Ahh it's good to be landed back at home again. After plenty of time hanging out with my wife and my boys, then getting a long-delayed internet fix, I get to queue some music up on iTunes (U2's Boy in honor of an experience I had today), and write a bit about what has kept me busy these past couple of days.
It began yesterday, August 6, when I showed up in the parking lot of Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church, St. Joseph, MO, to catch a bus to Liberty, MO (Kansas City suburb). Thanks to that church's thoughtfulness and hospitality (special thanks to Pastor Micah Fries and his very thoughtful assistant Jan, who suggested it), I was blessed with a ticket to attend a satellite conference of Willow Creek's Leadership Summit. What a great opportunity! Needless to say I leapt at the chance. The destination was Pleasant Valley Baptist Church, a large church in the KC suburb of Liberty. That church is exemplary, by the way. There's a vibrant volunteer culture there, with most major ministry concerns faithfully carried out by the laypeople. This was on full display with the miniature army of smiling folks in trademark blue polo shirts. They were there to give directions, herd crowds, and just generally give you a big smile and a very genuine welcome. There was nothing at all contrived or forced about their demeanor...they were truly warmhearted folks.
Entering their sanctuary, I got an eye-full with three REALLY big video screens onstage. There was also a fabulous sound system ... alright, I'll stop drooling now. Suffice it to say, I get a bit wowed by technology. A countdown on the screen rolled over to 9 am, and I was just about knocked backward by the wash of media. Now let me admit this: I had never attended a conference by satellite before, and I had just a little grain of skepticism about how "drawn in" I'd be by watching a TV (ok...a really, really BIG TV) for two days. From the launch, however, any slight doubts I had were slapped aside like gnats.
Man, talk about a fabulous opening. It's hard to describe in words, and really cheesy to do so since this was a huge sensory experience. But to describe it as best as I can, there was an awesome opening song, with videos taken of believers around the world. Somehow they coordinated these hundreds of people to sing the same song, which was combined and layered in the final piece. Sometimes everyone sang in English, sometimes they broke into their first languages. The video kept flashing from one location to the next, then combining into a montage of multiple screens within a screen, and then the montage took the shape of a globe. All of these joyful believers singing the same song...just RIPPING good stuff. The song went into the background while several of these global believers shared snippets of Scripture and personal testimony about their confidence in God...then went back to the finale of the song. Wow wow wow. I was hooked. Having been to a couple of the first Leadership Summits at Willow when I was a seminary student in the Chicago area, all I can say is this: in the 13 or 14 years since I last attended, they have honed their craft. Considerably. In my next post I'll begin to share what I took away from the first presentation: that of Bill Hybels, Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church.
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