The Story of Anchorage Wesleyan Church Continued

When the Apostle Paul was sharing the Gospel in areas where people were skeptical about itinerant speakers just coming through town to con people out of their money, he would find a job and support himself while presenting the Gospel so that the message could be presented without any strings or stereotypes attached. It seemed clear that this was what Anchorage needed. Thus, the self-supporting Pastoral ministry strategy was hatched. As I begin to think about the implications, there were certainly several drawbacks, but also some exciting advantages that made the idea much more appealing.

These are some of the things I considered:

Less time to spend on teaching, creative planning and organizing, administration, and relationship building
Recruiting and Staffing would be difficult – “give your life, and support yourself!”
More dependence on God to provide additional energy, inspiration, and special team members
An opportunity to learn and exhibit some of Paul’s passion for the lost in our day
Added need for the church to follow the Biblical model of the Priesthood of all Believers
Increased resources available for ministry (80 percent typically goes to staff)
An increased challenge to those in leadership
A greater ability to relate between pastor and parishioner
A greater sense of teamwork in ministry
A forced focus on the essentials of outreach, discipleship, and community
What the church and myself would become in the process

Paul also traveled and ministered in the context of a team and partnerships, so I attempted to recruit others to follow this dream with me. Recruiting was quite slow at first, but every person around me received a full invitation and the Lord made me persistent. College classmates knew that at some point during our conversation I would turn things toward Alaska and the role they could play there. Most people thought I was crazy and that I might have the guts to follow through, but they just weren’t feeling like taking the risk. I recruited everyone, even my uncle, who is 30 years my senior in life and in ministry, - and I’m still recruiting!

About six months before graduation there was a day when I was particularly discouraged. Only one person had given me a firm commitment and I wasn’t all that excited about whom it was. I was eating breakfast early in the morning and was having a dialogue with God in my mind. I basically said that I was tired of trying to make the whole church plant dream happen on my own. I had better get some help or else. I needed to have some confirmation from God that I was on the right track.

Of course, God answered my prayer. Our school president, Paul Mills, was sitting several tables away from me eating breakfast, which was unusual because of two reasons: 1. He was the president of a university and the food was horrible – he could have done much better. 2. It was my habit to be there at that time and I had never seen him there at that hour before. He walked over to me with his Bible and sat down beside me. He said he didn’t know why he felt led to share what he was about to share with me, but he was just following the Lord’s command. He read a passage from Jeremiah where God reminded the people of Israel that he did not bring about the pains of birth without also delivering the child. I felt God clearly saying to me (as I put two and two together) that He had not planted this dream in my heart simply to test my obedience or frustrate me. As a result of this experience, I raised my level of recruiting intensity.

Eventually nine people, including my wife and me, committed to move to Anchorage and begin Anchorage Wesleyan Church. I asked for each person to commit to a period of five years (except for Heidi!). During the first summer we all found jobs and began to get to know the area – we were very excited about the potential for the church. Each of us seemed to be completely surrounded by un-churched people. We invited everyone we could have a conversation with to join us.

Within four months of arriving here, a couple that I felt very proud to have as a part of our team decided to head for home. I was told on Monday that they were considering the possibility of returning to the lower 48 and I ended up helping load the moving van on Thursday of that same week. I went into a sort of denial/shock status as a result. Looking back on the experience, I think that God was stealing my emotions against people leaving the area. Alaska is a highly transient space – it seems to be on everyone’s list of places to visit, but on few people’s list of places to establish their life. Since then God has written “get used to it” in the skies several times for me.

The original strategy of the church was to be an organization of small home groups that also met as a larger group from time to time. The Sunday morning church model (where everyone checks out for the rest of the week and all spiritual vitality is hung upon the worship service experience) did not seem like the Master’s idea of what the church was to be. We however, ran into a practical problem – people did not seem comfortable coming to a home Bible study or even a discussion group. Eventually we decided to hold “Seminars” on Sunday morning. We had no capabilities for music and we could possibly tap into the “critic” niche by offering a discussion-oriented teaching. The Seminars offered visitors an opportunity to discuss in a real way the serious objections that they had to the faith and to the church or the historical actions of the church. We advertised this opportunity in the Pulse and people began to slowly check it out. We had little in the way of childcare and nothing less than an intimidating environment for people to enter in to, but the Lord’s favor was upon us. Un-churched and non-believers gradually came and their lives were deeply impacted by this opportunity. From these seminars our service has developed into what it is today.

Although our strategies and services have changed over the years, we hope our goal of building an authentic community will always remain a priority for AWC as our community carries out its mission of soul-saving. Because of the tradition of the church in America it will be a difficult road to keep the development of tight- knit communities a priority, but we will give it our best effort. If we are to be a transformed and extraordinary light in a dark world, then we must put forth an extraordinary effort to be made different! I invite you to dive deep into the goodness of the community that the Lord has created by His sacrifice and grace.

I am proud of AWC for the impact that we have had so far on the community and on many individuals. I believe that God has a special purpose for our group to fulfill in the Anchorage area. Too many times God has reaffirmed my calling personally and too many times He has provided just the right resource at just the right time for this to be a mere fantasy. God has given me the vision to present to the best of our abilities and with the utmost of passion, the unblemished Gospel to every man, woman, and child within the area and provide a process through which they can become all that God intended them to be! I don’t believe this will happen overnight, but I do believe it can happen! I also believe that this is the best part – knowing God has a purpose beyond what we can ask or imagine, and being made ready to receive it. It feels a lot like the day before Christmas!

[ Page 1 ] [ Page 2 ]