Tuesday, August 19, 2008

For those of you who don't know...

...the word on the street is true. I've talked with a few of you and I'm sure most of you have heard that Louie Giglio is starting a church here in Atlanta. It will be called Passion Church and as of right now, they do not know where it will be located or when it will be starting. Also, there has been a lot of discussion about who the worship leaders, or lead worshipers will be. This has not been confirmed, but Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman and the Knockels are moving or have already moved to Atlanta [I even read on another blog that Chris Tomlin's house is for sale in Austin - I don't know how people find this information but I'm willing to pass on the little juicy nugget of knowledge!].

If you care to hear Louie talk about Passion Church, then you can go to this blog to watch an interview with him.

I'll be honest, at first I had a little mixed emotions about him starting what will be a MEGA-church here in Atlanta. I initially thought, "Man, how many people will leave their respective churches to go to his church?" That was soon followed by, "I think I'll go there when I can." Hypocritical? Yeah I think so...oh well, shoot me. But after doing some blog searching [blearching] and hearing Louie speak, I trust the Lord's leading of Louie. It's not to steal people away from churches but to reach the thousands upon thousands of people in Atlanta that are unchurched and to ignite a flame of revival that will undoubtedly transform a city! Our church has had the vision of community transformation for many years now and I think Passion Church coming to Atlanta confirms what the Lord has laid upon our own pastors' hearts. We will be partnering with Passion Church to see our community [Atlanta, not just Cobb County] transformed.

I have also heard a rumor [and it may just be a rumor] that Passion Church will be starting a worship school as well, a la Hillsong. I haven't read anything about this, but I can only hope, right?

So I have a little bit of the nervous excitement with a splash of jealousy [just being honest]. I have a wonderful church home with an amazing team of leaders and an even more amazing congregation, but on days I'm not helping lead worship I might be tempted to travel to wherever Passion Church is located.

I want to hear your thoughts and reactions to Louie starting a church in Atlanta with some of the most prominent lead worshipers. I'm truly interested!

Grace and peace.

5 comments:

steve and randel hambrick said...

first of all, were you blogging at 3am?
ok, moving on...

i have mixed emotions as well. it's kindof like a starbucks opening near a mom and pop coffeehouse. as good as the mom and pop is, starbucks is a wealthy company and they can afford to do things perfectly. so the poor mom and pop store, who might actually have the better coffee, lose their peeps to a megachain b/c it's pretty and put together well.

hopefully they'll have unique vision and actually reach out to the least of these instead of the crowd i think they'll be going for....

ManUtd17 said...

I don't know Louie at all. I am hopeful that this move is a true move of the Spirit and not an ego trip. I have a hard time thinking that all of these players would make this kind of move for the sake of ego. So I remain hopeful of the motives.

The impact will be large in the beginning. NP and BC will lose people -- no doubt. But FUMC lost a lot of people too when WF (now RS) first started. Then as time passed, people left WF for other places that fit better or that they felt called to or that didn't have a drum kit on the stage or whatever. Hopefully, this is a point of overall increase in the Body.

Boggsy said...

I agree with both of you RH and BP. I have to believe that all of their motives are pure and Holy Spirit-led. That's a great point about FUMC and WF/RS, and we truly are better off going through those growing pains. I think the loss of regular church goers will be enormous initially. Because honestly, who is NOT going to want to go to a church that has Louie giving the message and CT, MR or CN leading worship?! I have to believe and have faith that this move will help usher in an awakening and revival to our city. We'll see. Would you be tempted to check it out?

brad said...

They can rent Riverstone on Sunday nights if they want.

ManUtd17 said...

I'd probably only check it out if it was really nearby. Not driving to Alpharetta. I don't even drive to RS anymore. SB for us, baby! Louie has nothing on Eldridge anyway.