Due to current lockdown restrictions today we had to live stream church from what has Jokingly been called studio 2 Gough Towers , also known as our living room. However this morning I resisted an urge to put a blue plaque on the wall.
You see it was also in this room that six years ago, blue sky church was born. I had never ever planned to plant a church, in fact it was very much the last thing I ever wanted to do, I always looked on church planters with a mix of admiration and bewilderment. Why anyone would want to do anything so crazy and hard was beyond me. In fact it’s hard enough to run and pastor a church let alone start one from scratch.
If truth be told I don’t think I even wanted to be a senior pastor, I enjoyed for many years being a number 2 , someone who cheers and indeed often leads from the sidelines. Being the main guy puts you in the spotlight and personally I find that uncomfortable, contrary to how things can appear I am quite shy, introverted. I get nervous in groups, especially small groups so the thought of being a senior pastor especially of a fledgling church was both scary and undesirable to me.
It is fair to say the summer before we started Blue Sky Church was one of the most difficult I had ever been through, we had recently been through the bereavements of my parents (and not long before that Debs dad) we also went through two very tough situations in church almost one after another, we were hurting as a family. The last thing I wanted to do was get involved in anything to do with church if things be known.
I also however knew that I couldn’t walk away, so I took some advice from an exceptionally wise Aussie I know ( Mr Neil Elloitt take a bow) and we went on a bit of a sabbatical visiting friends around the country. However we soon found we had a bit of an entourage with us, we managed to pick up a number of waifs and strays that we started a bible group on a Thursday night which soon grew to Sunday mornings in studio two. Before two long gough towers had grow too small and we were on the lookout for somewhere to call home. In January we moved into the Mitchell Arts Centre and the rest as they say is History.
I guess my confession is not being a natural church planter and knowing that most church plants don’t last a year, I am flabbergasted we are not only still here but we continue to thrive. ( I know , I know where is my faith!). It’s been tough especially with some of the issues we have faced with Debs illness and disability but we are still going strong. The whole ethos of the church is to be a church of second chances , a church that builds people up and sends them out and praise God I feel we have achieved that.
So a big thank you to everyone at Blue Sky church for making it what it is, for team Gough, Paul and Gill for there support , Steve and Angie for the coffee and advice , Marion and Jacqui for keeping me fed! , Mark for the graphics , all at the Mitch.
Also a big thank you for guys who have helped us along the way Steve Russell, Simon & Karen , Phil Pye, Geoff Pickup, Haydn & Laura Jefferies, Kirk McAtear, Rob and Jen, David L’Herroux, Danny Flynn, Dave & Faith, Issac & Ester, Oli , Dave and Lynn, Samuel Ball, Anthony, Brian and Sarah, all the guys from Walk & the YMCA. and everyone else who has been a big part of all things Blue sky. It’s a privilege and honour to serve you all.