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Okay so here’s the deal. Our team is working diligently to ‘plant a vibrant church in the western suburbs of Chicago. It’s going pretty good and we are establishing a solid core team for the new launch. Once a month we have planned to visit some of the cutting edge, culturally relevant churches in our area to see what we can learn. And then adapt to make work in our setting…here is our first one and a list of 5 questions we asked ourselves…with my own thoughts and responses. (we figured we would start someplace real small…)

Willow Creek Community Church– Barrington
September 6, 2009

1. What did you notice first?

How quick and smooth the staff got that mega line of cars parked for one, (Wow!) and that’s before we even got inside. Net was, the amount of volunteer force that was engaged and empowered…greeting, smiling, helping, assisting…It was the first most impressive thing to see. Their was such a spirit of commitment and serving…very powerful!

2. What kind of ministries did you see in action before, during or after service?

I took note of the hosts and the greeters coming to and in the building. I noticed the children’s ministry…the prayer ministry staff…the ushers and guest care in the auditorium…the media team…the set-up crew for the staging (which was spot on)…the café staff and cafeteria staff.

3. If you visited the students or kids areas, what impressed you the most?

I did visit the Student ministry area…the thing that I found very impressive was how relevant to students the people were. The area was geared for making impact into the lives of teens and students…

4. How do you think an un-churched person would feel coming here for the first time and why?

I feel that a person who is new to Christianity would feel warm and welcomed. Many times there are barriers created around the gospel that the church maybe is unaware of…these people at Willow have gone to great lengths to remove the barriers and present a relevant gospel free of the stereotypical barriers people first coming might feel and face. I don’t think we can make the gospel any more powerful or beautiful…just clear away the clutter that we have allowed to cover it up.

5. What is something you saw today that you would like to see implemented in our new church launch?

A whole bunch of things… the commitment to excellence…the focus on serving and caring for the un-churched…the empowering and engaging of ministers…commitment to sharing Gods word with relevance…the laser like focus on the vision!

God let us be your heart and your hands and your feet and your eyes in our city and spread the gospel of Jesus and lift his name high! God build a church and let it revolutionize our city and our lives for the glory of God!