The Journey Part 9: The Journey To Jacksonville

The road to Jacksonville, Florida went through Orland Hills, Illinois, specifically through Christian Hills Church.

In April of 2001, what I thought was unimaginable, happened. The Lord moved us from Cross and Crown (C&C), the church we had planted and served for over 20 years, to assume the Senior Pastor role at Christian Hills Church (CHC) in one of the southwest suburbs of Chicago.

Leading up to the change in ministry assignments to CHC was the initial trip to Jacksonville where we were exposed to the ministry of convergence. Upon our return, from February of 1999 to April of 2001, we had introduced elements of sacramental and liturgical worship in our church in Chicago. The church membership was very receptive to the new approach, although it wasn't introduced as a new program, idea, or theological discovery. We had a history of being innovative in our worship services and the new expressions of worship were accepted as a normal growth experience. We recited the Apostles Creed or the Lord's Prayer, the Beatitudes or the Ten Commandments, while joining hands. We also observed communion more frequently. Prior to this time we celebrated the Lords' Supper periodically, but now we were consistently coming to the Table monthly.

As a contemporary church known for being on the cutting edge of worship music, we found ourselves rediscovering hymns and anthems that were centuries old. Our blended worship was enhanced by skilled musicians who were versatile enough to change styles from song to song seamlessly. Our worship experience was enhanced, and the preaching of Word was always of a high caliber as we had 3 good preachers on our staff. We were moving the church slowly into a greater appreciation of God by introducing elements that were proven to be inspired of the Holy Spirit, although in many cases hundreds of years old. It was a fulfilling experience but certainly incomplete.

The call to CHC came. I never thought I would ever leave the church we planted, but we were convinced that the Lord was speaking. CHC couldn't have been more different than the church we had planted. While C&C was a church plant with only the history we were able to write, CHC was a church that had 75 years of illustrious history. God certainly has a sense of humor. There were many differences between the two churches, but as the old theologian on Sesame Street has said, "Peoples is peoples is peoples." Ministry was a fun challenge no matter where we found ourselves ministering. The full story can be told some other time, but we answered the call obediently and joyfully. CHC was going to be an exciting place to see the hand of God at work.

CHC was more of a classical Pentecostal environment. I wasn't sure how I was going to fit, but I believed that both of us had something to offer and receive from each other. I assumed the leadership and began to create the leadership and ministry structures for moving the church forward. We loved the people and the challenge.

While busily leading the church, I couldn't shake the idea that what I had been exposed to in Jacksonville, FL was not solely for me personally or Cross and Crown. I looked for ways to introduce Ancient-Future ideas at CHC. Like most contemporary churches, CHC desired to be on the cutting edge of what God was doing, and being Pentecostal they hungered for a fresh charismatic outpouring. For the most part the simple elements we had introduced at Cross and Crown had crossover effect. CHC was a vibrant, God loving church and their desire to grow in God made it easy to serve.

It was during my time at CHC that the uneasiness in my soul began to grow. I couldn't rationalize that although preaching the Word was fulfilling, the worship was exuberant and dynamic, interpersonal relationships were growing, there still seemed to be something missing. In the midst of all of that we made an interesting discovery.

The first two years we were at CHC we had to preside at 50 funerals. Most were for members or extended family. The south side of Chicago was known for its Irish Catholic population. I had grown up on the north side of Chicago. While there were plenty of Catholics on the north side all the ones I knew were nominally Catholic. The south side had a high percentage of practicing Catholics. My new neighbor actually attending Mass every morning.

At many of the funerals there was a large number of Catholics. Many of the church members who had died were former Catholics who had found their way to CHC through the charismatic renewal. They had left the Catholic church as they discovered the way of salvation through a personal relationship to Jesus Christ leading to a subsequent Baptism in the Holy Spirit. As a Protestant officiating at funerals of ex-Catholics I wanted to make a connection with those attending. I would often start the funeral service by making the sign of the Cross over them and saying "The Lord be with You." As Catholics they would always automatically respond, "and also with you." The ice was broken and you could feel the focus of the attendees as they listened with respect to the preaching. I would always conclude the service with a corporate recitation of the Lord's Prayer. Without exception, after every funeral, a number of these Catholics would pull me aside and thank me. They never knew that a "Protestant" could speak about the things of God in a meaningful way. Often they would state that they had understood biblical principles for the first time through my preaching. Connecting with Catholics was an enriching experience.

Also, there were times when I would attend a funeral Mass for one of our church members family in a Catholic church. There I heard the Gospel being preached clearly. I saw Christ in the ritual and the liturgy. It was becoming very obvious to me that throughout my early life I hadn't heard the Gospel, but it wasn't because it wasn't being preached. I hadn't connected because I wasn't listening correctly or because the message had been obscured by tradition and symbol. My heart ached for those who were caught up in this same obscurity. I continually looked for ways to connect with liturgically minded people to help them understand who Jesus was and how he could be understood even through liturgy. I actually looked forward to going to Catholic funerals and weddings.

January of 2006 we (my wife and I) starting feeling a stirring in our soul that our time at CHC may be coming to an end. We broached the subject with our Elders and at the time they didn't feel that the timing was right. I honored their input, but the feeling wouldn't go away.

I'll pick up that part of the story in my next post.