Eagle Brook Church looking to add more campuses

My friends at Eagle Brook Church (the largest church in Minnesota!) continue to do great things for the Lord! I wanted to share a note that was emailed out by Pastor Bob Merritt to the church recently about some expansion they are looking to start - a couple of new Eagle Brook Campuses in Blaine, MN and Woodbury, MN!! If you are looking for a great church to be part of, Eagle Brook Church is an outstanding option. As is the church of Bob's friend Phil Print - Crossroads Church. These are the last two churches my wife and I attended before I took my first call as a Senior Pastor in Waseca, MN. And in the spirit of openness it should be noted that I was teaching assistant to both Bob Merritt and Phil Print while I was at Bethel Seminary. I can vouch that both men are the real deal, and quite honestly even if I didn't know these guys I would still love their church and their ministries!

Dear Friends,

It’s late fall and I have yet to pull a trigger or release an arrow; I’ve had to live vicariously through the emails and photos of friends who keep me posted of all their hunting exploits. What’s kept me out of sloughs and tree stands is Not Without You, and normally I’d have an itchy trigger finger, but I’ve gotten so pumped up last week’s View From Here events with individuals who want to make an advance commitment that I when I hit the pillow at night I can’t sleep. I don’t know if we’ll meet our goal of $33 million, but the momentum and excitement that’s building is like caffeine in my veins and I can’t shut it off. God has a hold of my heart in a way that’s never happened before in a campaign.

We have a campus in Blaine in our sights by fall 2010. But some people have asked me “Why Woodbury?” Woodbury opens up a whole new demographic to us. We have 453 families who travel from Woodbury, and dozens of others from Hudson, Stillwater, Afton and Cottage Grove. The problem is they can’t invite their neighbors and friends to church because it’s tough to invite someone to a church that’s 30 miles away. Last year my friend Phil Print opened a new church, Crossroads, in Cottage Grove, just on the southern border of Woodbury. And he’s begging us to come to help reach that side of the Twin Cities. Even if all the churches in Woodbury would be filled every weekend, they would be reaching only one tenth of the population. Woodbury is dying for a church like Eagle Brook to reach the thousands of families, single adults and professionals who don’t go to church anywhere. I’m really excited about bringing that hope to the east metro within the next couple of years.

And I’m so proud of how our church has been able to bring clean water, medicine and leadership training to an entire region in Mozambique, Africa. The level of support our church offers to World Vision in Mozambique is the second largest in the United States. We want to be able to continue to assist the poor through Not Without You. And we’re still bringing leadership to hundreds of pastors in Norway where only 2% of the population goes to church. But we’re starting to see that turn. In a very real way, Eagle Brook is a lifeline to the spiritual future of Norway.

We have two weekends left in the Not Without You campaign, and November 21/22 is Commitment Weekend. Laurie and I are going to make the largest financial commitment we’ve ever made to anything in our entire life because we believe so firmly that God is in this and we don’t want to miss it. So get ready for a great celebration; prayerfully decide how you will respond, and I urge you to make it sacrificial – a sacrifice is a level of giving that will affect your living. Do it for God, do it for your family and friends; most of all do it for those who will be reached when we can open our doors in Blaine and Woodbury.

Keep sending your photos of dead stuff,

Bob

PS: If you want to help lead the way and make an early commitment, you can do that online today. Plus, it’s great to hear what’s happening in our kids and student ministries. They’re getting involved too! Be sure to talk with your kids about Not Without You, and how they can be a part of this great thing that God is doing—and reach their friends.