Back in the Saddle

For those that know or didn't know, Amy and I just got back from the church planting assessment center. While it was intense, it was not nearly as tough as I had expected.

We received evaluation from 6 folks who know us well (each of us had 6 people fill out extensive evaluations on us, our ministry, our marriage, etc...) and went over these evaluations with the assessors. In addition, there were a number of assessors who had been on their 2nd or 3rd church plant, and were able to speak love and truth into our lives. Next, there were peer evaluations filled out by fellow candidates and their wives (6 couples in all). Finally we had to take personality profiles (Amy and I were on opposite ends of the spectrum, which is good) and extensive self evaluations. The latter were compared with evaluations filled out by those who know us, and we could see where we rated ourselves lower and higher than them (for the most part I was significantly lower). Hard to take at times, but incredibly helpful to see how one is perceived. Definitely worth the price of admission.

In addition, we were assessed on evangelism, leadership, preaching, teamwork, etc... The days were long, but nights were pretty relaxed as we hit up a Mexican restraunt every night for snacks and beverages.

On Thursday morning we received the recommendation of "Provisionally Qualified" to plant a church. So now we are in the process of seeking some sort of apprenticeship which will help prepare us to plant a church in the future. So that is a "what's new" in the life of me, Amy, and crazy Connar.

I apologize for the Black and White picture of the group. For some reason, my printer/scanner was having flashbacks to the 50's.