Scott Harris

Here’s the video of Terry Bratsch that we used in our Easter Services…

On an early Thursday morning last June, I told the Elders of The Rock that we would be stepping down as pastor to follow God’s will for our life and ministry.

Other than when we told our daughters and I proposed to Michelle, I’ve never been so anxious. Because I think I knew the shock that was to come.

The moment I announced the news is the moment all the oxygen left the room. One guy thought I was joking and said a few choice words but then we all just sat there. Stunned. I teared up.

Silence.

The point of this post is not the emotional climate of that meeting but what happened next. You see, The Rock is a portable church…gathers on Sunday’s in a High School. Most of you know the drill, one 24 ft. cargo trailer and another 14 ft. cargo van pull up at 7am and Roadies for Jesus offload and set-up everything.

EVERYTHING!

The Rock doesn’t own any major assets. No building, steeple, swing set, toilet…nothing except what lives in the trailer, truck and a few leased offices. So the only thing they had to protect, when confronted with the reality that their founder was leaving, was their mission. Was it worth the pain?

If we’re honest, what we fear losing keeps us moving forward. For a local congregation that too often is their building, property, carpets and their image.

But Jesus calls us to whole different set of criteria: People. Period.

I am so proud of the Elders of The Rock for choosing to pay the price to keep the mission of Jesus first as they worked through a very painful period in this awesome church. These guys (and their families) will probably never know the Kingdom impact their hard work will have.

Announcing the decision of our resignation to the The Rock Church was difficult.

But it was not nearly as difficult as telling the individuals that we chose to tell the week before. I know I run the risk with this post of hurting the feelings of those we didn’t tell but the truth is that we couldn’t personally meet with everyone. But there were a few folks that deserved to hear it from us with the intimacy that only a tearful explanation can offer.

I dreaded each and every meeting. It was like a brake up and I/we felt horrible each and every time. At the end of the week I literally felt as if I’d gone 5 rounds in the octagon.

I’m not sure if there’s much of a lesson here other than this: sometimes God’s peace doesn’t feel very peaceful.

For what it’s worth the most difficult conversation Michelle and I had was with our daughters. Never want to do that again!

I’ve been through some rough seasons in ministry. From church splits, sudden departures of senior leadership, suicides, divorces…tough stuff!

But I’d have to say that personally, the most difficult season in ministry was when my wife and I wrestled with and ultimately decided to step away from the church we started and pastored for nearly a decade.

It’s now been over 7 months since our final Sunday at The Rock Church. I’ve wanted to post some reflections for a while now but have felt like it was a little too early. But it’s time.

So this week I’ll be revealing a little each day on lessons I learned in my transition.

I take my blog seriously. It’s my little piece of real estate in the shrinking WWW. In fact, I owned “ScottHarris.org” for at least 3 or 4 years before I ever started to use it and don’t tell my family but I own their names as well (you should own yours if it’s still available).

But…I never plan to sell ads or make money off it and I don’t want to be known as a blogger.

I have no desire to be that guy who gets invited to the conference to blog about what the speakers say, whose there and what their wearing.

My focus is making the waves. A difference in people’s lives through local church leadership/multiplication and helping to empower the generation coming behind me.

Should I ever find myself with a platform to influence then I would be honored. But this blog is not my “ticket in” but a “record of”.