anatomy of a midwest baptism

each year ginghamsburg holds a huge outdoor picnic and baptism on the lawn. classes are held ahead of time and children, women and men are invited to seal their deal with God in the presence of family and friends. today’s baptism was amazing… but not without challenge - take a photo journey through the anatomy of a midwest baptism...

how to have a weekend baptism in a place formerly known as a cornfield?

thursday: blow-up a swimming pool wha-la!

friday: the lawn guy ON MISSION

Chad A.K.A. "visionary designer"

4:30 pm saturday - a pop-up storm wipes out the big top, tables, chairs, counters, glass centerpieces and electrical cords- one mangled memory of what was…

8:30 p.m. - rebuilding begins with a NEW tent… (no photo)

sunday morning – resurrection

class up that pool!

the tables are set...

got towels?


blues brothers baptizers


87 jesus-followers take the plunge of faith


telling their stories


a God moment


powerful steps of faith


prayer huddle


“our poppy dunks people”

Baptism and Picnic On the Lawn always reminds us of who we are and Whose we are. It's emotional and spiritual -and the food was great! Good CLEAN fun.

worship redefined

today under our new patio sun shades I had a conversation with mike s. about his upcoming message from mark’s gospel- loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. i really like the thought that there are different ways we all express our love for God… which leads me to this great group of people i know who seriously show their love to God in tangible ways…

tonight’s makeover was mostly inside the coffee shop. we found a couple of free booths in downtown dayton at a restaurant supply place that fit in this nook perfectly. while the guys installed the booths the women painted furniture and gave opinions for free.

i’m fairly jazzed at the results, especially when i remember the price tag for the booth project- less than $25.

everyone worked until nearly 11 p.m. despite day jobs in the morning. these servants were cheerful as they actively expressed their love to God in the best way they knew on a hot thursday evening in july. i’d call that worship- redefined.

the new booths are fierce! this will be new space where students and adults can connect in conversation… and God will be in that place.

the patio project

for the last two evenings our ginghamsburg makeover team has joined together for work nights at the avenue, our student activity center. outside the coffee shop is a large paved patio, potentially one of the most beautiful “green spaces” on our entire campus. the only problem is that out here in the cornfields there is no protection from the sun, wind and rain. in order to maximize the use of the patio for cell groups, friendship coffee times and small classes we needed something overhead to shield from the bright sun and occasional light rain.

we found “sun shades” in a catalog (google that phrase if you’re interested) and ordered ourselves 4- 16’ triangular shades and set out to install them, staggered in such a way as to create an interesting design. if this sounds easy, please hear me, it was not. the patio project took 50’ of chain, 12 hours of sweat, 8 bags of cement, 6 really deep post-holes, 5 trips to menard’s, and many patient, problem-solving servants…with a few laughs thrown here and there.

i’m always tempting to get discouraged in the midst of a difficult project and yet, earlier this week oswald chambers reminded me that… "if we are going to live as disciples of jesus, we have to remember that all noble things are difficult. the christian life is gloriously difficult, but the difficulty of it does not make us faint and cave in, it rouses us up to overcome."

there is no such thing as secular work and sacred work. we must view all work as sacred, missional, and connecting back to the purpose to which God has called us. so we persevere, and encourage one another forward.

today the breeze is blowing and the sun is hot but it’s nice there in the shade on the patio of the Avenue. our hope is that we’ve earned yet another space for connection and community on the ginghamsburg campus. next mission goal: coffee shop makeover. stay tuned…

can you take me higher…

last evening at 11:52 p.m. servants from our ginghamsburg makeover team completed a laborious albeit non-glamorous project in the coffee show “tower” of the AVENUE, our student activity building. when constructed nearly ten years ago, the tower hadn’t been intended for classroom or coffee shop space. it was going to be a video room for students to hang out and play games.

because we are maxing out all of our campus spaces, we now use this coffee shop area as a classroom and meeting space nearly every day of the week. nine huge, high windows were creating a bake-oven effect and the sunlight was unbearable for daytime meetings.

we did a little search and found window-darkening tint online, purchased a gigantic roll, and spent the last two evenings trying to become experts at cutting, aligning and applying it to the windows 30’ up. the guys needed to use the lift because, well, they’re guys. it was the right thing to do, however, and after much sweat and consternation the room is now much more usable space.

i feel called to the stewardship of space – to maximize the use of all our facilities. it’s a weird calling, however, and I don’t meet many people who feel as passionately as I do about spaces and design. one new kindred spirit is Rachel Cain, seen here in a photo from last night. she came to our work night, she stenciled, she left. its awesome to have another servant on the team!