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The Challenge to Ministry; the People, continued..

7/14/2014

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PictureBuilding a Strong Foundation for Ministry
So, as I said before, the greatest challenge in ministry is; the people.

After finalizing the draft of what would become the “Open Doors for the Open” business/ministerial plan, I distributed the copies though email to all of the individuals that attended the initial meeting. What surprised me most after this was the lack of response from anyone in the entire group other than Vicky (fictitious name).  Her response was a two or three page summary of the plan that I had put together with very little comment other than, "Here is the plan I generated from your notes."  At no time after this was there any real discussion of the comprehensive plan draft I put together from Vicky or from any of the other recipients of the initial plan. We're talking about an entire year of walking down the path to success for a ministerial outreach without a formalized plan accepted by the entire team.  Doomed to failure, right?  Not on His watch.

This, then, leads to a segue into the difficulty, again, that the main challenge in ministry is the people. It became apparent from my conversations with Vicky that her two to three page summary of the entire plan was considered by her to be the actual plan from that point forward. I didn't understand this for awhile, but it was pretty clear to me as things moved along that, indeed, this was thought of by Vicky herself as the actual plan for the outreach.

I referenced earlier that Father’s Day 2013 was a big confrontation between Vicky and me. We had a serious discussion 2 days before Father's Day, I believe, regarding the identification of a leader for the Outreach. Up to this point, Vicky continued to tell me the Outreach was brought about through a vision she had back in 2005 when the U.S. Open was last conducted at Pinehurst #2. During that time, she expressed, the Holy Spirit had shown her what really needed to be glorified during the Open was Himself, Jesus Christ, as opposed to the international media, the Players or the game of golf itself.  What really should be glorified is, of course, Him!!  This is what we are called to do in all things, right? On this fact she and I, firmly, agreed.  

Regarding leadership of the Outreach, I had already bought into the fact that she would be the Executive Director or day-to-day leader of the ministry. Early on, Vicky and I had talked about how she would be remunerated in that regard.  In my plan and in our discussions, I quickly identified the main priority on acquiring funding for her through donations or other initiatives and, indeed, had accepted this as the primary focus of the beginnings of the ministry.

In fact, this was, once again, a concern regarding a team approach to the ministry.  I had written a comprehensive draft of the business plan and a rough financial development model and, we weren’t walking down a path of order and agreement.  I had included in the plan all of the major components for implementation as well as draft financials to support the strategy, including marketing, travel, monthly support of the Executive Director and funds  for general management of the entire process for the next year to 14 months.

I began to take an aggressive approach with the rest of the team as we continued to discuss the overall focus of the outreach even though we didn't further discuss the formal business plan.  It was clear to me that each of us was focused on securing the first donation which we estimated at approximately $10,000 in order to fund Vicky to be the daily operator of the Outreach.  This focus, however, was met with a significant amount of resistance from the folks at the Chapel, specifically from Jimmy Schneider. I spoke with him a few times about this during those first few months, in fact, several times over the next year, making it clear that in order for Vicky to work as the full time action person, she would need to be compensated.  In addition, she needed the money right away.  This continued to meet with incredible resistance and I kept hearing the same story as to why.  I, finally, heard from Jimmy that the funding for Vicky was not going to be covered by the Chapel and he would not recommend that Vicky lead nor be compensated from the first donations.

This was a significant obstacle and became the reason that very little activity was done on the initial plan nor was there ever another full team meeting to continue down the road on a comprehensive work on the Open Doors Outreach for the next 6.5 months. 

Challenges ….. people!!!


So, who's gonna lead??

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Jimmy Schneider and the Village Chapel's Open Doors

6/27/2014

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PictureThe Village Chapel Care Cottage
Jim Secrist and Matt from the Augusta Golf Association were headed out the front door of the Care Cottage as I was headed in.....

"Where's the coffee, Bill?"  

Oh my gosh guys, there''s a tent over there.  I believe they're serving coffee now.  I just walked past there."  

"Ok, we'll be right back."

Boy, I thought, these are my kinda guys.  Six AM and there up and headed out for coffee.  I love it!!

Another hour and a half later, all of us were up and together.  Jimmy Scheider, came waltzing in about 7:15 AM. Jimmy is one of the most amazing men I have ever met.  In fact, I was going to dedicate a chapter exclusively to him later in this work, but, I guess I'll tell our story now.

I first was introduced to Jim Schneider, the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Village Chapel of Pinehurst in April of 2013.  I had been invited to participate in this sacred opportunity we later called Open Doors for the Open by a woman who lived in Pinehurst and had been conducting ministry through the game of golf for many years.  This woman and I (I'll call her Vicky) knew each other from years before, 1997 in fact.  I had called her as I knew she was an author and I was in the process of developing a golf blog and wanted her to consider writing for us. She said she would consider writing, but, she was at the beginning of developing an event that would be conducted in conjunction with the U.S. Open being held on Pinehurst #2 in June 2014.  "Not only are they conducting the Open here, but, for the first time in the history of the Open, Bill, they are conducting the men's and women's Opens back to back, one week after the other on the same golf course.!"  "You were involved in conducting ministerial events in golf years ago, weren't you, Bill?  Would you like to help us out?"  "Would I!!?"  I exclaimed. "I'd love that!!"


PictureJimmy Schneider, Chairman of the Board, The Village Chapel
About two weeks later was when I was introduced to Jimmy, Pastor John Jacobs, Pastor Ashley, Dan Williams and Mike Ozburn. They were all in the study/conference room of the Care Cottage and I was on a Skype call.  I didn't realize it at the time, but, this was the beginning of one of the most rewarding and challenging things I would ever be involved in.

As I said, Jimmy is one of the most amazing men I've ever met.  It took me awhile to discover this, but, this dedicated Christian man would be the lynch pin to this outreach at the 2014 U.S. Opens.  I remember, that as we introduced ourselves in that first meeting Jim recognized me for my military career and said how many wonderful soldiers and former soldiers pass through Pinehurst and are involved in the community.  I so much appreciated that recognition.  It made me feel accepted right away and I knew I was among friends.



Read even more....

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The First Day of the Open - Continued

6/26/2014

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So, I continued my trek inside the Village of Pinehurst.  

The Chapel is just some 300 yards (a driver for most PGA Tour Players) from the first tee of Pinehurst #2.  I continued out of the Chapel parking lot onto Azalea Road and headed over to the entrance just in front of the Chapel.  It was 4:45 AM or so now and still pitch dark.  There was a guard at the gate and, once again, I could sense that my presence, on foot, was a bit intimidating to this poor fella.  I walked up to him and said;

"So, you have the early duty, eh?"

"Yes, Sir." He said.  I could sense that he was ready to inform me that there was no way I was getting in that gate.

"Well," I said. "I am just walking around praying for the Village and the people involved with the Open.  May I pray for your?"

"Sure." He said.  "Father, I pray that you bless my Brother here.  I pray that he is able to enjoy this day and honor You with his work and his life.  Please bless him today and let Your presence be with him as he serves You and the people coming to the Open this week.  In Jesus' name, amen."


Picture
He still looked a bit bewildered.  I shook his hand and walked on my way up Azalea Road to the circle which is the entrance to the golf course (the photo here is the flag at the circle where Carolina Drive comes into Azalea and you can see the full moon over the trees as it was at the entrance). 

The traffic was picking up now with passenger vans, mini-buses from the hotels and resort as well as alot of police and other security folks.  I was hesitant, but, I mustered the courage to walk up to the two or three men standing at the gate. 

Again, I could sense their alertness to my presence and readiness to challenge my credentials.  I just walked up and greeted them and told them I was walking around praying for the Village and they acknowledged me.  That was all, so I turned and walked back to the circle and prayed for awhile on that spot.  I turned back down Azalea and headed to the Chapel.  The Memorial to General George Marshal came into my view.  A quick prayer for him and our country as I continued past the Bank of America on the corner of Azalea and Village Green Road West.  I slipped through the trees went behind the Too Blond Tavern and into the Village proper by the Village Welcome Center.  I prayed there for a few minutes and continued around to the front of the Village Deli and stared over the beautiful setup the Village had prepared with the big screen TV, the putting green and the stage used for the various shows that would appear there over the next ten days.

I walked down Cherokee Road a bit and onto Dogwood Road.  Dugan's Pub sure looked and smelled like it had been very busy over the last few days.  There was activity outside of the Pine Crest Inn as the waiters prepared for the breakfast crowd on this historical venue where many a professional golfer and celebrity had enjoyed the times over the years.  I continued around and through the back parking lot onto Community Road and paused at the front of the volunteer fire station to finish off my round trip prayer voyage.

What was accomplished during this, almost, two hour journey around Pinehurst Village and THE golf course on which the U.S. Opens were being held?  I have no idea!!  I only know that I was obedient to the Lord's inspiration for me to travel around this historic place, seek His face, pray like almost never before for things that didn't even make sense to me; the roads, the houses, the people in the houses, the parking lots, the men at the entrances to #2, the people driving the vans, buses, cars, the young MC Foundation man I discovered praying by the Chapel, Dugan's and the folks that would visit there, the Square itself and the people arriving there that day, the Pine Crest Inn, the Players, the caddies, the media and the fans.

What was accomplished?  I'm sure, His will and His providence and His purposes.

Praise Him for letting me participate.

I walked into the Village Chapel Care Cottage to begin the day with my new friends .....

Keep reading the story...

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The Road to Open Doors for the Open; a Story

6/24/2014

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Picture
The first day of the Men's Open...

After months and months of planning and coordinating and working, the week had arrived for the 2014 U.S. Men's Open being conducted at Pinehurst #2 and, our Open Doors for the Open outreach from the Village Chapel on the Square in the Village of Pinehurst. 

The first day of play was complete amongst all of the hype that accompanies a championship of this calibre.  The Coore and Crenshaw radical redesign of the course, the recognition of the Payne Stewart memorial, the play of Kaymer and the failure of the rest of the field to match his stellar play were the focus of the media and the crowds.  But, our attention was upon something else and it was difficult for me, personally, to be patient as we were not able to be in the Village on Thursday, but, after working in Murfreesboro, TN  that morning and hitting the road around 2:30 PM we had a 500 mile ride to the US Open for the third time in the last four weeks.  Thankfully, this time, the ride was uneventful except the settling in between Scott and me as we had never been in such close quarters for 9 hours before.  

Scott Bennett is my best friend.  The story surrounding our becoming Brothers in Christ and friends forever is a very deep and devine encounter that is enough for us to refer to in remembrance, especially when we begin to grate upon each other.  He's a prize, really, and I so much appreciate his friendship and faithfulness to the vision of Open Doors.  Thank you, Brother Scott.

Arriving late in the evening that Thursday of the first day of the Open after that long drive from Tennessee was very tiring, but, it was entertaining as we had been texting the boys from Warren Baptist Church and the Warren Golf Association from Augusta, GA all along.  I didn't, really, know these guys at all, but, I had heard of Shane Pangle from our mutual friend, Wally Armstrong, and reached out to him the day following the 2014 Masters to introduce him to Open Doors.  He jumped right on the concept and, eventually, committed to visiting the Open to get a flavor for how the concept could be implemented during the 2015 Masters.  He brought three other Brothers with him; Jim SeCrest, Al and Matt.  They were traveling the same day and we were communicating with them by text most of the day.  At one point, Jim introduced himself to me by text for the first time and I was glad to make his acquaintance.  I thought he was the same fella through whom Bobby Clampett and I had arranged the Masters breakfast back in 1995, but, I wasn't sure.  At one point Jim and I had a funny "texting"  interchange where Jim messaged me that they were excited about arriving and visiting with us in Pinehurst, but, the next text said they had stopped for dinner at a steakhouse and would be there for a short while.  He ended the text with; "I love you.".  I thought this was a bit strange for just being introduced to him, but, what the heck, a Brother that really gets it; we are one in Christ.  I responded with an; "I love you, too, Brother".  His quick response was; "That was meant for my wife."  We had quite a chuckle about that around midnight when we were all together in the Village Chapel Care Cottage.

So this was the scene when we arrived late on the Thursday night after the first round of the 2014 US Open.  We were all in the cottage; Shane Pangle, Jim SeCrest, Matt, Al, Scott and Ron Wilcoxson, my dear friend, doctor of pastoral studies, author and former PGA Touring Pro who had lived in Murfreesboro, but, now, was pastoring a Baptist church in Pensacola, FL.  We also had Bobby McIver, golf coach to Scott Verplank and others and, now, author of the book, "The Heart of the Game", but, he was asleep upstairs and we didn't bother him until later that next  morning.  We agreed that we would convene again at 7:30 AM on Friday for a devotional, discussions about the venue for the Outreach and discuss our agenda for the day.  We hit the sack a bit after 12 PM, just glad to, finally be safe, in Pinehurst for the Open and in a reasonably comfortable bed.

My alarm went off as usual at 4 a.m. which was 3 a.m. Central time, because we had lost an hour when we crossed the timeline around Crossville, TN.  This is my normal routine; getting up at 4 AM, one which, I believe, the Lord provided for me, my, Circadian Rythm cycle, where I just can't sleep  past 4 or 4:30 a.m.  But this day was extremely special as I had been promoted to jump up and spend whatever time it took that morning to walk throughout the Village and pray.  This is not my normal shtick.  I have not been one of those neighborhood prayer warriors like some of my church members in Murfreesboro.  That ministerial approach was never inspired in me, but, for the past several weeks, the Lord had been prompting me to walk around the Village of Pinehurst and pray.  The first time I was able to do that was a few weeks before the Open when I had driven down myself to visit with Jimmy Schneider, coordinate final preparations and complete the picture in my mind of what the Outreach was going to look like and how it would operate.  On that day, I was also inspired to travel (by car that time) within the Village on a Sunday morning.  I just rolled around the Village, street by street, and called upon the Lord in prayer for His presence and His providence upon everything I came in contact with.  It was amazing and I hope to expand upon that in a future posting, but, for the purposes of this post, the Lord empowered me to jump up, put on my shorts, tee shirt and flip-flops and I was out of the door at 4:15 AM at the latest, just hobbling about the Village from 55 Community Road throughout the Village, the outside of the Pinehurst #2 area and the surrounding streets.  

It was pitch dark that morning at 4:30 AM, duh!!  It was a strange environment, but, lovely as the temp was about 70 degrees and clear as a bell.  I wasn't sure how odd I looked, and, really, I didn't care, but, one of the wonderful things that validated this effort came as I walked down the parking area behind the Chapel about 4:45 AM and saw movement from the corner of my eye near the back entrance at the walkway.  I was hesitant to approach this person. I thought it might be Jimmy Schneider, but, I sauntered over toward the person that, as I got closer, I recognized as a young man dressed in the "uniform" of one of the MC Foundation youth working for the food vendor during the Open.

He was startled as I approached and pulled back a bit when I reached out with my hand to shake his and asked him how he was and what he was doing.  "I am just praying." he said, "Praying for my friends and our work here."  I was ecstatic!!  I couldn't believe this.  Here I was out on the streets of Pinehurst Village at this "Godly" time in the morning and I encounter a young man also praying.  It was amazing to me!

"Do you mind if I join you?" I asked.  Somewhat reluctantly, he agreed and I sat down on the step near him and offered up my prayer to the Father.  Once again, I prayed for the Village, the day, the Open, the Players, the media, the visitors, the team and for His providence to prevail during that day at the U.S. Open.  He prayed for his friends, their work, the supervisors, the day, his family, his fiancee' and for his future.  It was incredibly awesome.  I reached out my hand again and looked him in the eye and reassured him that the Lord was with him and his future.  I thanked him for praying with me and, again, praised the Lord for our meeting at that time, in that place, for His purposes.  I was newly invigorated to continue my trek throughout the Village to pray as the Lord was leading me.

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An Audience of One - Open Doors for the Open

6/15/2014

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Picture
We serve an audience of One.

Happy Fathers Day to all you Fathers out there.  We give a great big shout-out to our Father on this day on which Fathers are the focus.  

We serve an audience of One!  "Our Father, who art in  heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  This is the Lord's prayer, of course, the way in which Jesus told us to pray in Matthew 6:9-13.  Who is this we are praying to?  An audience of One.  Let us keep our focus on the fact that He is real and is our Father, our redeemer, our deliverer; our salvation.  We serve Him first and foremost.

We are at the U.S. Open on this Father's Day and all of the focus is on one man, Martin Kaymer who has commanded attention with his stellar play on this toughest of golf courses, Pinehurst #2.  Indeed he is "the man" this week and the golf world's attention has been on Martin.  We pray for him and his fellow competitors as the world watches to see if Martin will stand the test.

Again, we are serving "THE MAN"!  He is our focus and strength.  We pray that through our presence at the U.S. Open today we continue to honor Him as we serve the Village Chapel and those visiting the Pinehurst Village.

Happy Father's Day, Father.  Glory to Your name, in Christ.


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Who's U.S. Open is This Anyway?

6/10/2014

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Picture
Phil Mickelson after missing a chip shot in the United States Open last year. He finished tied for second for the third time. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times
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Will Phil Mickelson shed the demons?  

Will Jordan Spieth win his first Open title?  Will some unknown amateur or pro play like never before and win the dark horse battle? These are the questions, the speculations, the buzz, as it were.  Who will win??

The golf world is a wonderful world to be a part of.  Those of us that have a passion for this incredible game of "Goff" aren't quite able to put our hands on why it grabs us so much, but, it surely grabs us.  We all desire to be able to play at the highest level of competition.  We would relish being a part of the field out there on Pinehurst #2 this week.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had that caliber of game, to be able to hit the ball so far and straight, chip it inside 5 feet 92% of the time and can 97% of those 3 footers?? That would be grand.

We love this stuff, the hype, the fashion, the money, the best clubs and equipment, the coaches the money, the cars, the  money and, oh, did I mention the money?  This world of golf that we all love and can feel in our bones is really wonderful isn't it?  Yup, it is!!

I, personally, was all about becoming a Tour Player. From the moment I began to play and became aware of the fact that the PGA Tour existed, I was hooked.  That was my dream; to play on the Tour.  I didn't have a clue, really, but, it was my dream nonetheless and I worked and worked and worked, honestly, at the expense of almost everything else, to become the best player I could.  I, even, had a couple of shots at making it past U.S. Open Local Qualifying back in my 20's only to implant some of my most vividly real negative golf thoughts from the failed shots I experienced as my chances down the stretch became slim, then, none.  But, I couldn't shake the desire, the dream, to play on the Tour.

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Back in 1981 while serving as a career Army officer, I began to sense that the dream was not going to become a reality.  I hadn't given up completely, but, with a family of a wonderful wife and two children, it wasn't looking like the Tour would become a reality.  In fact, my life took a 180 degree turn when I got very serious about my Christian faith and I began to seek a deeper understanding of who Jesus Christ really was according to the Bible.  Slowly, ever so slowly, my dream changed and I continued to see my life more clearly as someone the Lord had blessed with a relationship with Him, a changed heart and attitude about life in general, a new love for my wife, family and fellow man... but, what about that dream??  What about that dream?

Over the past few years, the dream has solidified.  I recognize that the desire for the game of golf and the passion that so much accompanies the game was placed in me by my Creator!!  He is the one that made me and placed that desire in my heart.  So, the desire for the game became a good thing and I began to see how all of the time I put into reading, practicing, competing, failing and failing was the Lord allowing me to experience that world so that when I got serious about His Kingdom, I would be able to relate and minister inside the game.  I am so thankful that He has revealed that to me and has given me a peace about the fact that I am His and on track to take my dream, turn it into a reality and serve Him and other golfers by introducing them to Him, my Lord, my King, Jesus Christ.

So, will Phil cast out his demons?  Will Jordan go from an "also ran" into a champion?  Will that unknown take center stage?  Who knows?  He does.  Who?  The author of all creation knows who will win because it's His Open anyway.  

Thanks for reading and enjoy the U.S. Open in Pinehurst this year.

In Him

Bill Poirier

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