What I am doing now...

As many of you know, I resigned as a pastor in the United Methodist Church effective June 16th of this year. While I absolutely loved being a pastor and I loved the churches that I served, I felt a calling from God to leave to pursue other interests. Specifically, I felt a calling for intentional evangelism, outreach, and teaching to the unchurched persons in our hometown who were not being ministered to by existing churches.

Thus, my wife and I created a new ministry called "Koinonia." "Koinonia" is the Greek word used in the New Testament for "fellowship," which we felt was an apt description of where we felt God was calling us. Our goal is conversation and fellowship with those who feel isolated and uncomfortable in formal church settings. Our hope is that through our ministry we might help these people become closer to God and eventually become part of an active and vibrant church.

Our approach is three-fold:

First, since we came to realize that many of my wife's clients at her Doggy Daycare were unchurched and unwilling to go to church without their dogs, we created a worship service on Sunday nights called "Woof and Worship," where people can bring their pets with them to a seeker-sensitive worship service.

Second, we offer more in-depth Bible studies in three locations, studying through the Bible with a verse-by-verse exegetical approach, tailored to the various participant's needs.

Finally, we are trying to get our friends to participate in servant evangelism and outreach to the community because we firmly believe that faith without feet is, as James put it, "dead." By encouraging our friends to get out and exercise their faith, it is our hopes that it becomes real for them as they see God minister through them and change hearts and transform lives.

This is our goal and mission as we see it, and it is for this reason that we have parted from the Methodist Church. As time passes, I will try to continue to update any readers of this blog on what we are doing and how things are going. You can also find us on Facebook by clicking here.

If anyone is in the Valdosta, Georgia, area and wants to participate or to help in any way, please send me an e-mail at: gwlee2 at bellsouth.net.