The Wood Between the Worlds
by John Kimball, CCCC Director of Church Development
In C.S. Lewis’ classic children’s tale, The Magician’s Nephew, there is an “in between” place one ends up by touching a magical ring. This place is serene and sleepily quiet, and is filled with a seemingly infinite number of trees and small pools of water. It’s a place where one experiences what travelers might call a “layover” between worlds. Each pool is the entrance to a different world (including one for our world). The characters of the story call it “The Wood Between the Worlds,” and from there they can adventure into other unknown and magical places — ultimately ending up in Narnia.
As I write this, my family and I are in an “in between” time, about to jump into a new and exciting pool of adventure in another land. We’ve packed up our home, put it on the market, have taken our youngest to begin college, and our middle child is preparing to return to college as well. It’s a state we’ve never found ourselves in before — in between — with more questions than answers, and more needs discovered every day. I’ve spent the better part of my pastoral career in ministry positions that were well defined and provided sure incomes. Now we get to experience a life that church planters, missionaries and other pioneering ministry souls know well — depending daily on God for everything: direction, empowerment, guidance, financial support and divine appointments with new souls.
I’m living something firsthand that is both scary and exciting at the same time. I have never been so aware of my constant dependence on the Father. I’ve also never had so many people willingly and sacrificially make the leap with me. It’s wonderful and terrifying. There is a level of community most churches seem to never reach. There is a clear and widespread sense of vision and ministry passion I do not regularly see in the typical local congregation. Everyone on this adventure has a role to play and is eager to participate and discover how God will unfold their part. And new people are seriously praying about joining us. In all my years of pastoral ministry I’ve never experienced anything like this.
The number of “God sightings” is ever increasing. The answers to prayer abound. The excitement of the co-laborers is second to none. And as we reside in our own “Wood Between the Worlds,” the question that constantly echoes in my mind is, “Why aren’t all churches like this?” Why are so many congregants satisfied to do no more than sit in a pew, or at most, serve on a committee? Where is the joy and hunger for innovative, pioneering service? Why are so many pastors seemingly consumed with organizational minutiae rather than guiding a passionate people to change their respective communities? Why is the powerful and miraculous environment I am now experiencing relegated to the church plants and mission fields? Somewhere along the way, many local congregations have lost something precious. And they desperately need to find it again.
My pathway to church planting did not begin where I would have expected — it began in the revitalization of the local church. It was as I began leading people, one by one, into the grand Great Commission adventure of Church Development that I too was infected. As I witnessed the Holy Spirit showing up uniquely in church after church, my own passion for the kingdom (read “rule and reign of Jesus”) began to bubble up. Our process is infectious. The Lord used my previous experience as a backdrop for something new in my heart.
Do you feel like God is prompting you to make the leap into a new “pool” of ministry? Would you like to do something dangerous for the dominion of King Jesus? Would you like to recognize your own dependence on the Father at a whole new level? Would you like to see people in your church become passionate about divine appointments with those in your community? Then I would recommend you check into our CCCC Church Development Process. You can call our office for more information. But beware — if you do, you and your church may never be the same.
