How often does someone get to play a role in launching a church that could see up to 2,000 people attending the first weekend? And more importantly, bring the message of Christ to people who are lost, hurting and wandering through life without purpose?

It’s overwhelming—and scary at times—but we obediently follow where God is leading. Some days I wonder how we are ever going to open by September,  but those thoughts are often followed by a day where God provides just the right volunteer leader, a potential staff candidate or I come across someone who needs to know Christ, and I’m reminded of why we work tirelessly to open this campus.

You need to be a part of this.

Not because we have 600 volunteer roles to fill, but because you want to be a part of the movement that God is orchestrating.

Let’s be real: no one enjoys stepping out of their comfort zone, whether it’s to serve, give or pray boldly. But what I’ve noticed more than usual lately is the profile of people in scripture that God used in miraculous ways; they did NOT have it all together, some didn’t even want the job in the first place and some were less equipped than you and me. But they all had one thing in common—they followed God’s promptings.

If you are like me, you’re wondering how YOU could actually be a part of launching Woodbury. Or you might feel unqualified to play the role God’s nudging you to play or maybe you are not even sure where Woodbury is located.

We can all play a role in launching Woodbury and reaching people.  If you are not going to attend the new campus – PRAY!  Pray for wisdom in hiring staff, pray for God’s anointing on our volunteer leaders and pray for the people who work behind the scenes entering data, ordering cribs and goldfish crackers for our kids’ area. (Yes, that really happens.)

If you are going to be attending the Woodbury campus, be a part of opening weekend. Don’t miss this chance to have a front row seat to see the power of what God will do through his church in this community. A sincere thanks to the 300-400 of you who have already expressed an interest in serving; be praying about where God can use your gifts and passions, because you’ll be hearing from us soon.

So let me leave you with a question: Where is God leading you right now? Will you follow? It won’t be easy, but it will have a kingdom impact.

To get more information on serving at Woodbury, or at any EBC campus, e-mail serve@eaglebrookchurch.com.

Our plans to launch a church in Woodbury are quickly coming together!

Since purchasing 40 acres of property in Woodbury, our desire has always been to begin construction as soon as we were able. And yet an even bigger goal has been to get started as soon as possible, because we’re simply running out of room at our current campuses.

An opportunity to launch within East Ridge High School in Woodbury appears imminent, meaning we will have our first weekend services there sometime this fall.

Though plans must still be finalized with the school, we are working on to be ready from a staff and volunteer standpoint.

Lino Lakes Campus Pastor Jason Anderson, also a member of our Teaching Team, has accepted the Woodbury campus pastor position, and is already hard at work building the team that will be needed for this unique opportunity.

We’re also pleased to announce that Steve Duede, worship pastor at Lino Lakes, will be Woodbury’s worship pastor. By July 1, we expect to have many of the staff in place and be well on our way to identifying key volunteer team members.

Since the Woodbury campus will be in a temporary location, it will have its share of challenges, but our team has been researching, visiting, and learning from other mobile churches so that we can be as prepared as possible for this reality.

The great news is that the school looks and feels a lot like Eagle Brook already, and the people there are excited to have us.

We’re being given the opportunity to do what God has called this church to do—reach others for Christ. As long as He opens the doors, we will continue to walk through them.

Woodbury is calling—how will you respond?

A little more than 10 years ago we adopted a pledge of sorts—that we would do whatever it takes to reach people who are far from God. 

It sounds kind of simple, really, but it has real depth when the actions necessary to live up to it are considered.  That decision led to a $25 million move to Lino Lakes that was simply impossible without God’s leading.  It led to the decision to re-open White Bear Lake, making us a multi-site ministry. Not because of a strategic plan, but simply because that’s what it took.  We partnered with another church that decided they were willing to do whatever it takes, and the Spring Lake Park campus was born.  When SLP filled beyond capacity, we knew it would take more in the area, so the idea of Blaine was born; whatever it takes!

This weekend, we open our fourth campus, Eagle Brook–Blaine, and though it represents a continuing commitment to do whatever it takes to reach people who are far from God, it’s also just another reminder that at Eagle Brook, this is simply what we do. 

We look at what God is doing, remind ourselves of our calling to reach people, and work like crazy to bring it about.  We’re going to Blaine because it’s what we do. We reach people. 

And next we’re going to Woodbury, because it’s what we do. 

I couldn’t be more excited about this weekend and what it represents for our church—the ongoing commitment to partner with God in his desire to reach people who are not in relationship with him. Yet.  It’s taken millions of dollars, thousands of man hours, hundreds of volunteers, and dozens of staff. And if that’s what it takes to reach your friends, family, and co-workers, that’s what we’ll do every time!

Blaine Update from Eagle Brook Church on Vimeo.

Plus, check it out… as of May 16, the walls are up on the Blaine campus!

May 16

Friday, March 26, the earth was moved—a little. But, big things are happening. Ten ceremonial golden shovels officially broke ground on the much anticipated Blaine campus, Eagle Brook’s fourth church location (see photo slide show).

Left to Right: Clark Arneson (Blaine City Manager), Darcy Wood (Early Childhood Coordinator), Pete Smith (BWBR), Tom Ryan (Blaine mayor), Blair Madsen (US Bank), Brian Hegseth (EBC Board), Pastor Bob Merritt, Campus Pastor Matt Anderson, Gifts Pastor Lisa Welter, Sheehy representative

The event started off with some prayer before the official ceremony. People spent time walking on the land and praising God for His provision, praying for the ministry that will happen to reach those in the surrounding area, asking for protection during the build and finances to continue to come in, as well as for good relationships to develop with other churches in the Blaine area. Mostly, the prayer team asked for God to keep our church’s heart keenly close to His.

Nearly 60 people attended the groundbreaking. Core Blaine campus volunteers, Not Without You supporters, some EBC church staff and board members joined up with representatives from the City of Blaine, BWBR architects, SHEEHY construction and US Bank to get the project underway.

The new Blaine Campus Pastor Matt Anderson and Senior Pastor Bob Merritt shared a few thoughts. “When the Spring Lake Park campus opened in December 2007, we never would have dreamt that our fourth campus would be birthed from SLP less than three years later and less than five miles away,” Matt said. “If we continue to be faithful to share the message of hope found in Jesus Christ with our hearts in line with His, I believe we will see God do amazing things here in Blaine. What a privilege it is for all of us to be used by God for such a time as this.”

SLP Worship Pastor Josh Dekker led the group in a few worship songs as they dedicated this project and campus to the Lord. With the shovels in the ground, construction could begin.

SHEEHY Construction rolled in shortly thereafter and is already hard at work on the project. Both SHEEHY and BWBR Architects have worked on previous EBC projects, including the Lino Lakes campus. We’ll see the shell of the building up by the end of April, and so far the schedule is on track for an early fall grand opening.

Remember, those interested in attending the Blaine campus as their church home can get a head start. The Blaine campus is already meeting on Sunday nights at 4:05 and 6:05 pm in the Spring Lake Park location for the same great weekend worship experience. Nearly 300 people are currently attending, and more volunteers are needed to help open the new Blaine facility in the fall all trained in and full of momentum. All this is being made possible through funds contributed to the Not Without You campaign, so THANK YOU!

We do know this, once we do have that green light–likely within the next week or two–it’s all going to happen REALLY FAST and the ceremonial groundbreaking will be underway in a wink. Then, they’ll toss aside those hand-shovel props quickly as the big machinery moves in and begins construction. We are praying and planning even now for that “holy-moment” pause right before this whole thing gets going full-force.

Campus number four brings us into new territory for a lot of reasons: how we structure our staff for changing realities, engage volunteers, reach a new area for Christ, and further play out the complex simplicities of the multi-site strategy. It’s a new baby. It’s going to be a lot of work and money, but we are so excited to watch it grow. We know God has a great future and destiny for it!

A few weeks ago, the Blaine campus got started by meeting at the Spring Lake Park campus on Sunday evenings at 4 & 6 pm as they anticipate moving into their permanent home in the fall. More than 300 people, most of whom have stepped forward to say, “Blaine is going to be my campus and I want to help get it going,” are attending on Sunday nights to experience weekend services. Many people have already found a place to get trained, volunteer, and invest as part of that campus community. Not only is that helping to take a little attendance pressure off of the bursting Spring Lake Park campus, but when Blaine opens its doors officially, it will do so with a vibrant group of people and leadership to help it soar.

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the renderings for the Blaine campus facility. It’s going to be located at 3603 95th Ave. NE, Blaine, MN  55449. Or, simply, the northeastern corner of I35W and 95th. Yahoo map.
 

I’m not a great “reflector” kind of person. I’m always in awe of people who actually take the time to ponder things, because I don’t do a lot of pondering myself. In fact, I think I was (and probably still am, to a large extent), ADHD, back when it was referred to as ”squirrely” by my parents on good days, and worse on bad days. But, I know it’s good to ponder from time to time, and so a pondering I will go….

The Not Without You campaign was a highlight for our church, and according to people who worked with us on it, was also a launching pad for other churches across the nation who had assumed that God was out of the church business right now. Our results proved that people still hold deeply to the mission that we have held to – and are willing to sacrifice to make it a reality. I am so proud of our church.

Since December, so much has taken place that have been either funded by or inspired by the NWY movement. It funded the largest portion of our costs to pack more than 2.3 million meals for starving kids in Haiti and other parts of the world. It funded the World Vision Step Into Africa experience, which was the jump start to our church sponsoring every child that was in need in the Mugeba province of Mozambique. Think of it—every child in this huge area of Africa has a sponsor, and has a chance at life, both physically and spiritually, because of us. Wow. Then, to cap it all off, something like 300 people have applied to go on short-term missions trips to places like Nicaragua, Ethiopia and Mexico this summer.

My wife and I had the great privilege to spend our 20^th anniversary in Hawaii a few years ago, and we had the chance to watch some amazing surfing during a particularly windy day off the coast. I could have watched all day, as people rode the waves. But even better, I could have rented a board and tried it myself. I didn’t do it, and I enjoyed watching people ride the wave, but I can’t help thinking what I missed by not getting in the water. A wave is building at Eagle Brook—will you ride it, or just watch from the sidelines?

If things continue to progress as planned, we should be moving dirt in Blaine by the end of March with a goal of holding services in September or October. All the background work is being finished up, and we’re pretty excited to get started! As exciting as that is, it’s even more exciting to know that the Blaine campus has already launched on Sunday nights at Spring Lake Park under the campus leadership of Matt Anderson. Matt has been our Groups pastor for a few years, and he will make an excellent campus pastor at Blaine. Come check out the Blaine service (anyone is welcome to attend) at 4:05 and 6:05 pm on Sundays. We’ve already got more than 300 Eagle Brookers coming and it’s only been running for a few weeks!

Woodbury is making slow, but forward, progress. Partly because our focus has had to be on Blaine, and partly because the city and planning process is always a bit slower than one would like. We’ve been learning patience on this one. The land is pretty well nailed down, and the building design, parking, landscaping, etc., are all in the last stages of completion so that we can submit to the city and get the process rolling. This should happen in March and April as far as we can tell right now.

From a financial standpoint, we have been surprised that the level of engagement has not been what we had projected, but thankful for everyone who has taken steps to get started on their pledge. I’m not sure why more people haven’t started, but it might become necessary to adjust our timelines to reflect reality. We’ll see—if you made a pledge and haven’t given toward it yet, it would help us to plan if you would start at some level now. Statistically, the vast majority of people who make a pledge and don’t give toward it within three months will never start. That said, so many have, and God has done amazing things through this little campaign in just a short period of time!

I guess that’s all the musing I will do for now, but it wasn’t too bad…I should do it more!