David Gould is a Wesleyan pastor in the Nashville area. He has his own radio show and has been kind enough to invite me on for Tech Talk Tuesdays. We’ve talked about how families, churches, and individuals can use technology for the good of God’s kingdom. Today he is giving me the chance to share the story of Oakway United. It’s the story of Oakway Wesleyan and Common Ground Community Church merging in November of 2011.
In December 2010, I had lunch with Neal Taylor who was the founding pastor at Common Ground. He shared with me that he would be resigning the next summer to pursue God’s call elsewhere. It took me a month to get up the nerve, but at our lunch meeting in January I asked him about the possibility of merger. I will remember the look on his face as this light bulb went off for both of us. It was a holy moment there in that Mexican restaurant. We approached our district leadership and got the green light to begin a relationship between the two churches with me being a circuit pastor to begin with. This would give time to build relationships and see if there was true compatibility. As I shared with individual leaders, I learned that God had been laying such a merger on their hearts as well!
That fall we began a series of joint worship services which included baptisms and homecoming(and food!). We shared the possibilities with each body and began to pray. God continued to open doors and make the way clear. In October I presented a new vision, including a new name, to the leadership teams of both churches. The vision included the desire to be a planting church that focused on making disciples instead of attendance, buildings, and cash. That presentation would not have been possible without God’s help and Church Unique by Will Mancini which helped me put into words what God had placed on my heart. Their was unanimous support to prevent the vision to a combined service followed by a vote 2 weeks later….
You can imagine how long those 2 weeks felt. The vote passed with 75% support and Oakway United became a reality the next week. Since then, God has been blessing us in many ways. We have built new friendships and renewed our commitment to reach the lost and help the hurting in our community. Has it been easy? Do I recommend doing something like this during your FIRST YEAR at a new church? All I know is that God is doing a work IN many of our lives. There is a noticeable change in people. This Sunday we’ll have our third baptism service in a row. You can’t make this stuff up. This is the kind of story only God could write. That’s my story at least…and I’m sticking to it.