LEFC, A Great Church

nHere I am, the day after my last youth night at LEFC (HERO:SOULARIZE). I have one more week of sharing oxygen, office space, eight or more hours a day, vision, planning, strategy... life with the staff here. I'm gonna miss this place.

We'll still attend church at LEFC. We still want to be plugged into Cluster life (ya Chatterbox!). We still love those who we've built friendships with, and we want to continue on in relationship with the church. Not only for the people, but also for the vision.

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I love the vision of LEFC. The "Rally Cry" - Jesus Bigger. Yes, it's an incomplete sentence, but it's also an incomplete reality. IS Jesus Bigger in my life? Is He bigger than my dreams and fears, my idols, my days? Is Jesus Bigger in community, more important than 'doing church', than looking nice and put-together, than even the friendships and connections that I've made with others? Is Jesus Bigger in my neighbourhood, more important than saving face, greater than conversations about weather or kids or the best way to barbeque a steak?
This rally cry, this vision, emphasized over again helps make the reality more complete. Jesus Bigger.

UP/IN/OUT, the three dimensions of the Christian life. I'll be taking that everywhere I go. UP in our lives, IN community, OUT in mission. I love it, and I love how LEFC has been obsessed with seeing these realities in our values, in our programming and events, in our purposes, in our trains of thought, in our strategic planning. These values have dictated to us where to focus our budget, and what to cut out (both financially and time/effort/energy).

Darren has been a mentor and a leader to me in thinking through the implications of vision, making vision concrete through strategy and planning and implementation. Janice has been inspiring to watch as she effectively shapes the communication of vision so that others know what they're getting on board with. The others on staff, the elders, and many in the church have excitedly taken the vision to heart and run with it, creating new ways to get on board, tweaking things we've done so that they more closely match the vision. It's an exciting process to be a part of!

Wherever I go, I'll take the lessons and the vision with me. I want Jesus Bigger in my life, in community, and in the neighbourhoods God leads me into, always. To me it's not a slogan, it's not the brand of the month, it's not going to wear out. It's come to define who I want to become. I love that I've had the opportunity and the priviledge of being a part of it!