August 2018

Reflections on the Door Creek Dozen Last week I took my “Q” day - a day to reflect and be refreshed away from the office. I packed up my backpack and headed to one of my favorite spots - Kegonsa State Park.  I spent the better part of two hours reflecting on the last 12 years of our time here in Madison at Door Creek Church. Our youngest was 9 and our oldest was 21. Move forward 12 years and 4 th grader Luke is entering his senior year of college. When it comes to our family, God has been faithful through all the changes and challenges: Our family has grown by two (a great son-in-law and grandson) even though the “nest” is empty. We have seen God show up as two of our kids had near fatal accidents and another go through cancer - thanks for your loving prayers for Laura, Claire and Peter who recently had a bad bike accident in Milwaukee. We celebrated the life of my father who repeatedly told us in his last days that it’s going to be a good day when the Lord takes him home. My life has been shaped by his love for Christ, servant’s heart and resilient, hope-filled faith.

There have been a lot of changes and challenges in our church too: We clarified our mission, vision and values and have been intentional in becoming a Christ-centered church for ALL people. We too have grown by two - adding campuses in DeForest and now on the Northside of Madison.

We started a new ministry site through Boomerangs ten years ago - a resale store serving the Northside community in a variety of ways. We’ve expanded on our property with new fields and space to see more people become devoted followers of Christ. We celebrated our 50th and caught up with all that God has done and is doing over five decades of ministry on the East side of Madison. We’ve started new ministries like Upwards Sports, Celebrate and opened new venues like the Video Venue (a necessary first step toward launching our first Campus up North). We launched the Classic Service, now the Traditional Service. We’ve developed wonderful partnerships with three local schools, adopting many of the teachers. We’ve dug wells in Africa, supported church plants in Kenya, helped build a training center in Liberia and fed hundreds of orphans in Haiti, to name just a few. We’ve seen the participation in small groups triple and our giving double. We turned down ten acres (ten years ago) and accepted the same gift last year! The best part is - we’ve seen hundreds come to faith and get baptized and hundreds more grow in their faith. Through all the highs and yes the lows, God has been faithful and you have loved, prayed, challenged and inspired me to be a better leader. I’m not the same leader I was when I came and that is a good thing. I’m more secure, more self aware (especially of the implications), I know it's hard to believe but I have slowed down and God has brought wonderful godly leaders who have poured into my life - no one more than Lori, who has put up with me for 36 years! God clearly led us here and has been with us each step of the way. It’s been my joy and great passion to serve Christ together. Thanks for loving Jesus and living lives that reflect the joy and humility of a Christ follower. Together for Christ,

PS Reminder: we have a huge financial challenge as we come into the last month of our ministry year. We need nearly $450,000 by August 31 to cover our ministry expenses. Thanks for cheerfully and generously giving to God’s work in and through our church!

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