Sunday night we met as a New Life family for an update on the ministries of the church. I took questions from those who attended and promised everyone that I would answer additional questions today on my blog. I answered a number of important questions Sunday night before we ran out of time. These are actual questions that were submitted via text that I did not have time to answer.
1. Who are the church’s current overseers and how often do you meet?
Our current overseers are Pastor Robert Morris and Pastor Tom Lane from Gateway Church in Southlake, TX; Dr. Jack Hayford from Church on the Way in Van Nuys, CA; Pastor Larry Stockstill from Bethany World Prayer Center in Baton Rouge, LA; and Pastor Jimmy Evans from Marriage Today Ministries. All of these men are trusted local church leaders and have a close relationship to me and my family. We do not formally meet as a group, but I am in constant contact with them by phone, text and email. I see each of them personally several times a year and value their counsel and friendship more than they can imagine. They love New Life and they often come to the church to speak and minister.
2. What is the latest with the “Wait No More” initiative?
I can’t believe I forgot give the update on this ministry last night. “Wait No More” was launched in November of 2008 in partnership with Focus on the Family and local churches across our state with the goal of finding homes for every child in the Colorado foster system. A few weeks ago over 130 people came to our church for an official orientation so they could get started in the process. There is a great deal of paper work, interviews and background checks that must happen before the state will let a child go to a new home. We are believing for 100 of these children to become a part of New Life families. To date, we have three that have officially been adopted, but again, we are very early in the process and I believe we will exceed our goal.
3. Has New Life gone from being a small group church to a program church?
No we have not. Small groups will always be the core ministry of our church. I believe in authentic community, but also believe small groups cannot meet every need in a church body. We cannot place the entire burden of discipleship on small group leaders because that leads to burnout and fatigue. We believe programs like New Life U can take some of this burden off leaders and will actually produce more mature leaders for small groups. I have witnessed the powerful effect of community in my own life and will always champion the idea of small groups at New Life.
4. Will we ever give more than 10 percent to outreach and missions?
I sure hope so. Right now we are facing over $24 million in debt and a challenging economy, but I really believe we will be able to give more and more in the years to come.
5. What is your middle name? J
My middle name is Brady, but my first name is Leland, which is my late dad’s name.