J.R. Briggs

Kairos Partnerships: accelerating through the turn

November 2, 2011

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One day in driver’s ed, I remember sitting behind the wheel when my instructor said, “Now, when you are making a turn, put on your blinker. And as you are in the middle of it – once you realize you are going to make it through the intersection safely – accelerate through the turn.”

It’s advice I’ve never forgotten.

Much of the fall is an attempt to accelerate through the turn.

I’m in the midst of a shift from being full-time at the church I helped start to pulling back to part-time so I can steward opportunities to help train, equip and disciple other leaders, as well as invest time in networks and other kingdom initiatives. It’s a bit of a shift from ministry by addition to ministry by multiplication. If you haven’t heard, we’re calling it Kairos Partnerships. You can read the specifics here.

For me, this fall feels a bit like a trapeze artist who has let go of the bar behind him and is in that freaky moment in time, suspended high above the ground waiting for that bar in front of him to come swinging his direction so he can take hold of it.

It’s good – and I love it – but its a vulnerable moment of in-between, where you go from “Yes!” to “Oh crap” – and then back to “Yes!” again – all in a matter of a few hours. I guess when you write a book on risk God has a way of remembering that stuff.

There’s been incredible encouragement and affirmation from those who know us. I’m super-proud of our church and the way they are not only embracing change, but also seeing the fit that this is for all of us. People have described it to me as a win-win-win. Those don’t happen often, so we realize the gift that it is.

Our elders were in unanimous agreement of this decision. When I announced the changes a few months ago, I was so proud of our church when they erupted into applause in affirmation of this decision and in affirmation of Doug Moister, our Renew Apprentice who will be coming on past full-time as pastor in the new year.

We love how it’s unfolding, but we also know the preciousness of a transition like this. It’s not without it’s hiccups, but overall it has been (surprisingly) smoother than expected. (Read more about the transition here for specific context.)

But in some ways, I feel whelmed. Not overwhelmed, just whelmed. I feel as though I’m working four jobs until January 1, when the transition will officially take place :

1. attempting to shepherd and lead Renew well, paying attention to the movement of the Spirit and how we can join God in what He’s up to
2. bringing Doug up to speed on context, our history and specific people and situations, as well as trying to set him up for success in the new year
3. developing Kairos Partnerships and communicating its vision clearly
4. raising support for this new initiative. People told me that support raising takes a lot of time. (I am finding out that they were right.)

Transitions like these require a lot of wisdom (we’ve been praying James 1:5 quite often as leaders) but, like I said, we are quite excited with how things have unfolded – and we anticipate that to continue that way, too.

Since our announcement I’ve had pastors, leaders, organizations and churches approach me, asking if I could help partner with them in various ways. I’ve been amazed at how these opportunities are surfacing so soon into the adventure of Kairos Partnerships.

Here are a few of the things that have been brewing the past several weeks since our announcement:

• Last month we hosted a Vision Day for Fresh Expressions in the Philadelphia Area with over 50 denominational leaders and pastors from all over the region, sharing what Fresh Expressions is and ways leaders can cultivate fresh expressions in their context.
• Next week I fly to Taylor University, where I’ll be speaking in chapel again and discussing with leaders if there are other ways I might be able to partner and serve the university. They’ve also asked me to speak at some upcoming events next spring.
• I’m coaching church planters in the midwest, the deep south and in the region.
• We’re also in the works for hosting the Second Annual Epic Fail Pastors Conference in March 2012 in Mansfield, OH (see initial details here). We’re extremely excited about this.
• I’ve been asked to write an article in a pastors’ publication on the concept of the Epic Fail Pastors Conference.
• I recently completed co-leading an assessment for a 200 year old church in our area, helping them listen well to each other and see where they can be most healthy moving forward in their storied tradition.
• I’ve been approached by a few pastors who have asked me to disciple them, as they seek to create a culture of discipleship in their own churches.
• I’ve been asked by a seminary to help brainstorm, develop and plan a discipleship track for their Doctor of Ministry program.
• Next month I’ll be facilitating a panel discussion with a few church planters at a church planter training event on the topic of how to serve our cities by being an ally and an advocate.

I’m honored and humbled – and thrilled – to be seeing evident fruit being borne so soon into this venture. I’m truly excited to see what other fruit will come about from this. I can’t believe I get to do this.

Would you partner with me in prayer as I seek to steward the opportunities well, especially between now and the end of the year? 

I want to accelerate through the turn.

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