Slightly after 4PM on Saturday February 25, 2012, Connie McDonald walked down the aisle of the Calera Church of Christ, resplendent in her beautiful, white wedding gown. Minutes later, when she and her husband Sam shared their personal vows, I don’t think there was a dry eye in the building. It wasn’t their first wedding. In fact, Sam and Connie have been happily married to each other for twenty years.
Technically, it wasn’t even a “real” wedding, simply a vow renewal ceremony, but you would never have known that sitting in that sanctuary. The invitation for the vow renewal was titled, “We Still Do” and while a cynic would argue that the whole thing was merely symbolic, those of us who were in attendance know better. The passion of their vows to each other as they renewed their covenant of love before God and man brought the symbol to life and gave that day a power that cannot be denied. Twenty years later, they were starting over and making a good thing even better.
On Friday Night March 9, 2012 at 7PM, something similar is happening to the Birmingham Church. We are going to have a very important congregational devotional. We are calling it our congregational vow renewal service but it’s so much more than that. It is the first step toward a new beginning.
We are so very grateful for what God has done throughout the twenty-year history of the Birmingham Church. Souls have been saved, marriages rescued, leaders sent out, true love discovered, addicts freed, babies born, damaged girls transformed into radiant, spiritual women and broken boys raised up to become strong, Godly men. We are so thankful for those that have served here in the past, their wholehearted effort, and the foundation they laid. Many of us owe our lives to the work that the Holy Spirit has done through this congregation. So if everything has gone so well, why are we starting over? Well, while we are grateful for what has been accomplished, we have become convicted that God has called us to be so much more.
Acts 2:42-47 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. “
In 2011, the above passage began to stir our leadership group. This passage is a blueprint of what God’s church must be. As we started the process of being brutally honest about the state of our church, we had to confess that Acts 2:42-47 had become our ideal rather than our standard. This was unacceptable. We are never going to be perfect but we can be and must be 100% devoted. Like King Josiah (2 Kings chapter 22), we wept when we realized how far we had fallen. The church didn’t need a paint job. We didn’t need to reform into a better version. We knew that like King Josiah we needed to call the church to start over again, put everything on the table and restore the Biblical standard. After much prayer, the Holy Spirit formed a plan. We needed to call the church to renew its vow to God and trust that repentance would usher in a new beginning. On March 9th we are calling for all of our members to take part in a congregational vow renewal service and on Sunday March 11, 2012 we will have the first service of The Greater Birmingham Disciples of Christ (GBDC).
But how can we be a new church with the same old people? How is it really starting over again? Isn’t that just empty symbolism? Do we really believe that we can change the church name, come up with a new logo and be a new church? Yes, if like Sam and Connie the passion of our vow to God brings the symbol to life. The name change is our line in the sand, our pledge, shared before God and man, that we are repenting of our sins, embracing our mission, and renewing our vow to Christ to be the church He called us to be, a new church, a different church, not chained to the failures and triumphs of the past but inspired by a vision for the future.
If you read Joshua chapter 24, 2 Kings chapter 23, and Nehemiah chapters 9 and 10 you will see examples of God’s people renewing their vows and starting over. In fact from Genesis to Revelation, doing make overs is what God does best. All we are attempting to do is to imitate theses examples. Part II of this article will focus on the GBDC (The Greater Birmingham Disciples of Christ) and our vision for it. The remainder of Part I will outline the steps we are taking to ready ourselves to become a vessel that God can use. How?
I. Like Joshua in Joshua 24, we are asking every disciple to take this time to count the cost and decide whether he or she is willing to be all in. We would love for every member of the Birmingham Church to be a member of the GBDC but it is up to each individual member to make that decision. All are welcome, with all of their weaknesses and imperfections, but each person must be willing to be fully devoted and make Christ Lord in word and deed. The mission statement of the GBDC is simple: “To love the saved and save the lost”. Ask yourself: are you willing to be fully devoted to this mission?
II. March 1st – March 7th We are asking everyone to join us on a seven-day congregational fasting chain. We’re asking every member to choose a day during that week to fast and to pray daily for the other members who are fasting. The Purpose of the fast…
A. A time of reflection, confession, and repentance
B. To ask God to Transform us
C. To pray that we will see a Miracle on March 11th
D. To pray to reach open souls
III. On Friday March 9th We will Have Our Congregational Vow Renewal Ceremony. It will be…
A. A time to celebrate what God has done in our lives through the Birmingham Church
B. A time to make a vow to God as a church
C. A time to pray for God to move
We are starting over, and as a leadership team, we couldn’t be more excited. We know the angels are rejoicing and Satan is trembling because the spirit of God is about to be unleashed on the Birmingham/Hoover Metropolitan area like never before. Please, join us in prayer as we allow God to transform us into something new.
Sincerely,
Frank B. Davis, Desmond Hawthorne, Tony Turner, and Sam McDonald
(The Leadership Team of the Birmingham Church)