As you can probably tell, we’re still getting the hang of this blogging thing.  This week we desperately wanted to post some of the highlights from the Leadership Conference, but have been unable to do so due to technical difficulties.  Anyway, almost everything is in place now, so on Monday we’ll be uploading our favorite moments from the conference for your enjoyment.  Until then, we hope that you and yours have a great weekend! 

This past weekend at our Leadership Conference, our pastor unveiled the new Southside logo.  (You can see the full logo at the top of this page)  As he showed us the logo, he explained that the three sides of the triangle represent the three unique components of our mission statement, which is to “Love God, Love People, and Love the World on the journey to life change”.  Also, you might notice that there are three parallel paths that move from the lower part of the triangle northward and to the right side of the triangle.  These paths further symbolize the three components of our mission statement, but more than that, these paths also illustrate the “journey” that we are all on toward life change.  And you probably thought it was nothing more that just a cool looking triangle!

Anyway, over the next few months, you will see this logo, in various forms (like the one above), all over our campus and on everything that we send out.  And when you see it, we want it to serve as a reminder to you that our mission statement and rallying cry is, “Love God, Love People, and Love the World on the journey to life change”! 

I want to take a minute and review what we heard / experienced at Friday Night / Saturday morning leadership conference.  It was an amazing weekend…the dinner, limo ride, red-carpet, interviews on the red carpet, special videos, teaching sessions and of course the Singing Bee.

Below are some of the best moments from this weekend:

1.      “We don’t always know where were going, but we know who we are following”

Our Pastor told the powerful story behind that great quote.  Wow…I had no idea the history wrapped up in that phrase!  As a church community this should always describe us.  We don’t know what “church is going to look like” every year, but we have no doubt who we are following.  If we had it all figured out there would be no need for faith.  I’m glad we don’t have it all figured out.

2.      “When we are heavily programmed as a church, we tend to create things for people to do than creating people who do things”

I love this statement.  It gives the idea of process.  Does Southside want to create busy Christians or produce people who are doing things in the lives of others throughout the community to promote Christ?  The reality is when you are at church multiple times a week you are not with lost people.  This promotes being insider focused.  I’m so thankful that Southside decided years ago to be about creating people who do things.

3.      Of course the Singing Bee!!!  WOW…that was fun and scary all at the same time.  Hopefully in the coming days we will post some pictures of that.  However, many don’t realize that during that part of the conference a lifelong dream was accomplished…Pastor Dennis Clark got to sing “My Girl” live.

Where were you at 6:23 p.m. on Sunday night, August 26^th, 2007?  I’ll never forget where I was.  I was on the edge of my seat with the rest of my life group watching Warner Robins face Japan to see who would be the 2007 Little League World Series Champions.  The score was 2-2 and had been that way for almost six innings (the game went into extra innings if you were one of the few people who didn’t see it- you can read the full story here). 

It was soup and salad night for our life group and I was slurping up some delicious potato soup when Dalton Carriker stepped up to the plate as Warner Robins’ first batter in the bottom of the eighth inning.  All the guys in my group agreed that if anyone from either team could end this game with a walk-off homer, Carriker was the guy to do it. 

And boy did he!  He took a low and outside breaking ball deep to right field and with one swing of the bat, the team from Warner Robins became the Little League World Champs by a score of 3-2. 

And in that moment, when that baseball cleared the fence in Lamade Stadium, not only did all the United States fans in Williamsport rejoice, but so did everyone in living rooms all over Middle Georgia. 

So, let’s give it up for our hometown boys.  After all, we are the champions!

Welcome to the Southside blog.  If you have no idea what a blog is, it is an online journal that is open for the whole world to see and follow along with.  That’s probably not a great definition, but neither one of us is claiming to be related to the Websters either.    Anyway, in case you’re wondering, here’s why we’re starting a blog:

• We want people to be more informed about what’s happening behind the scenes in the life of our church. 

• We view blogging as an easy and effective way to engage people who aren’t a part of our church, and in some cases, will never step into our church.

• We see blogging as an opportunity to share the story of our church, as well as the story our Savior in an entirely new and different way.

• We love thinking about and talking about the church and we want to invite other people into the conversations we have every day.

• We believe that blogs are cool and we figure that if we blog then we might actually become cooler. 

• We think our blog has the potential to encourage and help people.

I’m sure there are a few more good reasons, but for now, that will do!  We really do hope that you enjoy the Southside Blog.  Just so you know, we will blog all during the week, but on the weekends, we will be watching football and worshiping Jesus.  Thanks for coming by and we hope to see you soon.