this time from the funds that we are raising for our new church's financial needs... We want to be good stewards of God's funds and provide for as much of our financial needs as possible, therefore freeing up money for some of God's other purposes.

My job at HoneyBaked is an interesting one that puts me in contact with a ton of people in the area, even though it's usually on the phone! I also deliver lunchtime catering to our customers on most days.

A cool thing about my job is that I work with some really nice people. Most of them don't go to church, and so I've had some cool opportunities to talk to them about The Ridge and its values, and how we're going about starting a church. I learn every day more and more about why folks around our area have chosen not to go to church, and I believe more and more each day that Ridge Church is "on target" for what Emily and I moved to Knoxville for: "to be a community of people transformed by Christ, reaching out to share Christ with others."

Monday afternoon, Emily and I met with Grant Standefer, the Executive Director of the Compassion Coalition. I was connected to Grant through Jim Thompson, the Executive Director of the Coalition. I was connected to Jim through Max Reddick, the Senior Minister at Fountain City Presbyterian Church here in Knoxville. Max is a great guy who gave up a couple hours one afternoon last week to share with us what he knows about the area (he knows alot!).

The Compassion Coalition is an awesome ministry connecting over 150 churches in the Knoxville area to local government and non-profit agencies for the purpose of serving our community. It's a great concept that is long overdue, and it sounds like every city in America would do well to copy it!

As you can see, networking when you're planting a church is a pretty cool thing... There are alot of people out there who want to help those in need and reach our community with Christ's love. Every day, Emily and I are more glad to be here and more excited about continuing to serve our city in the future.

To top off a great, but long day, we had a great time at our "Man Night" at Spicy's in Powell. Some of you guys out there mentioned that you couldn't make it, and we missed you. Stay tuned for our next guys' thing... We'll have another one sometime soon.

A simple request...

Hey all you folks in Knoxville (or who know people in Knoxville) who are checking out our blog: I'm going to make a request of you.

Emily and I are going on a little mini-vacation this week to Charleston, South Carolina. It's where we went on our Honeymoon 10 years ago... And our favorite place to go. I wanted to take Emily there for our 10th anniversary, but with all the stuff going on with moving to Knoxville from West Virginia, we didn't get to celebrate our anniversary.

My friend John Fooshee (who pastors Redeemer Community Church in Johnson City, TN) has an awesome mother-in-law named Jayne who is allowing us to use her condo in Charleston for a week!

So, while we're gone relaxing, spending our last vacation together before our baby is born (either the last week of October or first week of November, probably), thinking and praying about The Ridge and the next few months of preparation, will you do me a favor?

I've been looking for a part-time job. As a matter of fact, I've interviewed for two of them. One of the jobs turned into a full-time job (which I don't have time for as a pastor). The other one didn't work out, probably due to my inability to commit for longer than a year or so.

If you know of anyone who's hiring for part-time help, would you let me know? I believe I've been spending too much time scouring the Internet and paper for the right job. It's been taking away from other things, like meeting new people and spiritually preparing to lead Ridge Church.

So, I am going to rely on the folks who read this blog (surely there are millions by now) to hook me up! I'm just looking for something around 20 hours a week with a regular paycheck that allows me to have a relatively-regular schedule and meet as many folks as possible.

There's a bunch of good reasons for a pastor to have a part-time job, by the way, in case you're wondering:

1. I can make a little money, allowing The Ridge to save some cash it would normallly pay me and reserve that dough for launch needs like a sound system, video stuff, children's ministry stuff, etc. Just an FYI: I am paid on a part-time basis by Ridge Church right now from charitable donations that friends and family are sending as financial support for The Ridge--they believe God wants to do big things in Knoxville and so do I! (If you'd like to pitch in, let me know!)
   
2. I am not tempted to be "super-pastor" and try to do everything, but will need to gather a ministry team and work hand-in-hand with other people to do "God stuff." Believe it or not, pastors often try to do it all and "burn out" every day. The healthy thing (and much more fun thing!) is to serve as part of a team.
   
3. I can meet new people who I may be able to invite to Ridge Church events so that they can get connected.
   
4. I can network with businesspeople-types who may be able to introduce me to their networks... Who may be able to introduce me to their networks... So we can invite people to Ridge Church events so they can get connected.
   
5. I can have a front-row seat to the culture around us... And even be on stage a little! Too many pastors are holed up every day in an office someplace, away from the people they hope or claim to serve... Not so with The Ridge! We don't envision our future offices as places to spend our entire workdays. Although there certainly are times for study and prayer, we want to be among the people of Knoxville on a daily basis and serve our community. How can we serve a community we don't move about in? We can't.
   

I'm sure there are more reasons for me to be a part-time employee, but you get the point! I plan to have a part-time job for at least a year, maybe up to three. We believe that The Ridge will be self-sufficient financially by that time, and I will me a much busier bee with Ridge Church stuff by that time as well.

More discussion of that stuff later, but for now, if you have good job ideas for me, just email them to kevin@ridgechurchknoxville.com.

We're a team--no one person can do it all, and that includes everything you might think of. Thanks so much!

Kevin