I know that this Father’s Day I’ll have mixed feelings between the joy that comes from being a Dad and the pain of missing my Dad’s friendship in my life. Life and faith is often like this; the tension of two truths at once that can cause almost opposite reactions or feelings. On Father’s Day, I’ll be especially glad for how Jesus taught us to pray and gave us a whole new paradigm through which to see and approach a relationship with God: ‘Our Father…’

I got home and spoke to my daughter, about the fact this morning was the last time we’ll be at PBC for a couple of months. She looked bright eyed and excited before saying, ‘Great – we’re never going to church again. Great!’ When we replied, ‘Not quite darling, we’ll be visiting other churches,’ she said with a smile, ‘Great – we’ll go to other churches!’ I think that’s the definition of being easily pleased, and kind of sums up how I’m feeling as I recover from my burnout. If I never went to ‘big’ church again, and instead hung out with a few friends for prayer and the Christian walk, I feel like part of me would be ok with that. But I also know that there is a huge part of me – if it can be renewed and refreshed – that longs to learn a rhythm of living that helps me to be fully alive in the midst of leading a large church with all its potential, joys and sadness that it involves. God knows I need Him to replenish me and help me to recapture that first love for Him, as well as for his Body.

I aim to record lots of my sabbatical journey on here, and I hope you’ll consider staying for the ride. Right, now to finish all my e-mails, tidy the office, write a few letters and close the door…

We reflected on the events today as a Staff Team and captured some great learnings for next year which we’re going to pull into a report and present to the Elders. One of the main points was that this year was real evidence that planning early and empowering the right people in the right roles is the key in achieving a high standard at these services. So much stress that we had last year has been avoided this year by simply planning earlier. I am far less exhausted this year than I was last year, thanks to the great Staff Team at PBC and the wider PBC family. Next year we can consider having a dress rehearsal on the Wednesday night before the Sunday just to iron out last minute things and give us all a chance as those taking part to pray and prepare together.

Well done everyone, it’s a joy to serve with you.

When the dust has settled I’ll comment on my incredible morning yesterday (Sunday) at Willow Creek’s service at their main auditorium… wow, wow, wow. I’ll also try and sum up the week and tell some stories about some of the infectious (not Swine flu…) Willow members I’ve had the privilege to meet but haven’t mentioned yet.

Over the last few years Willow Creek has planted five regional campuses in neighbourhoods which are about 40 minutes drive away from the main Barrington site. Before these were planted, thousands of their attenders had driven an hour to get to Willow, and through planting campuses, the leaders at Willow aimed to give a nearer option to these friends as well as reach out to new communities in effective ways.  Each regional site has a ‘Campus Pastor’ who leads the staff team and vision of the regional church, and shepherds it to fulfil the overall Willow vision. There is a live band, live leading from the Campus Pastor, and the message recorded from the Saturday night serve at Barrington is played on DVD on huge screens behind the platform. They’re meant to be ‘mini’ Willows.

When I walked into the church, I was so excited. I couldn’t believe I was here and would actually be attending Willow Creek. I walked in with Brian who was going to drop Rachel off at Promiseland. The first thing I noticed was how well this warehouse had been converted inside. There were huge wide aisles leading up to a massive Promiseland area, with colourful walls and rooms, with friendly Promiseland volunteers signing in children. There was a lovely café, art hanging all over the walls which had been made by Willow worshippers (apparently the art displayed regularly changes as artists produce more). After dropping Rachel off at Promiseland, Brian and I went to join Bethany and Denise in the main auditorium.

Walking in was an experience. The quality of the band was exceptional. The quality of the sound was exceptional. The seating was exceptional. Willow Creek put a lot of investment into the Audio-Visual equipment at their sites because the Sunday worship services are such a core part of their vision. There were about 1200 people in there. The church has 2 services in total, with about 2000 members at this regional site… and this is ‘mini’ Willow!

As the worship slowed, the Campus Pastor introduced baptisms, and then proceeded to baptise about 15 people during the next two worship songs. We didn’t hear their testimonies, but as they were baptised we could see  so vividly this profound evidence of changed lives. I had tears in my lives. I found out later that over the weekend they had 100 baptisms in total, just at their McHenry County campus.

As the worship ended, a young lady who had been one of the singers gave a few notices, before ‘handing over to Bill’, which was when the ‘videocast’ started. Because the lighting and video faded so well into one another, our attention was sustained and kept clearly on the teaching. One reason why watching a pre-recorded DVD as the teaching block works so well is because in these larger churches, 99% of people will watch the sermon on the big screen anyway, rather than stare at the tiny figure of the ‘live’ speaker. There are three big screens behind the stage, and one big screen right at the back of the church above the AV desk so that the singers and band can see their lyrics. None of the singers have music or lyrics obviously on display. Again, it’s a big financial investment to have such quality AV, but the screen at the back and their commitment to learn the songs helps the singers to be free from looking at music and worrying about lyrics. I can only compare it to the difference between watching a drama when the actors are fully in character, and no word sheets can be seen, to a drama when the actors are glancing every now and again at their words. As my church heads towards a substantial building project, it is great to be in buildings that have been designed so well according to the purpose that they want to see fulfilled.

My abiding memory will be the evidence of life change seen in these baptisms. It’s why I do what I do what I do, and what I want to see more and more of at PBC.

An hour later, involving accidentally driving illegally through a freeway toll, and then not having enough money for the next toll, I arrived at my hosts. For those attending conferences at Willow Creek Chicago, Willow’s global hospitality team has hundreds of Willow families who open their homes to guests for free. I would see again and again in the coming week just how deeply sacrificial and servant hearted the Willow Community Church members are – Global hospitality is one example, and the Stein family are another.

When I pulled up on the drive, Brian Stein came to greet me and warmly welcomed me to his home. This was repeated inside when I met Denise, Bethany, Claire and Rachel. Within minutes they all helped me to feel like I’d known them for ages. Here is a family that have a passion to support Pastors getting trained and they generously offer their home for this. They’ve attended Willow since about 1984, and during our conversations demonstrated to me great examples of the kind of mature, compassionate and generous Christ-followers Willow has helped to grow. I couldn’t help but think of my two girls and I hope they’ll be as good at welcoming guests into their home as the Stein’s girls had been with me. This is one inspiring family.