“Lent is a time for discipline, for confession, for honesty, not because God is mean or fault-finding or finger-pointing but because he wants us to know the joy of being cleaned out, ready for all the good things he now has in store.’ — N.T. Wright
Hi All!
As I write this, there are signs of new life and the anticipation of Spring all around: buds are beginning to push up, we’ve had a few warm days, Lent is about to start, and many of our allergies are starting to flare up! Like you, I’m also encouraged to see the pandemic dissipating even though my concern is now being directed to the people of Ukraine (Here’s a good article on that situation by David French). Indeed, there are signs everywhere to both celebrate and yearn for fresh supplies of God’s mercies that are, gratefully, new every morning.
As I contemplate his faithfulness in the last two months, here’s an update on our latest:
Care Net: Care had a phenomenal 2021 and this has translated into a very busy beginning of the year with many exciting projects in the works. Here are just a few of the main things associated with my role:
- Version 2.0 of the main ministry tool associated with my job, Making Life Disciples, has just been released and you can view the first session at no cost here. In fact, I just did some filming ro promote this resource with two of my favorite colleagues above (thanks Maurice Wilson & Michaela Hoyle!). Although they both look great, unfortuately, I look a little worse-for-the-wear. I was just starting to turn the corner on a bad sinus infection.
- Next week I’ll be speaking in Dallas at our first Pro Abundant Men’s Conference, and if desired, you can learn more about that here.
- I’ve also been asked to expand the five-person team that I lead to seven, hiring State Directors in FL and NC by the end of June. Not including these, Care Net has a lot of job postings right now that you can view or pass on to others here.
Mantua Creek Church Plant: We did make the goal of our soft launch of digital services on January 30th and you can see some of those weekly services here. As we work out some of the bugs technology-wise and get into some rhythms, I’m hoping things will be fairly settled by Easter, making our website more appropriate to widely share. Our now 17-member core group continues to meet live regularly on Sundays, on Zoom on Thursday nights, and we will have our annual retreat on Saturday, March 12th to make some key decisions on direction for this year. Please be especially in prayer for that event.
We were able to make almost all of our fundraising goal for 2022 ($18,600 of 20K). My heartfelt thanks to all who made that happen and if you’d like to partner with us and invest in what we’re doing, you can do so through our mother church, Ashland EPC, at this secure link. Once we meet our goal, all additional funds will go toward a launch fund that won’t be accessed until we begin weekly services in a physical location (projected for the beginning of 2024).
Personal: I don’t think there could be much more exciting news than two more grandchildren being born in the month of February (that makes six total!). All are doing well and here are the details:
- Jude Austen Ginchereau (see above) was born to Josh and Emily on 2.6 at 10:05. He was 5 lbs., 4 0z. and 18.5” long
- Caedmon Laine Austen (see below) was born to Tim & Sarah on 2.16 at 10:39. He was 7 lbs., 7 oz. and 23” long.
Writing: I just released the Updated and Expanded 2022 Edition of How I Became a Christian Despite the Church. Besides small additions and tweaks here and there, I added a nice quote related to shame and a couple of others related to discerning whether a church is healthy or toxic. Regarding the blog, I’m doing a little experimenting, some weeks trying to integrate it with my Sunday message and provide discussion questions. I’m not sure where it will all land but if you have any feedback on what has been the most or least valuable to you, I’d love to hear it. As far as the new book Irreplaceable: Recovering God’s Heart for Dads, it’s been slow going partly because the project is tied to my dad. And partly because the beginning of the year has been so full with Care Net’s expansion and the launch of Mantua Creek’s digital services. I continue to make progress, however, and appreciate your continued prayers. My new goal is to have it done by Father’s Day.
Please do drop me a line to let me know how you’re doing. Your notes and feedback mean so much. And if you’d like to learn more about how or why to celebrate Lent—or join Pam and me in what we’re reading this year, there’s still time before Ash Wednesday to pick up this great little devotional by N.T. Wright.
Blessings dear friends!
Greg