In a couple of months, Anthony Gratto is stepping out from the staff team at Oak Leaf Church and headed to Gainesville, Florida to start a new church.

Anthony and Carrie moved to Paulding County a few years ago to start a church, and through Westridge, got connected with us. He’s been our Executive Pastor for the last couple of years.  He’ll move to Florida this summer and will launch Axiom Church next year. Anthony and I have been talking about this for a little while, and while we’re sad to see him leave, we’re excited about there finally being at least one decent thing in Gainesville, Florida.

We’re going to support Anthony and Carrie and they aren’t leaving as much as they are being sent.  In fact, if you want to up and move to Florida, you should go be a part of their launch team.  Check out Anthony’s story on his blog, and I’ll let you know about some ways that you can pray for and support Anthony and Axiom church in the coming weeks and months.

As a twelve-year student ministry veteran and now a Lead Pastor of a growing church, I’m increasingly concerned about the state of students and the church.  You’ve heard the statistic…80-90% of Christian teenagers are not involved in church five years after graduation.

I’m convinced this is largely due to the fact that these students were not involved in a church in the first place….they were involved in a youth group, and that’s not the same thing.

Most churches have programs for children, programs for adults and programs for teenagers.  By far, the biggest cylo of all church ministries is the youth ministry.  We have our own services, groups, events, mission trips, etc.  Most of the time, students that DO attend church are forced to by their parents.  The youth group is much more fun.

So when these teeangers graduate from high school, they can never seem to find a church that’s like their old church.  That’s because their old church wasn’t a church…it was a youth group.

As a Lead Pastor, I’m constantly asking myself why we do what we do.  Consider our mid-week students for students.  There is worship and teaching, two things that we already do at our weekend services.  Why do we make it more comfortable or appropriate for students to attend the student service, rather than one of our weekend services. For us, we even meet in the same place, and the band and the speaker are often the same.

What if every teenager in our church leveraged their influence with elementary children – who think teenagers are coolest people on the planet? (Just ask Hannah Montana, a 16 year old who is more famous than anyone among elementary children).  What if students served somewhere, instead of sat through another church service?  What if our weekend service was so relevalt to the lives of teenagers that people parents didn’t feel the need for a secondary service?  What if we connected teenagers to their church and not to a ministry in the church?  What if student ministry was just students doing ministry?

I don’t have all the answers, and I’m actually pretty proud of what we’re doing with students at Fuel.  But like EVERY other ministry in our church, I’m constantly asking WHY.

Remember when I called a tattoo artist out of the blue and asked him to come give a tattoo on stage?  Watch this short video of John’s story.  It’s why we do what we do.

Here’s a few things that are on the horizon at Oak Leaf Church.

#1 – God at the Movies 3. In July, we’re doing this series again. This year, the movies are Taken, Gran Torino, Yes Man and Horton Hears a Who. After that series, we’re studying the life of Abraham from the Old Testament (the guy with many sons). Then a series on grace, followed by a series on the Song of Solomon.

#2 – Oak Leaf University is coming in July. Classes on theology, the bible, parenting, finances, and starting point. 4 weeks long, designed to help you grow in your faith.  Tuesday nights.

#3 – Fuel is alive and well. Amazing things are happening with our student ministry, and Fuel is settling in at the House of Rock. 7pm on Wednesdays throughout the summer.

#4 – Saturday nights at the House of Rock. This is my new favorite service. 6pm on Saturday. Not only will you be the first to see what happens, you’ll free up space for guests on Sunday morning.

#5 – The Coffee Bar opens to the public sometime during the first two weeks of June. Amazing coffee, fountain drinks, and free wi-fi for the public on Monday – Saturday.

From the Oak Leaf Church Group on Facebook…

“Going to an Oak Leaf service is liking going to see a stand up comedian opened up by a totally rockin’ band!!!”

Love it. For what it’s worth, I do believe humor is a vital part of a sermon. The best messages keep people engaged, and humor is one of the best forms of engagement.

Anyway, how would you describe Oak Leaf Church?

I’ve been in my fair share of environments where truth was valued, but it was presented in a dry, boring, and useless manner.  Beacuse of that, a lot of churches have pushed back from anything information based citing the mantra “information doesn’t always lead to transformation.”

I agree.

But information can be the starting point, and information is not all bad.  Think about it…a sermon is mostly information.  But good sermons are filled with Biblical content, sprinkled with stories and humor, and lead to application.  We say that we want to “teach for life change” around here.  We’re not teaching so  you know facts…we’re teaching so that you can do something.

With this in mind, we’re rolling out something called Oak Leaf Univsersity.  These short-term classes are information based, but it’s information rooted in transformation.  They are designed to help you go from where you are to where God wants you to be.  We’re going to present them with passion, creativity and humor, not like a car manual.

I think it’s important for Christians to know theology…things like the nature of God, salvation, the trinity, sancfitication, and redemption.  We need to understand those words, not be scared of them.  I think it’s helpful for Christians to know church history…knowing where we’ve been, the mistakes we’ve made and to who we owe so much.  I think we need to study various books of the Bible at a little deeper level…devoting a little more time than we usually have on a Sunday morning.

So for four weeks in July, we’re offering Oak Leaf University.  5 different classes.  Childcare and materials provided.  Teacher-based like a good college class, not discussion oriented like Journey Groups.  If you’re ready to go to the next level, and learn some important truth that can lead to a deeper understanding of your faith, come join us.

Next to the last weekend in the Questions series, and we talked about what the Bible says about divorce.  Marriage was God’s idea…divorce was man’s idea.  The divorce rate has skyrocketed in the last 50 years, but just because something is normal doesn’t mean it’s best.  God’s take on the subject is that what He’s brought together, you shouldn’t take a part.  If you’ve fallen out of love, then work at falling back in love.  If you’ve got irreconcilable differences, remember that you were irreconcilable to God before He saved you.

Very cool to hear so many stories from first time guests, and people who said today’s message was just for them.  I love it when God does those kind of things.

Here’s some other thoughts from the weekend.

• More than a dozen people prayed to receive Christ and decided to follow Jesus.  That’s more than 80 people in the last 10 days, and a huge cause for celebration!  Right at 1,000 people at church today.
• Amy Winkles from Athens helped lead worship.  I’ll be honest…I usually don’t like female worship leaders, but Amy rocks.  We’ll definitely invite her back!
• Loved the songs…from the rockin’ version of Mighty to Save to Lift High to the brand new Glory to God.
• Loving our Saturday night service…the crowd, the vibe, everything.  If you’re not coming on Saturday, you really should!  6pm.  If you’re a guy, you can bring your date!
• Loving The Coffee Bar and the opportunity that people have to connect.  By the way, we’re working on our Health Inspection stuff and pretty soon, we’ll be open to the public.
• Brad is doing a great job with sound and lights in the building.  We’ve only had two weeks to break it in, and when he gets done with it, it’s going to be the best sounding building in town.  I think he’s adding a drum shield so Kyle our rad drummer.
• All seven of the AC units are now working properly, so I was actually cold on the stage for the first time ever.  You might need to bring a fan or a jacket to Oak Leaf Church…we like to keep things fresh.
• Sunday at 11:15 is still packed…we brought every chair we own.  If you’re coming to that service, I need you to switch to one of the other ones to leave room for guests.  Really…I’m trying to delay starting a fourth service for a little bit longer.  Please help!
• I’m hearing some good things coming down the pipe from family ministry for the summer and fall.  It’s going to be good.
• Excited that Oak Leaf University is starting in July.  Five different classes that last 4 weeks each on several Biblical topics.  Sign up begins in the next week or so.

I’m really excited about something that is coming to Oak Leaf Church this July. We’re calling it Oak Leaf University.

It’s four-different classes with four-different topics. It’s some next-level, inspired by college kind of stuff. All the classes will meet at the House of Rock on Tuesday night, and materials and childcare will be included. The classes last just 4 weeks and will help you go to the next level in your faith.

In a few days, we’ll release the schedule and the course descriptions. I can tell you that we will have an introduction to the Bible class, a class on theology (I’m teaching that one), one on parenting, and one on finances. The first semester is in July and you’ll be able to register online next week.

In the future, we’ll roll out other classes on books of the Bible, church history, and other Biblical topics.

That’s been a long time coming. See you there.

We’re having a church service at the House of Rock tomorrow night!  Amazing to see how a building has been transformed, and I cannot wait for tomorrow night’s service at 6pm.  In the past few days, here’s just a bit of the craziness that has gone down.

• Brad Nash and his crew has installed a killer sound system, a ton of lights and two video screens.  I think every room is connected to every other room by Cat-5 cable “just in case”
• We set up 350 chairs and another 50 seats at hi-top bar tables.  That’s about 400 seats for adults, and enough kids space to support it.  We do plan on making the entire facility available for outside use.
• We moved our offices from rented space into all kinds of nooks and crannies in this building.  There isn’t a foot of unused space.
• Jonathan and his family ministry people have made trips to Ikea, Target, Babies R Us and who knows how many other stores getting kids equipment.  His people have painted and decorated all the kids rooms and it’s going to look great.
• We’ve set up two wireless networks…a public one for the Coffee Shop and a private, secured one for the internal stuff.
• We’ve installed sheet metal all over the building for a bit of an industrial look.
• Bruce made a killer bar for the coffee shop out of 150-year-old reclaimed wood.  The Coffee Bar will be one of the coolest parts of this space…they will have coffee that’s higher quality and fresher than Starbucks, but will also serve fountain cokes.  That’s a caffeine junkies dream!
• We triple-soundproofed the wall between the elementary theater and the adult service.
• To get up to code, we have a talking fire alarm system, strobe lights, fire-rated doors.  We also replaced the entire electrical system, added 3 more AC units (for a total of 7), carpeted everything, and repainted.
• We created a conference room adjacent to the coffee shop so we could have our meetings, but we will make it available to outside groups for meetings, Bible studies, etc. at no charge.
• Volunteers have painted, cleaned, hung stuff, built stuff, put together stuff, hooked up stuff, planted stuff, and moved stuff.  Not to mention giving the money to make this project possible.  There ain’t no volunteer like an Oak Leaf Volunteer.
• We strategically left a few things in the building from the original House of Rock, including the dancer pole in the middle of the building.  I hope it always reminds us that this is a building and not a church.

Join us Saturday night at 6pm, or on Sunday morning at 9:30 or 11:15 as we continue the Questions series talking about the problem of suffering. All three services will be identical.  Come early so you can check in your kids and find their rooms.  Hang out afterwards in The Coffee Bar.  It’s going to be a great weekend.

I remember driving past the House of Rock nightclub a year and a half ago and praying that God would allow us to get the space.  Before it shut down, I actually went in to talk to the people about just renting it on Sundays.  It closed a couple of weeks later.  We watched the price fall and bought it last August.

We’ve been renovating for several months, and we’re set to open this weekend with a Saturday night service and two more on Sunday morning. I’m excited about meeting in this space and about the future of Oak Leaf Church.

This building isn’t the end-all for us…it’s honestly a middle step.  But with creative service times and amazing volunteers, I believe we can grow to 2,000 people in this space.  Only God knows what the future holds, and I assure you that on my craziest day, God’s vision is even bigger.

Join me Saturday night at 6pm or Sunday morning at 9:30 or 11:15 as we continue the Questions series in the House of Rock.

Opening Weekend at the House of Rock is May 9-10, and we’re adding a Saturday night service to our weekend.  Here’s just a few reasons why I’m excited about Oak Leaf on Saturday night and why I think you’ll like it too.

#1 – 6pm is a great time if you’ve got kids. Way easier to get them ready and out the door.

#2 – You can go out for dinner or catch a movie or hang out in The Coffee Bar after the service.

#3 – Chick-Fil-A is finally open after church.

#4 – You can sleep in, go to Cracker Barrel or hit up the lake on Sunday.

#5 – You could invite people that work on Sunday or can’t normally make a Sunday morning service.

#6 – You will free up seats on Sunday for those who need to hear about Jesus.

Jonathan is doing a great job as our family pastor.  He’s also doing smart things like featuring the pastor’s daughter in a video.  Actually, he does this with lots of other people too.  For two months practice on iMovie, he does a pretty job.  And it’s a creative and fun way to introduce elementary children to the environment each week.  Take a look…

Here’s a couple of Oak Leaf desktops to spruce up your computer.  One is our mission statement.  The other is our core values.