Steve Flanigan
Senior Pastor, Hope Center
I love Nashville, Tennessee! From the first time my wife, Sandy, and I drove through the area, scoping out the land to find a place to live and where our kids would go to school, we fell in love with this place. But I think the biggest reason that we love Nashville is because of our call from the Lord to move here.
Senior Pastor, Hope Center
615-279-9466
I love Nashville, Tennessee! From the first time my wife, Sandy, and I drove through the area, scoping out the land to find a place to live and where our kids would go to school, we fell in love with this place. But I think the biggest reason that we love Nashville is because of our call from the Lord to move here.
Nashville came as quite a culture shock. After living in Hollywood, one of the armpits of the nation with the traffic jams, smog, and big city syndrome where nobody says "hello" or looks you in the eye; well, it was a pleasant surprise to be in an area where people would actually talk to you and seemed to be concerned about your well being.
But we soon found that there were, just as in any area of the world, some serious spiritual problems. The "southern hospitality" many times was an inch deep & a mile wide. And the racial prejudice really hit us hard. In L.A., everything you do is multi-racial. But it's different here.
As the Lord led us, we felt moved to plant a truly multi-racial congregation that would reflect what heaven might be like- every tongue & every nation. We call our local church family Hope Center on 12th Ave, just south of the Edgehill projects. It's a beautiful picture of Black, Hispanic, Asian & white people worshiping together, loving and serving one another as we grow deeper in relationship with Christ & each other.
The Operation Andrew Group came at the perfect time. With "hearts for" and a "call to" the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-19), they have created an atmosphere of mutual respect between pastors of different denominations, different size congregations, different styles & different ethnicities! Wow, what a breath of fresh air! This is what we are all called to, but it sometimes takes a "movement" to get some of us to move. God has done a powerful work here in just a few short years through Charles McGowan & his team ... and it's only just begun!
The vision for the Middle Tennessee area pastors to come together & change our world has given the rest of us a greater drive to get on with Kingdom building rather than just focusing on our little six square feet of life. I've grown in deeper relationship with other pastors because of various OAG events such as the Lunches to Learn, Honors Banquets, and Community Outreach opportunities- what I call "excuses to get together".
The vision for the Middle Tennessee area pastors to come together & change our world has given the rest of us a greater drive to get on with Kingdom building rather than just focusing on our little six square feet of life. I've grown in deeper relationship with other pastors because of various OAG events such as the Lunches to Learn, Honors Banquets, and Community Outreach opportunities- what I call "excuses to get together".
I'm honored to be a part of this timely organization, no- this organism, this living breathing part of the Body of Christ, and I encourage all to get on the bus, get in the boat, be a part of the team... it's a movement! Get ready to change the world! Look out Nashville, the Church is on the rise!
No comments:
Post a Comment