Greg Taylor and I have an article in the latest issue of Leadership Journal. Check it out and if you want to talk about it, come back over here and leave a comment.
The article is intended to be an open and honest telling of the Garnett story as we’ve experienced it. We’re sure not trying to bash megachurches. We want to honor churches of all forms and sizes. We’re simply telling the story of how things have unfolded here at Garnett and how we think we’ve been led by the Spirit to respond.
The article was written several months ago and is a snapshot of then. In the past couple of months, we’ve had several things happen around here that are very encouraging and lead us to believe that we’re on the right track.
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons
Wade, nice article. I’m thankful for your courage and willingness to keep fighting for God’s work there. I hope you see brighter days in the near future. Many great works had to get smaller before they became healthy and alive.
God bless.
Wade,
I loved reading your thought process through this transition. I’m currently struggling through the same as a Family/Youth Minister. It’s difficult going up against so many who still feel the need to be numbers and program driven. Not only do we have a modern perspective but some very traditional leanings. I’m loving it though! I appreciate the good article and the further insight I received.
Wade – I’m just crazy about your heart, friend!
Regardless of what works elsewhere – your story and Garnett’s story just captivates me.
I can’t wait to see things unfold in your life – I’m honored to see God’s work in you.
Deeeeeeepest blessings to you friend! You will see the both/and blessings of kingdom growth in a way that only Garnett can experience.
There’s not another Garnett or Wade Hodges and you’re beautiful at being you. I’m smiling!
What a wonderful piece. I’m glad God opened a door for that story to be shared in such a setting.
Wow, what boldness in a “hard, painful, and messy” situation. At this distance, that’s inspiring.
Greg and Wade, may great blessings be on you and the other leaders as you go forward.
Sounds a good bit like the Homewood in Birmingham situation. But I wonder if this story is not being repeated in many other churches, even smaller ones, as restoration movement churches fail to adopt methods and styles that reach our communities. Seems we can learn a great deal from our sister churches on the Christian church side.
Peace.
Good article. Thanks for the link. I do think they have your web address wrong on the bottom though.
I wish more churches saw the property as God’s or the community’s and not as THEIRS.
Wade,I admire you. Faced with a mountain, many would have found greener quieter pastures…and you have not. Being a bold leader is tough. I’m sure there were many times (are? many times) when your knees wanted to give out from under you. In times when there are huge challenges, most feel forced to retreat and re-do old and tested things that worked in yesteryear. Your creativity is inspirational to me. You’ve got guts not only to pursue this path, but also to share it with the world.
Though our church is much smaller, we are living in a changing city ruined by Hurricane Katrina, being rebuilt to shut out the poor, in a church that mostly wants to be white and middle class in the center of what is rapidly becoming a minority neighborhood … and nothing can ever be the same again. The methods of days gone by are no longer on the table. Surrounded by addicts, homeless, and impoverished people … elderly people trapped in a new world … Christian people yearning for the solemn services of the past … our world has changed. So must we. So some of what you wrote resonated with me. I think there are many churches facing ice-age-like changes. I am trying not to be the wooly mammoth preserved as an icon for the future generations to gape at. I am wooly … but that’s another story. I’m beginning to ramble. Thanks again.
“What if events of church, personalities of church, and Sunday assembly went away? What would be our view of the Christian life? What would we do as Christians, and who would we be?”
So much of the identity of Christians gets tied to “the building” or the denomination or the pastor, preacher, personality. Unfortunately, it is typically what defines who we are as Christians. I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, I follow Cephas, I follow (insert church name), I follow (insert program name), I follow….. Being able to identify who and what we are seems to be so integral to having direction, purpose, and focus. It is as if to take those things away would somehow render our existence meaningless.
Thanks for opening the door to asking the questions that probably need to be asked.
Wade,
I read your article in Leadership. Thanks for your honesty, openness, and willingness to share! I’ve been to Tulsa (Workshop) and Garnett many times over the past twenty-five years. These challenges are everywhere! I am giving copies of your article to each of our Shepherds and staff members. It is my prayer that Garnett will be transformed into a truly missional community. Could you share with us the encouraging things that are happening at Garnett? We are attempting to intentionally partner with Jesus in his mission in ways that this well-estblished church has never attempted in the past. Due to this fact, we have recently had several families leave our church family. They demand to know where we are going and what lines we intend to draw. It is evident that many in our fellowship do not understand what the gospel is and is not. Praise God for individuals and churches who are courageous enough to lead the way in calling people back to the gospel and to the mission of Jesus.
Wade – I attended Garnett in high school (through 1992), and periodically visited when I came home from college, before my family moved away. I still remember that the balcony was pretty much always closed, and thinking what a waste that was — not because there shouldn’t be a balcony, but who wouldn’t want to sit in the balcony? 🙂
Elated to hear that the building is being put to so many good uses. Keep up the good work!
Wade,
That’s one of the best pieces I’ve ever read on Christianity Today (or her affiliates). I know you and Greg well enough to know that you are not looking for praise for these decisions and movements made in humility (of all things!)…but you guys do need to hear affirmation from fellow trench dwellers: we support and admire your kingdom convictions.
Wade,
Great stuff, bro. Thanks.
Wade … I too read with great interest having attended the workshop in Tulsa for years and years. We always attended Garnett on the Sunday morning before we left to go home from the workshop. I appreciated the article and the humility in which it was written. I look forward to hearing about the great things happening at Garnett. I have no doubt its future is bright.
Blessings…
Wade,
I just read that article, and was not familiar with Garnett’s story. What an amazing ministry you all are pouring yourselved into. It sounds exciting, even through the difficulties you have to face. Thank you for giving us all a peek into the struggle and mission of Garnett to share Jesus with your community. We are all called to do what you are doing.
I wanted to tell you how the article was convicting and encouraging at the same time. I long for “church” being about Jesus and not our performance. I admire your courage to face the challenge at Garnett. I know how tough it can be. You are not alone. So many churches want to change but do not want to be transformed. God Bless You!
Wade,
I came here to thank you for the article I read in Christianity Today. I appreciated it.
Coming from a church that has never been a “megachurch” but always dreamed of it, I appreciate you being honest and real. Every day more and more leave the notion that we’ll be 2,000 members. More and more we understand that what we’re doing on Sunday morning may not be grand, but we’re doing a whole lot with what God’s given us. I’m proud to be apart of the community I am. I know the lives that are touched by our hugs, our money, our food, our help, our bible studies at weird times, our helping a divorced woman move, our singing with 25 physically/mentally disabled children, our church building being wall-to-wall with a Family Dollar that doesn’t get the most desirable crowd.
I think God’s got big plans for us Christians living here in the Western Hemisphere of this world. I only hope that we’re not so hard-hearted that we don’t see what God’s up to.
Thanks to you and Greg and the rest of the staff for what you do at Garnett, through ZOE ministries and Tulsa.
Hello Wade,
Thank you for being so real in this article. I have just become the Senior Pastor of a church that is/was just like Garnett (on a slightly smaller scale) and your words were right were I find myself. People want those “glory days” and don’t realize they will never come back, but that the “future days” still bring with them incredible possibilities if we don’t look back and push forward!
You were able to put into words what I have felt in my heart since moving here! Thanks again and keep fighting!!
Thank you both for taking the risks daily which resulted in you being able to write this article. Thank you for being willing to carry on the journey.
It is refreshing to hear from people who, as Rob Bell put it, are smoking what they are selling.
Oh, come on, Wade; how can we follow the New Testament pattern if all of our churches aren’t instant mega-churches with 3000 members added on the first day they meet and more every day thereafter? 🙂
Thanks to all for such kind comments. I’m struck by how common this story seems to be in churches of all kinds across all denominational categories.
Greg and I were laughing the other day about how when it comes down to it, no matter what we say in the article, we’d still love to see our building full some day!
Wade,
I pray that God will bless your Church and your ministry in a powerful way. I pray that His Holy Spirit minister to those in the neighborhoods around your Church that those who need Jesus will find Him at Garnett. God bless you brother!
Wade,
My prayers are with you as God transitions that church into what He wants. May more churches have the courage to do the same. My only word of caution is that you be careful with the ISWW and honor it for what it is, a faith-building, soul-feeding, not quite emerging, shot-in-the-arm reunion of God’s people.
Peace.
Wade,
Very good article. Well thought out and expressed. I am glad you are getting good response.
I want to add my thanks to you, Wade, and Greg. What a helpful story of God’s unexpected grace that shows up in some initially unwelcome ways.
Life is tough. God is good.
It’s not easy to believe both these truths at the same time, but your story helps faith deepen.
“Greg and I were laughing the other day about how when it comes down to it, no matter what we say in the article, we’d still love to see our building full some day!”
Can I ever identify with that statement! We’re trying to transition from attractional to missional too. But, I always have this thing in the back of my mind that says we’ll know we’re on the right track when we see people flocking to our building. It’s hard to simply serve God and let Him decide what to bless and where and how. It’s difficult to recognize that our individual ministry may never bear the kind of visible fruit that garners the praise and admiration of our peers. My earlier church growth thinking would have labeled that an excuse for not building and promoting the church the way I should.
I thought it was interesting that the Church of Christ was described unashamedly as a denomination. With respect to any problem facing the kingdom of God — and division is just one such problem — I think that we are either part of the problem or part of the solution. I do not want to give up on being part of the solution, difficult as it might be.
Wow! I am so excited for the community surrounding the Garnett facility. Now THAT sounds like church!
Amen and amen and congrats and praise the Lord! And thanks for getting the word out. Maybe we’ll all take a lesson–not to copy verbatim what you’re doing but more to ask the question, “What does God want to do with ‘us’ now? (Regardless of what He did with us in the past.)”
A question . Is it possible for a local church to be both atrractional and missional and still make an impact on the culture ? For example : Can we still invite peole, have gospel meetings, seminars,vbs, etc. and also reach out to the community with kind expressions of love , compassion ,personal evangelism ( or whatever term you may use) . Outreach that goes way beyond what occurs at a buliding .
An honest question.