Doing things the right way

I will be the first to admit that we have made some mistakes along the way. Bringing people together with a common purpose and trying to make a presence in a new community are all challenges that require prayer and planning. I am sure there are many things we could have done better, but hindsight is always 20-20.

You will hear a lot about the values and beliefs of the members at the Spring Meadows Church of Christ. Our core beliefs have driven us to be pro-active in our work and relationships. One of our goals was to maintain unity and harmony with our sister congregations. It has never been our desire to steal sheep and we believe that the best way to evangelize the community is for God's people to be joined together in the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace.

We realized that moving into a community where the churches of Christ were already working could send the wrong message if we were not careful. Before the first worship service was ever conducted we called and scheduled meetings with every congregation that might feel the impact of our presence, or who might have questions about our goals for the community. In each and every visit we shared the following objectives with our brethren:

1. Our ultimate goal is to build a congregation in the fastest growing section of Spring Hill, TN and minister to the young families moving into the community.
2. We want to build a working relationship with our sister congregations in the area.
3. It is not our desire to negatively impact any congregation of the churches of Christ meeting in the area.
4. We want to work with our sister congregations with the goal of evangelizing the community and building stronger ties and unity in our work together.

The congregation nearest to us geographically proved to be one of our strongest supporters. The Spring Hill Church of Christ has allowed their preacher to come speak for us, visited and attended our services and meetings and allowed us to use their facilities for baptisms. They have been a rich blessing to our efforts and we all are so very grateful to them.

Recently, Spring Meadows had an old fashion singing that was supported by a number of our sister congregations. The decision to do things the right way at the start - to be pro-active in talking with our brethren continues to be a rich blessing. We are now working together, supporting one another and striving to show the Spring Hill community the unity that Jesus prayed for in John 17.

By the way, the picture in this particular blog was taken at the "Chili Bowl," one of the many joint activities between the Spring Hill Church of Christ and the Spring Meadows Church of Christ.