I'm in need of some reflection.

Today was a great day. No, it was an awesome day. Blue Route Vineyard Community Church now has two campuses.

We've been talking about this for years. One of the perks to being on staff is that I'm privy to the pastor's thoughts before they are solidified or announced. We've been discussing and considering multisites for a few years. For the last few months, we've been working to making this actually happen.

Timmy and I have been a part of the team from the very beginning. So, we've been feeling it. Or at least, I have been feeling it. During the summer, it felt like I was going to two churches. I had all my commitments to the Media campus, but I also had weekly (sometimes twice a week) meetings for the Ridley campus. In addition, my work at the church office increased because of the second campus. When September rolled around, I was thrilled because my Media commitments ended and I felt like I could breathe again. But Ridley still has been very time consuming.

I can't imagine how much harder planting a church from scratch is. You start with nothing but a small committed team of people. We started this adventure with a small committed team of people but the support of an entire successful, stable congregation. We had their full support in every aspect - pastoral leading, finances, prayer, team members. Seriously, I can't imagine doing this from the ground up.

The last few weeks have been just as busy but it's been exciting in a different way. We've been in our building - Leiper Presbyterian Church in Swarthmore. Let me first say how incredible sweet the people at Leiper are. They are teaching me something about being Christians in the way they are supporting us, encouraging us, and showing us generosity. A truly special congregation. It's great to be in the building. To no longer be thinking about what we're doing but to actually be doing it. Every week, we build upon what we did the week before. We kept telling each other "it'll get better every week." Like the day when the video didn't work well and most of what we saw was Mark's floating head :) But every week, it does get better. There's something exciting about seeing how it will go next time. And as an admin person, it's just great to say "this is what we need now" or "this is how we can fix that."

And today was our launch. I don't know if my expectations were low or if God just wanted to blow up my high expectations. Today was incredible. I had a rough start to the day. I was snippy. I was in work mode. "Move out of my way, people. I've got work to do." But that stopped when a few of us gathered to pray before the service.

God came. He came to our pre-service prayer and he came to BRV | RIDLEY. We sensed him right away and throughout the entire service. There was so much. I think bullet points may be easier.

- God started healing Christi's hurt hip during pre-service prayer. She wasn't completely better but she wasn't limping anymore. I mean, healing before the service even started!

- The worship team and the AV team set up all our tech in 15 minutes!!! This was a big deal. You rock!!

- We had six people on the prayer team and three of them were guys. Say what?!?!

- Several of the Leiper folks stayed to worship with us. It was especially sweet when our team led us in How Great Thou Art.

- Christi rang the bell at the start of the service. The prayer team felt like she should do it today and as she rang it, it was us proclaiming victory.

- When Christi rang the bell, Jared Tindall started the service by welcoming everyone to the launch of our new service and invited everyone to join him in worship. It was truly special for Jared to do that. It's been a little weird for me not to have Mark present at Ridley. He's so a part of everything. Not just because he's the senior pastor and he's involved everything, but no one loves BRV like he does. He's been at every single important landmark in BRV's history, but he's not at Ridley. But his son opened the service today and led us in worshipping the Living God. Even now, my eyes are welling up a bit. It's like Mark was there and I see Mark's legacy and his hope coming to be.

- The entire worship team was under the age of 23. They're so young. It was awesome.

- 134 people. 107 adults and 27 children. Very cool.

- Pastor Bill and Mr. Neil from Leiper said a few words to us. My one regret of the day is that I didn't think to record their words until it was too late. First Pastor Bill made a joke "Sorry we didn't get the memo about the clothes" They were both wearing suits and ties :) Then Neil said "we're old school." He-he. He said "old school." Neil shared with us that the church is almost two hundred years old and now we're a part of that rich history. It fills my heart that we are part of this now. It fills my heart that they welcome us into their history. Over and over, Neil would say things like thousands of people, decades passing, a new congregation, but the same Spirit. How powerful. Then Pastor Bill shared with us a vision he had early this summer. While at a conference, he had a vision of their parking lot full of cars and their sanctuary filled with people. He said today that vision came to be. The people at Leiper are incredibly gracious. I really can't express into words what I feel when I see them and speak to them.

- The video sermon was awesome! Thank you, Mark, for wearing the Ridley shirt; we cheered when we saw it. Thank you for looking directly at the camera and saying hi; we said hi back. Thank you for acknowledging Dave Young; we applauded his hard work and he happened to be with us at that point. Thank you for thanking our Leiper friends; they were with us and did hear your kind and true words.

- Ministry was sweet. We prayed for a lot of people. I had a really special encounter with a woman. She grabbed my hand, said thank you, and then started crying. She couldn't even tell me her name. I just started praying for her and she grabbed me and cried on my shoulder. It was very quick and then she pulled back, thanked me and left. I don't have any clue what was going on with her, but she obviously encountered the Spirit of God.

- Christi was a rock star!! Every week we talk about what she can do to improve the following week and every week she gets better. Today, the woman who stood up front was the pastor. She didn't just try to be a pastor; she was the pastor. Mark and the council made a wise decision when they sought God about her. I am thrilled to work and serve with her. I'm proud to call her my pastor. I'm delighted to get to know her as my friend.

- After the service was just as much fun. Lots of hugs and high fives. Lots of "that was so great!" Lots of "God came." Lots of joy and gratitude.

- A group of us met up again for dinner at Iron Hill to celebrate the day and to celebrate the new Iron Hill/Burlap and Bean stout. It was great to rejoice with these people. Some of them are old friends; some of them are new friends. All of us shared in the special day and I was just really aware that we were in this together. When it happened and when it was great, we rejoiced together. They've been invested in this too. It's nice to be part of a team. And it was great to see Mark walk in through the door to celebrate with us :)

I know my thoughts are scattered, but there's just so much. I just wanted to throw out some of that and I wanted to share it with those of you who care.

Before I close out this post, one final thank you to one that truly did it all. Thank you God for loving us and letting us play. Thank you for loving Ridley and seeking after Ridley. Thank you for calling us into your community. Thank you for always being faithful. Thank you for showing yourself. Thank you for blessing BRV. May we always seek you and your kingdom.