Once again, an awesome weekend on the road!

This weekend, Emily and I visited Evansville, Indiana and our friends Trey and Kitten McClain, and their two girls, Alyssa and Morgan. Trey and Kitten are planting a church on the West Side of Evansville called Discovery Church.

Sunday morning was Discovery's first weekly worship service. They have been having monthly "Preview Services" for the past 3 months. Preview services are a way to "practice" how the public worship services of a church plant will look. They are a great opportunity for the children's ministry, worship team, pastor, setup and tear-down teams, and everyone else at a church plant to prepare for weekly worship services.

We took Emily's mom, Sue Irving (and her truck!), who along with her husband Bill have committed to helping us plant The Ridge. Unfortunately, Bill couldn't go due to some other responsibilities here in Knoxville. It was great for Sue to help in the children's area at Discovery, since she will be helping lead Ridge Church's children's ministry when we begin our weekly worship services.

Although it's fun to visit other churches and learn from the way our friends are leading their church plants, it's also nice to be home, too. We've been on the road a bunch lately and we're about ready for a break.

Emily and I are looking forward to spending some time with new friends (and old friends) who are checking out Ridge Church this Sunday night at Mr. Gatti's in Halls... I'm excited to share about the Vision and Values of The Ridge and for us to share some time chatting about what our church will look like.

So, join us (and feel free to bring your kids and your friends) this Sunday from 5:30 to 7 pm at 6903 Maynardville Highway. Gatti's has graciously offered us a meeting room, so everyone can eat pizza until about 6 pm, and then we'll talk about the future and The Ridge.

If you have questions about Sunday or Ridge Church, just email kevin@ridgechurchknoxville.com. See you Sunday!

A Great Weekend!

Emily and I got back last night from an awesome long weekend. First, we had our last visit to Emily's OB/GYN here in Bluefield, WV and found out that we seem to have a healthy baby girl! From there, we started our trip to Evansville, Indiana to see our friends Trey and Kitten McClain and help them with the first "preview service" of their new church. (A preview service is kind of a "trial run" of the weekly worship services of a church plant; they are usually held monthly just before the weekly "launch" of the regular services.)

On the way to Evansville, we spent a day in Knoxville at Emily's parents' house. We got to hang out a bit, and we also were able to finalize Ridge Church's checking account and our own personal checking account. I like SunTrust! Just read my last post and you'll see why.

Discovery Church held its first of three monthly preview services at the Kerasotes Stadium 16 Theatre on the West Side of Evansville. Trey and Kitten have a real God-given excitement for this area of town. Although that side of town is the "older" area, the University of Southern Indiana is there, which means the neighborhoods have an interesting mix of residents. (Anyone familiar with their former men's basketball coach, Bruce Pearl?) Haha!

Unfortunately, there are few "cool", healthy churches for young students and families on the West Side. I think Trey's church will be just what the area needs so that people feel that they have a safe and caring place where they can explore the claims of Christ.

Speaking of the claims of Christ, you can learn all about them in the excellent book Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. I also found an interesting interview with C.S. Lewis that delves into some of the claims of Christ, and allows Lewis to comment on other interesting ideas.

New Churches, New Friends, New Fun!

Emily and I are in Knoxville this weekend on the way to helping our friends Trey McClain and his wife Kitten with the first "preview service" of their new church in Evansville, Indiana. It's called Discovery Church and we plan to have a blast visiting them and their two girls, as well as seeing their new church peeps tomorrow through Monday!

Ridge Church and Emily and I are as of today now officially banking at SunTrust of Fountain City. What a nice group of folks there! Annie Howard, the Assistant Branch Manager, is super nice and even helped Emily with a suggestion for a place to get her hair cut. Annie finished up the church's checking account application process that we started online and then helped Emily and me to set up our personal checking account. Looking for a bank to check out? SunTrust of Fountain City should be on the list!

We also got our first piece of mail at our new P.O. Box--our copy of our non-profit corporate charter from the Tennessee Secretary of State. With all this paperwork, I'm going to have to buy a filing cabinet!

Emily and I are excited about being in Knoxville for good starting on June 28th! One more cool thing we discovered last night: Leo's Cafe on Tazewell Pike in Fountain City has live music on Saturday nights now! So far, they've had bluegrass and jazz.

Emily and I are pumped about having a place to gather with new friends that features live music AND great food (plus great service)! Check out Leo's if you've never been there before. My suggestion: a bacon cheeseburger with fries and a Diet Cherry Coke (with real cherry syrup!).