A couple of weeks ago, I received a rather eventful voicemail from a church member:

“Hey man, got a crazy story to tell you. It ends with me delivering our baby unexpectedly on the bathroom floor this morning. Everyone’s doing fine now. Talk to you later.”

1404640_10202794741852749_1630909357_o

A couple in our church thought they would deliver their baby in the hospital, by a doctor, like with their previous two children.  Those of you who have children know that babies come when they want to arrive!

Contractions closed fast, and the father called 911 and was walked through how to deliver the baby over the phone.  Everything went about as smooth as you could hope for in a situation like that, but it was not according to “plan.”

The seemingly outrageous metaphor of a woman giving birth expectantly on the floor of her own bathroom applies to much of what happens in our church plant.  We plan, we strategize and we often think we know what is coming, but some ideas cannot be forced and often come at their own pace.

1488321_440763639356624_1856141415_n

We struggled for about 6 months at the church with a slogan or tag line for the church.  We formed a task force for marketing purposes to help us put into words our identity, culture and core values.

Meeting after meeting, we thought we would come to a conclusion.  But meeting after meeting we waited on consensus, and we couldn’t find the exact words to describe ourselves.

Some of our staples at Grace Baptist Church include our contemplative nature, ability to question and/or doubt openly, and process deep questions of the faith.  We also want to love and serve all people, regardless of any social barrier society puts on people.

1468693_438363466263308_393506511_n

One day, while talking about the church with the marketing task force, one of our members had an epiphany on how to describe us: “Think Deeply.  Love Widely.”

The tag line stuck.  The four simple words encompassed our identity, culture and core values.

Much like pregnancy, we had to wait until the idea arrived.  It wasn’t forced, but instead arrived organically on its own time.

Because of our patience, the Lord helped us form language we can own as a church.  In the year since our launch, it is amazing how often God arrives through our patience and consensus.  Some of the true joys in the church planting experience are: creating from nothing, waiting on God, building consensus and arriving at where God wants us.

When ideas are birthed, it takes time and patience.  The results of patiently waiting at our church plant has been rewarding beyond words or metaphors!

Kyle Tubbs is the Church Planter and Primary Teaching Pastor at Grace. This post was originally published on the CBF blog.