The only news is big news, that Paradigm is going on pause for at least a year to regroup a plan for ministry in Seattle. 

 

To be honest with you, this transition comes after a relationship with our major funding group, which had been tenuous for quite awhile, came to a screeching halt in April. There were some differences in what the two sides of our conversation considered "success" for ministry, which reflects, on a larger scale, a difference in understanding what God is looking to do in our world. We wish our funding group peace and love going forward.

 

We are not the first church planters to end up in this situation, nor will be the last. The Church is accustomed to having money and power. A lot of church plants are created or helped out under the expectation that, after some amount of time, there will be a "return" on the initial "investment," as people start filling seats and putting their money in an offering plate. Church planters, then, feel the external pressure to have the right statistics. It's easy to get caught up in that type of thing. In the end, it is better to lack a building and a budget than it is to feel the external pressures to produce the right stats.

 

We've learned some important theological lessons during the turmoil of the past few months. Even when the God of the Universe desires for a situation to go in a certain way, we as people are involved in God's activity and can affect the Kingdom with our obedience or neglect for God's leading. God does not always stop us from being wronged, nor does God stop us from taking actions that negatively affect the Kingdom. Our existence is beautifully non-robotic that way, which is a good thing, even when it allows us to experience pain.

 

That's not to say God is helpless in our world; it's just that our God uses power in the right way — not like the rulers of this world, or the cold and deterministic deities imagined by the ancient philosophers. Our God is not in the business of coercion and force, but creativity and reclamation. God doesn't always keep people from breaking things, but He does make all things new.

 

So that's what we're seeing happen in our situation: God is making all things new, sending new help and good friends to partner with us in seeing the Way of Jesus taught and explored in Seattle. And our hearts are being filled with new ideas to see that come about.

 

Which is why we need a breather.

 

Having a healthy ministry doesn't require budgets and paid staff and meeting space. Those things aren't evil in and of themselves; they're just not absolutely necessary for bringing about the Kingdom of God. So we're praying and thinking through what types of things we can do in ministry without the funding we once had.

 

This break also allows us to rest and mend after experiencing some fatigue over the past few years. Hopefully when we return to Paradigm we are coming back as people who are experiencing health and wholeness throughout our lives, leading a good Paradigm story by living good stories in our personal lives.

 

Check back at the website every now and then to see if there are updates on when things are restarting. 

 

Our prayer for you in the meanwhile is an echo of Jesus' prayer during the Sermon on the Mount: May the Kingdom of God arrive and break through all the brokenness and corruption we create and experience. And may God's plan begin to happen clearly in and around you the way that it already does in heaven.