Ben Stewart

Rebekah and I have been married for about a year and a half and still haven’t really felt connected in a local church. We met some wonderful people at the church we joined when we got married and we love a lot of things about that church. It is a great church. However, there has still always been some kind of disconnect. I’m sure part of it is because it is a little far away. Plus, a lot of the people we know who attend there live in other parts of the city (most 30 minutes to 1 hour away from us). And, of course, my travel schedule has kept us from really doing a lot of activities together (it’s always the guy’s fault).

Well, recently Rebekah has been attending a new church plant in Nashville called Green Hills Church. I still haven’t been to a service because I haven’t been in Nashville on a Sunday morning since January, but Rebekah has really gotten involved and likes it a lot.

My first reaction to the idea of a new church plant in a city so saturated with churches is, “Really?! Seriously?!” I would immediately jump to the idea that more churches only divides the Church further instead of fostering community among believers in the same area. BUT, in the same breath, I would have to say that it seems this church plant is exactly what Rebekah and I needed. Despite the thousands of churches around town, we had yet to find one that fit like GHC seems to have done.

So, at least for now I have put my cynicism aside about “another church in Nashville” and I am excited about the opportunity to take part in a new group of believers at a church finding its identity in the community.

What are your thoughts on church plants in America (especially in the Bible belt)?

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We are in Wilkesboro, NC, right now doing an area-wide youth event in a great little theater at the local community college. Wilkesboro is a cool town with one of the best coffee shops we have ever been to while out on the road.

Last night we had some bad weather come through while we were starting the service. The band was just about to finish the next-to-last song when all of a sudden… darkness and silence filled the room. (Well… relative silence anyway since there were about 500 teenagers in the room.)

Apparently the stormy weather and 70 MPH winds knocked out the power for most of Wilkesboro. After getting everyone (mostly) under control Craig preached about “light” and then we dismissed everyone before the emergency lights ran out of battery power.

After the excitement at the Walker Center, we all headed over to a beautiful house by on a lake for a late-night dinner. On our way we came across a downed tree across the road. What do seven guys do when their path is blocked by a tree? Grunt a lot and then move the tree, of course.

Here is where the story gets fun for me. I had the privilege of being on the end furthest away from the roots (the pivot) so my end of the tree moved the most. As we approached the end of “the big move” the rest of the guys decided to toss the tree away from them and onto the ground. Apparently, I didn’t get the memo and so I ended up going with the tree. A quick somersaulty-flippy thing later and I was landing semi-face-first in the soft, cold mud.

I only wish someone had a video camera to catch the whole thing. Today I feel like a crash test dummy. I don’t think my body was meant to move like that. I’m sure there is a lesson to be learned here, but right now I have no idea what it is. Thoughts?

I’ve tried this before and it didn’t last. Now that I have someone pushing me to start blogging I think I’m going to give it a go. My goals for this space aren’t really clear yet. At this point I think I want to find the balance between personal posts, business posts, and then just writing about things that interest me (which means really geeky things). If I actually find the time to keep up with this animal then I’m sure I will move on from there.

So, if you like what you read then please get involved in the conversation by posting comments. If you don’t like what you read, then post constructive comments or just go away. Either way.

Consider this post “getting the ball rolling…”