See You Soon River Park!

We finished our final Sunday at Rio Vista Middle School in River Park. Rio School District raised our rent by over 50%, which is way beyond any comparable space in the area (Their special way of saying "Please do church elsewhere."), so we have moved out of River Park. We're taking our portable church 10 minutes south to an amazing facility that is actually charging us fair rental value! Did I mention fair? ... not bitter ;) God's up to something here, we're praying that we can get back into Oxnard when the commercial area finally opens in River Park which will make that area more of a destination.

Here is our new home beginning this Sunday. The Camarillo Ranch is a prominent Ventura County location for community events, school field trips, weddings, receptions, film shoots and now for church! I'm stoked we get to meet in a barn that was built in 1905. The whole property is an historic landmark in Camarillo and the grounds are beautifully landscaped with flowers, trails and fountains.

We are kicking off an amazing 6 week series this Sunday with Andy Stanley titled "5 Things God Uses To Grow Your Faith". I will be leading worship with an amazing group of musicians. Don't miss out on seeing us do Church At the Barn this Sunday beginning at 10am.

River Park Community Church in Plain English

NPMi Strategic Partners in Plain English from NPMiPartners on Vimeo.

RPCC

Our National Motto

Do you know what the official national motto is for the United States of America? You probably see it everyday. In fact, you probably hold this motto in your hand everyday.

Give up?

Here it is: "IN GOD WE TRUST"

Seriously! I didn't know this was our official motto. Did you? On July 30, 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower signed a law officially establishing "In God We Trust" as the national motto of the United States of America.

So here's a great question. Does this still ring true in 2009? Do you think the politicians in Washington reflect this motto in their service to the country? Why is this theme seem to be a continuous one in Washington? When was the last time a U.S. President actually prayed to the God "we trust" publicly on air or in print?

Check out this great message by Andy Stanley entitled "God & Country" as he explores the conscience of America in 2009. Then come to River Park Community Church for the compelling final part of this message series this Sunday.

Happy 4th of July weekend! And, Happy July 1st week to all you Canadians out there!

1 Helicopter... 10,000 Eggs

Tonight I have begun the process of preparing my share of about 10,000 plastic Easter Eggs. I'm stuffing each one of my 2,000 with candy and a raffle ticket. Why? Because the RPCC team wants to be a blessing to Oxnard, CA. We just want to bless the families of west Ventura county with the biggest, most fun, unique Easter Egg hunt ever!
We're calling it the River Park Egg Drop.

I'm excited to see what is in store for us April 11 because everyone we talk to about this gets REALLY excited! Every time I turn around we seem to get a new sponsor. So far we've got 9 corporate sponsors and we're also teaming up with another local church plant to make this happen. All our prizes and candy have been donated. We've put up posters, put post cards in thousands of doors and car windows, pulled out Facebook ads. If you're in the area April 11, you will not want to miss this! I just hope there won't be too many scuffles with kids scrambling for the eggs! Don't worry, we will have plenty of candy for all, security and an ambulence on location! :) (They will not treat sugar highs!)

What Easter Events have you attended that were the most memorable/successful?

In-N-Out Burger, Apple Computer and Simple Church

Last night I pulled off the 101 freeway with two words on my mind: "Double-double". As I think about my experience at In-N-Out's Drive Thru lane last night I still am surprised. When I pulled up there were no cars in front of me and no cars behind me. That's a first for me at In-N-Out, but understandable in a family town like Camarillo, CA at 7:45pm. Not too many families would be eating burgers for dinner that late.

The surprising thing was the lonely guy standing there with his portable computer register who took my order. He was over the top nice, clear, extremely helpful and completely at ease with his job. I felt like this guy is not just putting up with having to stand outside alone on this night. I felt that he actually enjoyed and took pride in his job.

Now, if you've never been to In-N-Out please stick with me as I explain the incredible process and strategy that makes this burger joint one of the busiest and inexpensive in Southern California. So sit back and relax because here comes the answer to this business phenom... hold on... are you ready?

The answer is as follows:

Combo 1,2 or 3.

Are you still with me? Relaxing time is over. That's it! Seriously! They have three combos for you to choose from. A burger empire built on simplicity and excellence (in product & service).

There is another well known company that is simple. While competers are laying off a multitude of people Apple continues strong. Read this latest article on their simplicity.

What if the church was also simple? Easy for guests to understand. No questions of "What does that mean?" or "I don't get it". What if the church offered two environments for adults. A worship service and small groups. What if that church focused on executing those environments with excellence in product and service?

No Sunday School, no sports ministries, no women's ministrys, no men's ministrys, no tutoring, no pilates, no special seasonal productions.

1. Worship Service
2. Small Groups

Simple. Excellent.

Leaving people with margin to invest in their families and communities during the week. Encouraging people to not join the local church softball league but to join the local city softball league. (Remember those salt and light passages in the Bible?)

Want a great read on this topic?

Want to experience a simple church?
Experience riverparkcc.com

T-Minus 4 Days

Four days until we launch.
We're launching with our family (K-5 and parents) program called Kidstuf first.
We're launching with a Lead Pastor who isn't the 'preacher' and a preacher (we affectionately call him "TP" for teaching pastor) who isn't the Lead Pastor.
We're launching in Southern California yet partnered with a church in North Georgia.
We're launching with four full time and one part time staff in one of the most expensive corners of this country.
Our office is in a garage.
We've got permission to do church in a public Middle School in Oxnard, CA and I know in Auburn, Alabama (Bible belt!) they don't allow any churches to use schools.

We are anything but a typical church plant. I like it. God is doing a new thing in the VC (Ventura County)!

What untypical church plants do you know of? Is there even such a thing?

Camarillo Community Church

Lead the worship band this morning at Camarillo Community Church. What a vibrant multi-generational church! Musicians were top notch. Next scheduled worship leading is October 5th at RPCC. Some guy I don't know came up to me and said, "Hey James, you baptized me four years ago." How cool is that? I remember the event but I don't remember him. :( I baptized a few folks I'd never met before that day. He shared a bit how he's grown in his walk with God since then. Again, just plain cool.

Set List this morning:
1. Not to Us by Chris Tomlin
2. Everlasting God by Benton Brown
3. Amazed by Lincoln Brewster
4. Son of God by Starfield
5. [Special led by Eliana] Lead me To the Cross by Brooke Fraser of Hillsong
-Eliana knocked this song out of the park!!!

Tonight at 6:30pm is our final RPCC launch team meeting. Ladies and gentlemen we are in the final stretch of our 'building'/'launch' stage! What a journey! Next Sunday is a pool party and then Sept 7th we're on location at Rio Vista M.S. for Kidstuf rehearsal before going live with Kidstuf on Sept 14th. Between now and October 5th I need to gather some pro musicians for the band, get our 'turbo' groups firing on all cylanders, keep the books up to date and help fundraise $115,000. We need that amount by the end of the year just to break even. I'm trusting that money will come through but wow that can be an intimidating amount! If you have a moment, throw up a quick prayer and even consider contributing while you pray. Thanks!

I've got to meet a friend/coach for a 4 mile run in the hills above Ventura before launch team meeting this afternoon. This guy is gonna whip my butt!!! Hope I survive!

River Park Community Church needs your help!

Do you have too much money on your hands right now? :) I've got a great idea for it! Even if you don't have too much money, I've got a great idea for you too! It's an investment that will outlast you, that will make a difference in people's lives that you'll probably never meet! (If you don't go to RPCC that is.)

You'll also get a tax receipt, oh yea, I know I've got your attention now. River Park Community Church needs to raise a bunch of money so the team I'm on can work full time in this new work of God. Your gifts will get us through these early times before we become self-supporting. Even if you don't give, I'll still be serving at RPCC but I'll have to do it a little less frequently as I'll have to get a job at Trader Joe's or Costco or ...?

Find out a bit more by reading our Lead Communicator's post... he explains this much better than me, that's why I'm not the Lead Communicator. :)

You can find out about how to give here.

Thanks for your generosity!