The last few months have been crazy as I knew I was leaving a great church in Chambersburg to begin ExponentialChurch.tv in Harrisburg.  I was determined to finish well in Chambersburg before I left at the end of May despite the million and one things I had to do for the new church like find a meeting location, hire staff, raise funds, etc.  One way I was helping at Chambersburg was by trying to find my replacement.  I wasn’t in the decision making process but I was able to spend time with each candidate that came in and offer my opinion.

One such candidate was a pastor from Ohio named Chad Chute.  I met privately with he and his wife Tammie for about an hour and then throughout the weekend we had other chances to talk as he was evaluating United and the church was evaluating him.  I was really hoping he’d be my replacement, but for a number of legitimate reasons on both ends, it didn’t work out.

When I discovered this, I asked Earl if it was alright for me to approach him about coming on staff with me.  Earl said yes and thus began a month long process of hours of phone calls, capped by spending a week together with he and Tammie in Harrisburg doing testing, assessments, interviewing, team meetings, all along with attending a 3 day church planter’s boot camp.  What I’m trying to say is we grilled and tested them pretty hard.  The result…

Chad, Tammie, Christopher, Michael and Caitlyn are packing up and moving to PA to be a part of the exciting things that God has planned for ExponentialChurch.tv.  Chad will be heading up our Community Outreach and Life Skills portion of the vision.  He has awesome experience in these things and it’s a huge relief to me to have a partner in ministry that is strong in the areas where I am weak.  Please pray for Chad and his family as they transition into the area over the next few weeks and for the work he will be doing.

The lesson for us all out of this story is that God will sometimes take us to places that aren’t really the final destination He has for us in order to introduce us to people that will help us get to where He really wants us to be.  So don’t be discouraged when you hear no, you may have needed to hear that no in order to get the yes He has for you.