This week in the life of The Summit has been an exciting time even though I was on vacation. Our second campus is slated to launch on September 7, 2008 in the Regal Theater (located at 1089 Interstate Parkway in the Akron/Green area) and there has been much progress over the last few days. I have to give a big shout out to Neal Wheeler, our Outreach Pastor, who has done a ton of work behind the scenes. This week he signed the lease for the theater and got many of the necessary details under way. He and a few guys went to the theater today to scope out some measurements and get a better idea of what we will need to make this thing work. I guess what I am saying is that we are officially “in.” Our official launch is in five months and there is so much to do. My main responsibility has been to put together a launch team. Our senior pastor has graciously allowed me to take 25-30 of our wonderful members to help get this thing off the ground. Right now, we have almost 20 people who have committed the next year to reaching out to the community of Green. As I have been sitting down with each person and explaining to them our vision, it has been amazing to see their reaction. Most of them responded with anticipation of what God could do through a group of people who were willing to give their time, abilities, and plans to Him. I must say that this has done my heart good! I’ve been equally enthused about the possibility of communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ and His life-giving power to those in this community. I’ve been praying for a great move of God within the people of Green/Akron and I know, with His help, much will be done for His glory. Our goal is to draw the attention of others to God’s mercy and cause them to live life according to His teachings. There may also be some people reading this blog who are confused or uninformed about the future plans for Canton Baptist Temple. In brief, we have decided that church is not about a building, but about people so we have purposely chosen to reach out beyond our current city. Currently, our main campus is located in Canton, OH and boasts approximately 1,400 weekly attendees and will remain faithful to reaching our area with the gospel. However, for several years we have been concerned about the growing number of un-churched people in the community right beside us. With almost 300,000 un-churched people in Summit County, we believe that we have a responsibility to tell them the truth about Jesus Christ. About a year ago, Pastor Frazier and I discussed the possibility of me becoming the campus pastor of a second branch of our church in Green. Having worked in High School Ministry at Canton Baptist Temple for 9 years, I felt like it was time for a change, so I said “yes.” At 33 years old, I feel like this is one of the biggest risks of my life, but I figured that if I got to the end of my life and had never taken a risk for God, than my life wasn’t worth living. So, the trek to the summit has begun. Even though we have taken many steps of faith thus far, I know there will be many more ahead.