Tom & I had the opportunity to sit down with Todd Phillips yesterday. (Todd is the teaching/lead pastor at Frontline in Washington DC.)

We within the Calvary Young Adults ministry have been planning to launch/re-launch our young adults worship experience for several months. Although not much has been visible, a considerable amount of prayer, thought and strategic planning has been going on behind the scenes. So, we met with Todd to bounce our ideas off of him and get some advice. Some thoughts for the day:

1. We asked him about the frequency that we should do our worship gathering. Although there are lots of models out there, he really challenged us to really go for it–not just do a few, but to commit to doing it on a weekly basis if we’re really serious about it. Tom and I were both convinced/convicted that this is the way we need to go–even though it was our original plan to alternate weeks. So, look for the preview services coming up before the launch of the WEEKLY event.

2. Systems: I was impressed at the intentionality with which they approached everything–and the simplicity of structure. (I recently read Tom Rainer & Eric Geiger’s Simple Church, which I highly recommend.) Although it’s too much to blog, it really helped bring clarity to some of my thoughts on small groups, leadership structure and leadership pipelines.

3. Todd Phillips is my biggest fan: OK, this has little to do with who I am, but he did say it…I really appreciate it when a very busy leader takes time to help a couple of people that he doesn’t even know and speaks into their lives and ministry–and encourages them in the process. That’s Kingdom Building!

OK, so if you’re looking at this post you’ve either been to Gullifty’s for a very good sandwich or are thinking something else entirely…

This weekend’s adventure was going to Freefall in Harrisburg, PA. As with most events to which I go, everything was geared to 20-somethings and the young adults that went with me and those I met all had an incredible time. Here are some highlights:

The speaker the first night had a challenging message about how we spend our resources in America. So many people around the world are starving while have so much. Most people would agree that it is tragic, but I always have to ask myself what I am doing to help. Someday, we’ll all answer that question.

Tom & I kept running into Matthew Paul Turner. (I was sure he’d think we were stalking him!) I’ve always enjoyed his writing. He’s funny and engaging—and with a lot of good stuff to say. The Coffee House Gospel was the first book of his that I read, and I always recommend it as a good place to start when looking how to do relational evangelism. After meeting Matthew, I can only recommend him more as an author. I’m looking forward to his upcoming book.

Running into Mari! I’m standing in the lobby Friday night and in walks a girl Denise & I worked with years ago when we were doing ministry up in Maine. She got free tickets from someone, saw my name on the flier and looked for me when she got there. I was a great surprise. We hadn’t seen her in years.

Hanging out. I love meeting people and getting to know people better. We had a great time and met a bunch of new people, and I had a great Sandwich—the Pittsburgh Prima Wedgie!