Scott Freeman

Yep, you heard that right. At the end of the month we will be heading north to Ponca Town. We accepted the offer to work with a new church start-up there in the Sooner state. (Luckily, it’s only 3 hours from Fayetteville.)

The church is young and full of promise and opportunities. I really think that it is positioned to reach out to some of the “de-churched” in the area. We already have our house nailed down and Chloe’s school lined up. Now, we spend the next couple of weeks closing up shop and preparing to move.

Where the wind comes sweeping down the plains.

It means “red people.”

It has 3.5 million people making it the 28th most populous state.

It’s the Sooner State.

The 46th state to enter the union.

As part of tornado alley, it averages 54 tornadoes each year.

I could live here.

One of the things that I struggle with the most when it comes to interviewing at a church is what to preach and teach when I am there.

I am not a “one-shot” kind of guy. I preach and teach in series and so preaching and teaching a one and out is more difficult. Especially teaching since all of my classes are typically one part of a whole.

Question for you: If any of you have ever heard me preach or teach, what would you recommend me busting out this weekend? What do you want to hear from a preaching candidate? Any thoughts?

I haven’t blogged a whole lot here about my job search. It’s hard determining what is appropriate to talk about and what’s not.

Nevertheless, we have been actively looking at churches that seem a good fit theologically and missionally. We also looked at ones that would utilize Tracy and be a receptive and nurturing environment for our girls.

We zeroed in on two churches that seemed to be a good fit for us. One in Alabama and one in California. We went and interviewed in both places and left feeling confident that we had made a connection and would be a good potential fit.

Out of all the resumes both of these churches received they invited two guys to come in and interview. We found out on Saturday that both churches had opted to go with the other candidate.

Needless to say it was a disappointing weekend to receive two rejections so close to one another. We were told in both places that it was a tough decision but the other guy just fit a little better.

Now after waiting so long in hopes that one of these two churches would be our next destination we are really back at square one.

There are several questions that we have to grapple with at this point:

–Do we stay in ministry? Is this the time for me to consider a different career path? I know that I am gifted in preaching and teaching. I know that I have vision and at least a beyond rudimentary understanding of being relevant in our culture. But is that enough? I’m not the greatest people person in the world. I am an introvert which some people seem as a personality flaw rather than as asset.

In addition, in the 10 years that Tracy and I have been working in ministry together I have been the only minister on staff for 7 of those years. The remaining three were not necessarily peaceful times. If I did stay in ministry it couldn’t be alone or in isolation. I’ve had good ministry as a pulpit man over the last 5 years but little to no spiritual enrichment for me.

–If we take a sabbatical from ministry, what do I do? With the exception of a year back in my late 20s, I have been in full-time ministry my entire adult life. And that year was spent writing and editing Sunday School curriculum. So, off the top of my head I’m not sure what the best direction is. If I am moving in a new direction then I should make it count. Here are some of the options we have tossed around over the last few days:

Moving to Abilene and getting my M.Div Equivalence–Since I already have an M.A. I wouldn’t have as much work to do and it would help in any ordinations I might seek in the future. It would also lead into a D.Min, as well. Of course this would be a precursor to moving back into ministry. My one fear would be that by the time I finished my D.Min churches might consider me too old.

Getting My PhD in order to teach–I love teaching and I come alive in a classroom setting. Being able to teach at a college level is extremely appealing to me. However, finding the right school and emphasis is one that wouldn’t’ be easy. And the competition is overwhelming.

Going to Law School–This is one that Tracy is really interested in me pursuing and I have to admit that a large part of me is intrigued. I would love the opportunity to use my law degree to working with some sort of non-profit agency committed to social justice. Tracy is prepared to go back to work and be the chief bread-winner for me to do this. But that is three years and a mountain of debt.

Teaching on the High School Level–This would be the quickest to achieve. Of course this would ensure both of us needing to work.

Go to School to become a Librarian–I think I would love that environment, especially in an academic environment.

These are the issues that we are grappling with at the moment. I can’t imagine not being in full time ministry but there are a dearth of openings that I know of that meet our criteria.

Any thoughts?

I got this email today of a church looking for a preacher. It can’t be serious.

Check out the description:

pastor-comedian

This is a newly forming church. Job duties will be to set up church from ground up. We have a 5000sf building to start off in and are planning to build a new building as we grow. We have many ideas God has put on our hearts, would like to hear about yours too and see if we feel like a match to grow God’s Kingdom together.

Job Requirements

Must be very funny!! Please send copy of a cd or dvd.

* Job Category: Senior Pastor
* Pay to relocate: No
* Job Status: Full-time
* Education required:
* Experience required (years): 0

Organization

Developing new age church. The idea is to use humor and comedy to bring people to Christ. With the right Pastor we plan on becoming a rapidly growing mega church soon. We are thinking the church will be called Comedy Hour and be open Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday mornings. We want to show people that being Christians does not mean we can’t have fun. Would like to work with new Pastor to come up with new ideas, so please share what God has put on your heart.

Read more about this organization »

* Denomination: Non-denominational
* Organization Association: Emerging Church
* Church Size: 0-100
* Worship Style: Gen X / post-modern

Almost Midnight and we are finally back from visiting the Left Coast. A great time had by all. Although I thought I didn’t bring my A-level sermon Tracy assured me it was passable.

So much to say but my bed beckons. And Chloe starts first grade in about 8 hours.

Good to be back. Hope to catch up on the world tomorrow.

It would be a lie to say that this is an easy time for us. I am committed to seeing this process through with complete and total honesty, however. Some may see that as a detriment but I see it as a hallmark of Christian living. We have glossed over and diminished the process of confession and bearing one another’s burdens too often.

Needless to say each of us have concerns as we go through this process that have to be addressed:

Me
–Does the new location share my vision and theology? The one church that we have talked to at this point seems to be on the same page with us. That is refreshing and reassuring.
–Is it a place that I can stay long term? I’m done moving around. Wherever we go has to be a place where we can put down roots and stay 20-30 years. It’s already proving difficult for Chloe.
–Are there continuing education options? I desperately desire to begin work on my doctorate. I thirst for and a love of intellectual curiosity is important to me.

Tracy
–Will she be able to continue to stay at home with the girls or will she have/get to work? We have managed it here where Tracy can be home with the girls. At this point we don’t know if she will be able to continue doing that.
–Will there be adequate areas for her to plug in and use her skills/gifts? She has so much to offer in areas of prayer, small groups and girls ministries.
–Will it be a place that she can get involved with PTA and other areas? One of my biggest regrets is that she has had to resign as PTA president. She is so gifted and was looking forward to the opportunity to serve.

Chloe
–Do we need to begin this year home-schooling her? The prospect of starting her here in Waco and then yanking her out after a couple of weeks is a gut-wrenching decision.
–Are there good schools? Good, quality public education is important to us.
–How do we minimize her trauma? She is broken hearted over the idea of moving. We are searching for ways to make it easier for her.

Cassie
–Will there be a good Pediatric Rheumatologist where we are going? Probably the most important question is how we will deal with Cassie’s JRA. Those specialists are not everywhere. In Dallas we have free care.

Shayla
–Do they have pop-tarts where we are going?

All in all, it is an exciting time. But still so much we don’t know at this point.
Any questions we need to be considering? Or do you have any perfect answers to the questions we are asking?