HOW IS YOUR FRUSTRATION METER? RON GLADDEN | DIRECTIONAL LEADER
Thank God for Mission Catalyst!
We hear that all the time. And why do we hear it? Because of the frustration meter. What, pray tell, is the frustration meter?
It’s an app on your smart phone that notes how healthy your church is relationally, how ready it is for unchurched friends, and whether the church is inward or outward focused. It accurately digests every possible factor having to do with church health, yet it is personalized just for you. It takes into account your blood pressure and your stress level as the last hymn fades away and you make your way from the church to the car.
HOW DOES YOUR METER READ?
We hear it all the time: “I don’t dare invite my friends to church.” “People fight over the silliest things — things that don’t really matter.” “It takes an act of Congress to get permission to start something new.” “I have lost hope that my church will ever be a place I am proud of.”
WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS?
When the frustration meter reaches the red zone, people head in one of these directions:
They grit their teeth, lower their expectations, and simply go with the flow. They attend out of duty.
They create their own substitute for church (which means they stop going to church).
They find a healthy, exciting non-Adventist church and attend there.
More and more leaders are deciding to partner with Mission Catalyst and start a healthy, unselfish, growing church.
When people are fed up with attending an unhealthy church, when they can’t shake the call to ministry or their love for far-from-God people, when they are not willing to give up what they believe, they are thankful that there is an option. They are thankful for Mission Catalyst.
WHO’S GETTING THE CHURCH THEY WANT?
Just ask Sam and Myronie who left California. And Elizabeth who left Northern Virginia. And Jonathan and Teresa who didn’t leave their city but decided to go for it right where they live. And Mike and Daniela, and Lauina and Flo — and the list goes on. Or ask Fran, my wife, how thankful she is that we started Mission Catalyst. There is no looking back. There is no temptation to go back to the frustration.
PLAN A WEEKEND IN VANCOUVER!
Some people are big risk takers and step out in a lot of faith to embrace the MC option, sight unseen. But most people take the leap after they have experienced it for themselves. Time and again, we have seen people visit Epikos Church in Vancouver, Washington, and come away in awe of the high level of joy and the surprisingly large percentage of unchurched people in attendance. They witness the freedom exercised by the leaders and the life change experienced by everyone, and they want to be part of it. They want to share it with others.
Some have joined Epikos itself — for a season or for the long haul. Others have taken the Epikos spirit back home and planted it in their own community.
Consider yourself invited to Vancouver, Washington, where you can spend some time with the Mission Catalyst staff and hang out at Epikos (our first team-led church). Attend the weekend program. Check out a life group or a discipleship class during the week. Participate in a staff meeting to see the inner workings of the church. Serve with the compassion team. Get infused with the energy of the youth and kids ministries. Feel the cool spray of a Columbia River Gorge waterfall as another person is baptized in the pool below.
When your meter is pinned to the limit, it’s great to have an option.
Thank God for Mission Catalyst!
P.S. We could not do what we do without people like you. We appreciate your financial support. Thank you for helping Mission Catalyst create healthy, unselfish, growing churches! Click here to give.