A Time for Everything

For everything there is an appointed time,
and an appropriate time for every activity on earth:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to search, and a time to give something up as lost;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to rip, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 – NET)

This is only the 2nd (and last) time that I have posted the same thing on my personal blog as I have posted on Waterblogged, the “official” blog of Watershed. But I felt it best to put this in both locations since it concerns Watershed and myself.

Last night at Watershed, I announced at the beginning of my message that I am stepping down from leadership of Watershed. Anytime a leader announces they are “stepping down” immediately questions arise: “What’s wrong?” “What did he do?” “Is there some scandal I don’t know about?”

So let me start by saying that nothing’s wrong. I’m fine. My marriage is fine. I’m doing well spiritually. I don’t have some unconfessed sin I am needing to deal with.

Also, Watershed is fine. In fact, it is going great and could possibly be at its healthiest point ever in its 4 1/2 years of existence.

So why would I be stepping away if everything is “fine”? Simple: obedience.

Now I must confess that my obedience has come slowly. I have sensed that God has wanted me to do this for several months. But I like Watershed – I like the young adults who come, I enjoy teaching, I enjoy worshiping alongside of those who come, and more. And so I fought against what I knew God was telling me to do.

But by February, I knew I had to obey. This feeling wouldn’t go away after much prayer and counsel.

This summer seemed to make the most sense for a transition, so I will be transitioning out of leadership during June, July, and August. The leadership team (made of Steve Adolphs, Matt & Amber Schouten, John Connelly, and Bill & Sue Lottes) will continue to protect the vision of Watershed. At this time we don’t have a solid answer on how we will oversee the teaching schedule since I have been doing that pretty much by myself. But I have no fears that we, with God’s guidance, will come up with a great solution.

I always knew my time with Watershed would some day come to an end, but I always thought it would happen when I died or God moved me to a different ministry. But I’m obviously not dead, and I don’t have other plans in mind. So my plan is to just pour into my family more and the ministry I was called to first as the young adult pastor at New Covenant. But I am remaining open to whatever the Lord wants to do with my life.

I want to thank all of the young adults that worshiped together through the gatherings of Watershed. Seeing you worship, give of your time in serving, and caring for one another and those outside of Watershed has been an inspiration to me. When we tried to start Watershed back in 2003, many people said we were crazy – it wouldn’t work. There was no way you could have people from many different churches come together without it wrecking. I think they would be right if Watershed was a man-birthed organism. But from the very beginning, we knew that God was leading and creating this unorthodox ministry. And we simply chose to follow Him in faith. That is why I believe Watershed is as strong as it is right now.

I’m excited about the future of Watershed. I wish I could be intimately involved to watch it closely, but God either has different plans for me or for Watershed (or both). I’m excited because last week around 10 people stood up saying they were feeling some sort of call from God to go overseas for a long term commitment (a year or more). I’m excited because I see people worshipping authentically through the songs and as they listen to the messages. I’m excited because I see new people being welcomed naturally. I’m excited because God is clearly doing something by moving me out, and we get to place our faith in Him and follow His lead just as we did when we started this crazy thing.

I’m not leaving Cedar Rapids anytime soon – so to any Watershedders reading this – if you see me around, please stop me and say hi. I’ll want updates! But not only will I want to know what’s going on with Watershed, but also I’ll want to know what God is doing in your life. So I encourage you to keep going deeper, to get in over your head so that the “river” of Jesus Christ can take you wherever it/He wants.

Still going deeper with you,
Erin

Tonight's Staff Meeting

Hey everyone,

Had someone call asking if tonight's staff meeting was at New Covenant where we have been meeting for Staff Meeting or if we were at our new location for this fall, Maranatha Bible Church. The answer is: we will be meeting at Maranatha at 7:30 pm. And on the agenda for tonight, a tour!

For a map/directions to Marantha, click here. If that doesn't work for some , do a Google Map search for 701 25th St. NE.

Staff Meeting #2

Just a quick reminder here that Staff Meeting #2 is tomorrow night (Thursday, July 19) at 7:30 pm. It will be held once again at New Covenant's building in Room 143 (the same room as last time). If you don't know where that is, stand in the foyer facing the worship center where we used to meet on Thursdays, and go to the end of the hallway on your left.

Winning

In our staff meeting last Thursday, we talked about winning and Watershed. A win is any time a young adult goes deeper with Christ, be it coming to a Thursday night gathering for the first time, or coming to Christ, or getting involved in their church. We discussed ways that we've seen "wins" occur at Watershed, and some of the things we need to do to continue seeing wins in the future. Here are some of the things you brought up...

• Organized small groups/mentorship groups (possibly meet on Thursdays)
• Bring back the group that met after Thurs night gatherings to discuss the message
• Social events geared toward deepening relationships
• Once a month organized events that might be more comfortable for seekers
• Give people an outlet for their Spiritual Pathways
• Calendar on website for anyone to post events on
• White board in the entry-way to the gathering that lists upcoming activities
• Have someone available after each service for prayer
• Greeting team
• Everyone is a greeter!
• Identify the target audience? Are we trying to reach the churched or the unchurched?

Looking over that list, 3 areas stand out to me: welcoming new attenders (ankle deep), fellowship (knee deep), and small groups/iron-sharpens-iron activities (waist deep).

We also discussed some ways to get the word about Watershed out to the community...

• Letter to area churches
• Vision partner of 89.1 The Spirit
• Ads in the Gazette, Penny Saver, Christian Business Directory
• Contact Christian businesses
• Community service outreaches and events
• Laundromat bulletin boards
• Personal invites
• College campuses (beginning of the year fairs)
• Location (be where we want to minister)

Please discuss the ideas listed above. Are there any other things you believe we need to to do in order to see more wins? Can we focus on all these or are there certain ones that stand out as more urgent than others? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Staff Meetings

Tonight's "Major Announcement" was the schedule of "staff" meetings. If you are on volunteer staff, or are interested in being on staff, then come to our meetings this summer on the third Thursday of each summer month at 7:30 pm. The specific dates are:

June 21
July 19
August 16

These meetings will not have times of worship through song or a 30-minute teaching from the Bible or any of the other elements typically found at a Worship Gathering. Rather our times together will be focused on the discussion of the "relaunch" of Watershed in the fall and how we can all play a part in its success. And of course praying together about these things!

We have assembled an email list from people who have submitted their addresses to us regarding staff stuff. If you would like to be on this list to stay informed of staff-related issues, then email me at erin.bird [AT] newcovenantbible [DOT] org.