This past weekend we celebrated our church's 25th Anniversary! On New Year's Eve at midnight in 1984, a group of 20-somethings silently mouthed exclamations and jumped around in slow-motion in Daniel & Pamela's living room to celebrate the launch of our church. After all, the kids were sleeping (one of whom was my sweet Hilary)!
In January, 1998 I arrived in Aptos on my motorcycle in the middle of a rainstorm. Although I had no thought of attending church, several guys who came to church here kept calling me, inviting me, and including me in their lives. Those friendships changed my life. Never in a million years could Daniel Brown have impacted my life back then. I had grown up in church and purposefully rejected most of what I had experienced. But I couldn't avoid those friendly guys.
If there's one thing that makes this place unique, it's this: we tenaciously believe and teach that ministry isn't a profession, it's a lifestyle. It's not something for a reserved few, it's something we are all specially created by God to do. Our goal is not to use people to build a bigger church, but to use church as a tool to raise up bigger people (who will go and impact other people). People like that got ahold of me. Now my goal is to help raise up people who will do the same for others.
At the outset of this new season in the life our church, I find myself freshly eager to invest my life into this new generation of Coastlanders -- people who will learn how to personally include, invest in, and transform the lives of other rain-drenched motorcyclists.
If you missed this past weekend's services, I think you'd enjoy the video. Daniel, Pamela, Hilary and I were all talking and laughing about our church's history, culture, and future. From the Coastlands' homepage, click on "Media" and then "Video."
