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Something new...sweat baby, sweat!

The Gathering is what we call our Wednesday night programming for adults, youth, and children at Christ Church International.  We just introduced a new class called, CORE FITNESS. When I teach the Core Fitness class I focus our training on: Pilates, Tae Bo, and Strength Training (Hour and half workout).  We literally have people from all ages (seniors, 20's, 30's, and 40's) that attend.  It's great!   

Visiting #25

Since I am on vacation, I took the opportunity to visit Sanctuary Covenant Church in North Minneapolis.  Sanctuary was voted #25 on Outreach Magazine's Top 25 Most Innovative Churches (previous post). Sanctuary is an multi-ethnic, urban, relevant, (innovative), Christ-centered community (WHEW!).   

What I experienced:

* It is truly a multi-cultural church (Ethnic groups represented: Many African-Americans, quite a few Caucasians, Asian-Americans, and Latinos).

* Diverse Leadership (African-American pastor, and every other culture was represented in some form of leadership).

* Great Vibe in Worship! (Mix of gospel, jazz, soulful praise - Hip-Hop Sunday is the following week).

* I had a chance to hang with some old homeboyz - Peter Shu (Jazz Musician Extraordinare) and his dad (Dr. Thomas Shu)  and Luke Tillman (Barber Extraordinare). 

* Packed House!!! Great energy in the crowd!!!

* Bummed Out - Pastor E. Smith didn't preach! 

TOP 25

Outreach Magazine’s Annual Top 25 Most Innovative Churches list came out.  This the list of America's Most Innovative Churches and "Rising Stars" of 2008:

1. LifeChurch.tv, Edmond, OK, Craig Groeschel   
2. Mars Hill Church, Seattle, WA, Mark Driscoll   
3. Granger Community Church, Granger, IN, Mark Beeson   
4. Flamingo Road Church, Cooper City, FL, Troy Gramling   
5. Seacoast Church, Mount Pleasant, SC, Greg Surratt   
6. Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, CA, Rick Warren   
7. Mosaic Church, Los Angeles, CA, Erwin McManus   
8. Fellowship Church, Grapevine, TX, Ed Young   
9. North Point Community Church, Alpharetta, GA, Andy Stanley   
10. Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, IL, Bill Hybels   
11. National Community Church, Washington, DC, Mark Batterson   
12. NewSpring Church, Anderson, SC, Perry Noble   
13. Community Christian Church, Naperville, IL, Dave Ferguson   
14. Elevation Church, Charlotte, SC, Steven Furtick   
15. Healing Place Church, Baton Rouge, LA, Dino Rizzo   
16. North Coast Church, Vista, CA, Larry Osborne   
17. NorthWood Church, Keller, TX, Bob Roberts   
18. NewSong Church, Irvine, CA, Dave Gibbons   
19. New Hope Christian Fellowship, Honolulu, HI, Wayne Cordeiro   
20. Redeemer Presbyterian Church, New York, NY, Tim Keller   
21. Crossover Church, Tampa, FL, Tommy Kyllonen    
22. Perimeter Church, Duluth, GA, Randy Pope   
23. Mars Hill, Grandville, MI, Rob Bell   
24. The Orchard Church Community, Aurora, IL, Scott Hodge   
25. The Sanctuary Covenant Church, Minneapolis, MN, Efrem Smith

What I love about the list:

1. It is great to hear the words "innovative" and "church" in the same sentence!

2. I love seeing my HOMEBOY (SCOTT HODGE) and The Orchard in the top 25.  Scott is a great guy, hard-working, innovative as HECK, risk taker, and just a d*** good leader!  Scott, I love ya bro - keep doing what God's called you to do.

3. Crossover Church is doing some great things.  They have a true/authentic Hip-Hop Vibe and they are truly a model in urban outreach and innovation.

4. Craig at #1 - LifeChurch.tv - it reeks of innovation.

5. Sanctuary Covenant Church - Pastor Smith is representin' Minneapolis!  There is such a spiritual buzz around Minneapolis because of what God is doing at Sanctuary.

What bothers me aboout the list:

1. How does only 4-5 ethnic or multi-cultural churches make it into Outreach Magazine's top 25?  I can only wonder how much time, energy, and intentionality is put into connecting, visiting, and investigating ethnic churches before putting this list out.  Is the team who puts this list out culturally diverse? or is it ONCE again just a bunch of WHITE GUYS making the decisions? Just a thought! - - - The cultural division that still exists in the Christian community when it comes to culture/ethnic/race its just so great...and "WE" in the body of Christ just do enough to tear down these walls.