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The Quest - Novato, CA
Easter for us this year has been the culmination of the last 8 years of planting seeds. Marin county is a funky place with less than 2% of our population attending anything like a church service. Over the last 8 years it has been very, very difficult to plant a church that feels indigenous to our county.
When Lyn and I arrived here we were ready to "do it right" and really get a flagship church planted the way we had in other places...that didn't work. It took years of listening to our culture here and to God in order to form our hearts to the point of effectiveness. We have been through 8 years of painful ministry some of it self-inflicted, some of it from God and I'm sure some from the enemy.
Through all of this we have tried our best to maintain an attitude of staying in it until we could see what was really forming here. It became clear that normal church planting paradigms would not work here...at least they didn't in our case, and that we would have to see and hear new things from God in order to do what we felt he had brought us to do.
I have felt over the years that I have been a disappointment to GHC and to the "deal" I made with them when we first arrived. At one point I almost left...but it became clear to me that what we needed to do was stay and do the work that we needed to do in order to see the fruit that we longed to see.
Well, very long story short, this Easter felt like something happened that was significant in our church and community. We had two services that were filled to capacity and nearly standing room only. We saw people that were on the fringe step up and become part of the team. We saw people that others had been praying for show up and sense the presence of God.
We say team members who have been serving faithfully sense an encouragement from finally seeing some long awaited fruit. I am reminded of sowing and reaping and it feels like with all of the plating that has been happening over the last years, God has allowed us to do some amazing picking over the last few weeks.
In other contexts I would not consider 385 people on an Easter Sunday a success, but here in Novato, after all that we have seen and been through, these 385 people were like 5,000 to me. We have learned what it is like to plant a church in a postmodern, post Christian context and although it is nothing like planting in other places, it has formed Christ in us.
I am grateful that God never gives up on anyone!
With Respect,
Pastor Joe Everly
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