This is the final posting of my “Confessions…” series and it deals with the changes being made at Compass Point. As I discussed in “Confessions Of A Stupid Pastor - Part 3“…after 3 years of ministry Compass Point Church has finally become Compass Point Church. In essence, it is what it is…we know our indentity in the community. With clarity of identity also comes clarity in mission, goals and structure. The following changes will help bring us better in line with who we are as a church body and with what God has called us to do in Lakeland.
1. We’re pulling out all of the stops to present the message! We have the opportunity each week to share the greatest message of hope to a dark and dying world. The message…God’s grace can provide eternal life by accepting His Son as Lord and Savior. Some days we haven’t done such a hot job at Compass Point of getting that message out. At times we’ve been more concerned with handing out water, helping the homeless or sponsoring rock concerts…than telling people about Christ. In the process Sunday mornings have taken a back seat to Monday through Friday. Don’t get me wrong, missional outreach is important…but the largest gathering of disconnected guests we have at Compass Point each week is on Sunday mornings. The leadership and I have discovered that when people actually carve time out of their week to visit a church…they are looking for something missing in their lives. We’re not going to waste open opportunities like that any longer. We’ll still have fun on Sundays, rock the house and reach out…but more emphasis is going to be placed on proclaiming the truths of the Bible. Basically…Sunday is “game time”…it’s going to be more about guests than us…and more “in your face”.
2. I’m not the only pastor. Most weeks I am the face of the Elders at Compass Point because I do the “lion’s share” of the preaching. However, there are two wonderful men of God that work alongside me to develop spirtual goals for Compass Point and shepherd our flock….Rob Soderstrom and Bob Siegel. Both of these men have been tremendous mentors to me and have helped lead many individual attenders of Compass Point into a deeper understanding of God. Rob’s ability to exhibit the heart of God and Bob’s knowledge of the Word of God is unprecendented. Because of Compass Point’s recent growth I can no longer be at every function, make every hospital visit or provide spiritual counseling for every person that desires it. There will be many days that you’ll be meeting with Bob or Rob…instead of me. Please understand that these men love you just as I do and will do an excellent job in helping to shepherd you. Embrace them as you have embraced me.
3. I’m not the only leader. God has blessed Compass Point with many incredible staff and volunteer leaders. Folks like Connexxxions Pastor Kyle Bridges, Student Life Pastor Dave Covey, Catalyst Pastor Chad Chastain, Worship Pastor Jonathan Williams…as well as volunteer leaders like Ashley Covey, Beverly Summers, Diane Mewhorter, Carter Vargo and Dave Carmichael. I have the upmost faith in these folks and have handed off the “reins of leadership” to them. Support them, follow them, volunteer for them and mostly…pray for them.
4. Relationships, relationshsips, relationships. In the 21st Century people aren’t going to just run up and ask for the “Four Spiritual Laws” tract. It takes getting to know someone and doing life with them on a daily basis before they’ll feel comfortable enough to talk about their spiritual life. Compass Point is also going to pull out all of the stops in order to build authentic relationships with people in Lakeland who are disconnected from church and God. Get ready…God is laying some heavy duty stuff on Kyle Bridges’ heart and Connexxions is about to change in a BIG way!!!
5. It’s time to let people know we’re here. For three years we’ve laid low and relied on word-of-mouth to let folks know we are here. Those days are done. God didn’t tell us to hide the light of knowing Him under a basket…He told us to let it shine. In September we will be mailing 30,000 postcards to north Lakeland about a special message series we’ll be presenting in October. We’re also going to step it up in other areas of marketing…some things simple and other things not so simple. I have no clue how to finance it, I have no clue where we are going to put a bunch of people and I have no idea who will show up. All I know is that we are suppose to do it and we’ve got a great staff to figure out the details. 
6. We are no longer a church plant. For three years we’ve been known as a church plant. At times that has been a encouragement…at other times that has been an excuse. As it is, the “church plant” structure that got us here can’t take us the next steps. Within a few weeks Compass Point will start seeing some policy manuals, finance guidelines, bylaws and a budget. Yeah parameters suck…but so does chaos and decline.
7. The Sunday service is not for children. Life is messy…and the pastors of Compass Point need to be talking about that from the pulpit. Sometimes when you talk about messy stuff…it is not suitable for children. Also people that do not have a relationship with God might be trying to listen to the Sunday message…only to be distracted by children playing beside them. As I said in item #1 above…we’re pulling out all of the stops to present the Sunday message in a clear and uninterrupted way. Our children’s ministry is a really phenominal place for children to be on Sunday mornings…not our service! The only exception will be the three or four Sundays each year when we present “Fam Jam”.
8. No more numerical goals. Numerical goals limit God and make you feel like a failure when you don’t reach them…no more numerical goals at Compass Point. This summer was a prime example. We had a goal of giving out 10,000 bottles of water. Because of rain, city limitations and difficult scheduling we have not reached that goal. We still gave out over 5,000 bottles…which is amazing…and should be celebrated. We will have other opportunities to give out water…just without a numeric goal. From now on we’re just going to pray for God’s hand to be on us, work our rear ends off for His kingdom and see what He delivers.
9. We’re going to be even more loud, rude and obnoxious. For whatever reason Compass Point has received the scorn of other Lakeland churches and pastors since we began. In our early days a local pastor actually preached against us from his pulpit. When I asked him why he said, “Because Compass Point is loud, rude and obnoxious!” I totally dug that…it made me feel like a member of Motley Crue or Guns N’ Roses! You know, he never said we were unbiblical. He never said we weren’t reaching people for Christ. He never said we weren’t missional…he just said we were loud, rude and obnoxious. As a fan of pirates, hard rock and rebellion I like that assessment of us. Loud, rude and obnoxious has worked pretty well in reaching other loud, rude and obnoxious people for Christ…I think we’re going to turn loud, rude and obnoxious up a notch!!!
10. What ever it takes! What ever it takes to reach the people that no other church wants…that’s what we’re going to do! Whatever it takes to reach disconnected people for Christ…that’s what we’re going to do! I don’t know what “that” will look like or what “that” will entail…but “that” is what we are going to do. God needs it….the Church needs it….people need it!
