the baltimore mosaic update

last blog entry

2009-04-01T13:02:00.000-04:00

quint is here!

2009-01-21T21:51:00.000-05:00

carl herman kuhl v

2009-01-21T17:51:00.003-05:00

baby kuhl was born today at 3:50. 8 pounds, 12 ounces. momma and baby are doing great.

he's named after my best friend and role model: my dad.

we'll have a video up soon, but here are some pics for now:

mosaic video update

2009-01-08T15:17:00.001-05:00

video update

2008-12-15T12:30:00.001-05:00

an update

2008-11-04T09:43:00.002-05:00

sorry it has been so long since the last blog update.

things are going very well at mosaic. we have new people every single week, and we just finished what i thought was a fun series called "faith looks like..." that explored the life of abraham. this past sunday we had 114 in attendance, which is our highest yet aside from opening day. we have 2 small groups that are up and going, and we have monthly service projects planned for the next several months.

the thing i keep thinking is: "i love this church!" so thank you again for being a part of what makes mosaic go.

mosaic picnic

2008-10-05T20:41:00.007-04:00

saturday, october 4th we had a mosaic picnic for the purpose of connecting with some new people. about 30 people came out and after having fun eating, jumping on the mounbounce, and playing cornhole we finished with an intense game of kickball.

week 2

2008-09-22T11:21:00.001-04:00

yesterday we had our second service, and it was as much fun as the first. we know from the so-called experts that in plants like ours attendance will drop 50% from week 1 to week 2, so we were hoping for 100. we ended up with 107...plus 2 who showed up at 10:30--when we were tearing down!
service went great, band was the best they've been yet, and about 20 of us had lunch together after church, including 6 first-timers.

grand opening message

2008-09-17T20:00:00.001-04:00

just wanted to let you know that our first message is now online. simply open itunes and search for "mosaic christian church", or you can visit www.mosaicchristian.org and navigate to the message.

mosaic grand opening video

2008-09-15T10:07:00.002-04:00

launch

2008-09-14T15:32:00.002-04:00

today was the official grand opening of mosaic christian church. everything went great. 186 people attended. the vibe was good. people clapped. they laughed. and in talking to people afterwards, we had people there from just about every form of advertising we did. i hope to post some pictures later, but wanted to let you know that today was a huge success.

now it's time for me to go take a nap. i'm exhausted!

it's go time

2008-09-12T21:51:00.002-04:00

this is it. we're less than 36 hours from the official grand opening of mosaic christian church. i have so many different emotions i can't sort through them all. but i am confident we have trained well for this race and that we're ready to run it. what will happen as we run i have no idea, but i know for certain this is the race we are supposed to run.

guest post about how you can help mosaic launch

2008-09-05T11:30:00.003-04:00

today i have a guest post from my sister, emma kuhl...

The beginning of Christianity was bathed in prayer. Jesus himself set aside time to be alone and to pray to his Father. He also taught his followers how to pray because he knew how important it was that we have communication and communion with God. Likewise, the Christian church is to be prayer-focused. Throughout the book of Acts, Luke wrote about the many times that the early church in Jerusalem was together praying and God worked in mighty ways. God wants to hear the desires of our heart.

For 5 days leading up to Mosaic's opening we are going to pray 24 hours straight. Please visit www.mosaicchristian.org/signup to volunteer to pray for a one hour duration. Our goal is to have someone praying for Mosaic every hour the 5 days leading up to its opening. When you sign up to pray for one hour you will be asked to give your email address so we can remind you of your day and time as it approaches. If you would like to sign up for more than one hour you will need to sign up twice.

We have a great privilege to ask that the Holy Spirit work in the lives of those leading Mosaic as well as those who will worship there.
...that the Word will be preached boldly and clearly
...that lives will be impacted in mighty ways
...that children will feel welcome and learn about Jesus
...that the community will respond to the offer to join Mosaic in worshiping the one true God
...that God will be glorified in and through the worship and ministry of Mosaic

Paul encourages us in 1 Thessalonians 5: 17 to pray without ceasing. Let’s continue to do just that as we watch God’s hand at work with Mosaic.

Sign-up Today!

5 Days of 24 Hour Prayer Begins September 9th at 8 AM!

cool orchard group story

2008-08-29T15:21:00.003-04:00

one of the great organizations helping plant mosaic christian church is the orchard group. another orchard group plant was featured this morning on good morning america. to watch this wildly cool story visit http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/ and on today's show click "more" to see all the clips from today. then watch the interview with bert crabbe.

preview service #2

2008-08-25T07:58:00.002-04:00

yesterday was our second and final preview service. overall, it was a very good morning. our kids' areas were spruced up a lot, so they looked a lot more fun and inviting. the adult worship service also went off without a hitch. it's still overwhelming the amount of details we have to get used to in setting up the equipment. i thought setup would be finished early yesterday, and there were still a couple details with the lighting that we didn't have time to set up correctly.
but we have a great crew of volunteers who are willing to arrive early and work hard with great attitudes. now, unfortunately, we have to wait 3 whole weeks before our next service!

please come visit...at the right time

2008-08-18T10:31:00.002-04:00

hello mosaic supporters,

thanks again for all the financial, prayer, and emotional support you have given to us this year.

i wanted to make a special request of you for our opening weekend that may sound a little strange. i've heard rumors of several supporters who are trying to come up here for our grand opening on september 14. i wouldn't expect anything less from supporters like you. however, i'd like for you to wait until the 21st before you visit mosaic.

i can't imagine us running out of room on our opening--still, i want to do everything possible to ensure we have good seats for our first timers who don't have a church home. we know from watching other church plants that our attendance will level off lower than what we have on september 14th, so any time after that we'd LOVE to have you come help us for a sunday.

there's no one i'd rather have at our opening than my parents, and i even asked them not to come to our grand opening.

jesus said, "it's not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. i've not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." thanks for helping us continue that mission.

advertising

2008-08-12T11:24:00.003-04:00

this week we start our postcard campaign. we are sending 4 different postcards to 35,000 homes. many church plants have done this and seen varying results, so we'll see what we get.
the part i'm most excited about is that on 2 of the postcards, 15,000 homes will get individualized ones. so on the back it will say, "hi carl, are you looking for a place where your family can grow together?..." and at the end it will say, "visit: www.vip.mosaicchristian.org/carlkuhl". that link will take them to a personalized website that will show them what mosaic is about. to see the "microsite" as it's called, follow this link:

http://vip.mosaicchristian.org/MicroSites/d43c413c-0ebd-4d33-a9e8-640afff98cff/index.html?a=init&rid=c04a0655-75b4-41bb-b5e3-c0e5ac8bd15a

pictures from first preview service

2008-08-11T20:12:00.010-04:00

first preview service

2008-08-10T17:43:00.003-04:00

today we held our first preview service. no advertising, just whoever shows up from a friend's invitation or heard another way. we had prepared to have 40 people, and we ended up having 58! it was exciting to see people we didn't even know walk in to sit in those seats.

the service was great: it was a great first impression for those just checking us out today. worship was dynamic--people clapped after 2 of the songs. kids' ministry was rocking--we had way more young kids than we planned for, but it was a fun environment, and all the 3-5 year olds had a cool craft to take home.

thanks for your prayers. we're working hard, and this thing's definitely going in the right direction. now we have to wait 2 whole weeks until our next service.

mosaic video update

2008-08-06T10:04:00.001-04:00

much anticipated news

2008-08-01T06:49:00.002-04:00

we have hired a family minister! lisa molite agreed yesterday to join mosaic's staff as our family minister. lisa has been leading elementary ministry at community christian church in white marsh, md on a volunteer basis. her ministers there first suggested to each of us that she might be a good fit for mosaic.

one thing led to another, and yesterday she accepted the job. lisa is passionate about ministering to children and enabling the family to grow as a whole, which is a great match for mosaic. now i have no doubt that our family ministry will be something that draws people to mosaic. it's great timing, since our first preview service is a mere 9 days away.

i've been worried about staffing for a long time, and there are two quotes i've thought of:
-"god is rarely early, but he's never late."
-"the task ahead of us is never as great as the power behind us."

thanks, god, for bringing the right person at the right time!

some overdue updates

2008-07-29T21:46:00.003-04:00

wow, it's been awhile. over the last couple weeks a lot's been going on...

we've had 2 great mission teams. one was from okolona christian church in louisville and the other from southeast christian church in louisville. with these 2 groups we did some more of the same stuff, but we added something new. we partnered with grocery stores to hold a food drive for the maryland food bank. so we set up tables outside and our team asked people going shopping to pick up an extra item or two and leave it with us to take to the food bank. we received hundreds of pounds of food, much more than we expected!

josh benforado has agreed to stay on through the end of 2008 as our resident worship minister. more on that later.

the launch team continues to grow. at every meeting we've had new people checking out mosaic. pray for this week's meeting, as we'll spend time in groups training for our first preview service.

that service is august 10. we're calling it a preview simply because we're not advertising it, outside of putting it on our website. but it will be a normal church service in every respect. we have a lot to do before then, but we can't wait!

updates

2008-07-07T14:59:00.003-04:00

we've had a lot going on, and i have a lot to do right now, so here are quick updates:

mission team
we just sent home our 2nd mission team, this one also from southeast christian church in louisville. they had a great attitude here and were a huge help. friday night they passed out 1500 packs of gum and 3000 bottles of water with mosaic's info on them. they spent a day serving with a local ministry called the samaritan women, and yesterday served in the children's ministry at community christian church in white marsh, md. i was hoping they would want to just stay here and help us launch, but that didn't happen.

preaching
yesterday morning i preached the 3 services at community christian church and did the sermon i'm preaching on our launch day. it seemed to go well, and david robinson, their lead minister, gave me some good feedback.

fpu
yesterday was our 4th fpu class, and it was my favorite dvd of the 13 week class. during the discussion time i had some scissors that i passed around and the class cut up about 10 credit cards. that was fun...but i told them i'm bringing the scissors back next week for the credit cards they left in their wallets!

launch team meeting #3
last night we had the launch team over to our house for dessert. i talked for about 25 minutes and we hung out for about 2 hours. it was a good time, and it's exciting to have people crossing the line to officially be on our launch team. we're asking people to commit to helping mosaic through the end of 2008, and we had several people cross that line last night.

prayers
please pray that we can continue to draw new people to the launch team. i've talked to a bunch of people who sound interested, but who haven't crossed the line into actually checking it out yet.

movie theatre update

2008-06-27T09:27:00.000-04:00

foot-traffic advertising

2008-06-25T16:56:00.005-04:00

our office is in a retail strip that has a liquor store on one side and a hair salon and a subway on the other side. so we get lots of foot traffic by our office every day. (as an aside, you'd be surprised how many people drink liquor with their subways!)

so our intern josh suggested we put something on the window that gives more details about mosaic. today we put up a poster with the relevant info. sorry for the reflection on the window, but i uploaded the poster graphic so you can see what's there.

launch team meeting #2

2008-06-23T08:28:00.002-04:00

last night was our 2nd gathering of those interested in helping launch mosaic. our first meeting we had 15 people, and last night we had 16. this time, instead of meeting at the office we had a cookout at my house, which made it a lot more fun and a lot less like a business meeting. after hanging out and eating, we sent the kids outside with 2 volunteer babysitters from another church. then i taught through acts 2:42-47, specifically stating how we can make mosaic a place where "awe fills every soul". my prayer is that people's hearts started beating fast as they imagine a new church like the first church--i know i was pumped up! our next launch team meeting is 13 days from now, and i'm hoping for 18 people at that one. thanks for your prayers.

monthly news #12

2008-06-20T08:43:00.000-04:00

my email is down!

2008-06-20T06:32:00.003-04:00

i don't understand much about computers, aside from what i need to know to operate one. (and even then i don't know a ton.) so i don't understand what's happening this afternoon, but for some reason my web guru tells me we need to change servers, which for some reason will cause me not to have email for about 48 hours. so if you need to contact me you'll have to use the old-fashioned way and call me! my number is 443.875.4791.

updates

2008-06-13T07:23:00.003-04:00

video news is coming soon, but here are some quick updates:

launch team meeting #1
this went great. we were hoping for 12 attendees and we had 15. it was a great place to communicate what mosaic is about, but wasn't a great atmosphere to build relationships. so our next launch meeting on june 22 will be a cookout at my house.

mission team #1
last night our first (of 6) mission teams arrived, and we have a packed schedule for them over the next few days. today they'll serve at a local mission all day, tomorrow we're doing community outreach, and sunday they're serving at one of our supporting churches.

other stuff
on a personal note, lindsay had her first doctor's appointment and heard the heartbeat of baby #2! he/she is due january 28th, and no, we're not going to find out what the sex is on this one either.

launch team meeting #1

2008-06-05T21:29:00.002-04:00

this sunday is our very first launch team meeting. we're inviting everyone who has expressed interest in helping launch mosaic. eventually this will be the team of volunteers that staffs our church when we launch in a few short months. but this first meeting is simply to tell our story and communicate the vision of what we hope mosaic will be. we believe it will resonate with others who want to start a new church that makes a difference in the community and provides a safe environment for people to bring their nonchristian friends to hear the gospel in a way that makes sense. (i'm pretty sure that's a run-on sentence, but you get the idea.)

the meeting is this sunday at 6:30pm at our church office. please join us in praying that we'll have 12 adults (plus some kiddos!) show up.

great news

2008-06-03T07:37:00.003-04:00

we're pregnant! well, lindsay's pregnant at least. last week we were with my family and put this shirt on reagan and after about 40 minutes my mom finally asked, "are you the big sister?" and we said, "yes!" then we took this picture and emailed it to lindsay's fam.

there are just a handful of things that get me more excited than launching mosaic, but this is at the top of the list. mommy's first doctor's appointment is next wednesday. please pray that our new baby grows healthy.

1st fpu class

2008-06-01T18:44:00.003-04:00

last week i wrote that we were hoping for 10 people we didn't know to attend our financial peace university class. well, today at 3 we held the free preview and the amount of people who were there was...10! all 10 (5 couples) paid for the membership kit, so they'll all attend the class regularly starting june 15. in addition, we had 8 people of our launch team attend (including lindsay and me).

hopefully this class will put some people on the path to financial freedom. and hopefully we'll also recruit people who are interested in helping a new church launch.

doorhanger day!

2008-05-23T21:07:00.003-04:00

saturday is doorhanger day at mosaic. my wife and i, together with 1 or 2 others, will spend the morning hanging 1000 of these babies on nearby houses. i hung about 100 of them today to see how long it would take, and since there are mostly townhouses here, it doesn't take too long.

financial peace university will be our first large-scale outreach event. the free info class is june 1, and the class officially kicks off june 15. we already have 6 people we don't know who have signed up online, and since our goal is to have 10 people take the course we could be on a good track.

the goal of fpu is to help people get control of their finances instead of their finances controlling them, so i know it's a felt need in this area. say a prayer today that the doorhangers will motivate people to get involved with fpu.

mosaic news #11

2008-05-20T15:40:00.001-04:00

the $10,000 prayer request

2008-05-10T08:38:00.004-04:00

my bro asked about my last post where we are going to store everything we purchase through portable church industries. there are 14 big carts that contain all our gear, so here's the prayer request:

ask god to work things out for us to keep it at the theatre! there is a storage closet that would hold everything. however, the general manager doesn't want to let us keep stuff there. i'm not complaining, because he's been very accommodating overall, but pray that we can figure out how to serve the theatre in a way that will warm him to the idea of keeping our gear there. the trailer costs $10,000, so this would save us a lot of money that could go to outreach, useful gear, or marketing.

getting stuff

2008-05-09T07:48:00.004-04:00

yesterday and today i'm meeting with reps from portable church industries. pci is a company that equips portable churches with everything they'll need, from signs to sound and light equipment to kids' toys to coffee makers. they also package it in ways that are as easy to transport around town as possible.

it was fun to walk through the theatres yesterday and imagine this coming to life. i can see exactly what it will look like for someone far from god to walk into that movie theatre in september and experience mosaic for the first time. that was fun, but of course i couldn't sleep last night because i was so nervous and excited.

now showing at a theatre near you...

2008-05-02T18:24:00.006-04:00

today i received the signed contract for meeting at the muvico 24 theatre. as i've said, this theatre attracts roughly 63,000 per week, making it the busiest theatre in the entire country.

come september 14 it will get a little busier, as a couple hundred folks will come to theatres 19 and 20 every sunday morning at 9:30 am. this is a huge step for us, as i've talked to several planters who were forced to delay their launch because they couldn't find a location. you know how it goes: "every good and perfect gift..." thanks god!

for lease no more

2008-05-01T16:11:00.003-04:00

today mosaic signed a lease for office space! it's 1060 square feet, divided roughly in half. the back half is an open area for cubes or desks, and the front will be an open area for larger meetings. we already have our first event planned for the office: we're having a free information meeting for dave ramsey's financial peace university on june 1, with the weekly class starting june 15.

we are blessed to have found something only 3 miles from the theatre where we'll be meeting, and it's a storefront in the same strip as a liquor store and a subway, so hopefully we'll get some decent foot traffic going by.

we will get possession of the office in 2-3 weeks, but in the meantime i'm thankful we have such a great space to which we can look forward.

exponential growth

2008-04-29T19:35:00.005-04:00

in my vision talk for mosaic i communicate that one of the many reasons i caught the church planting bug is that it grows the kingdom exponentially, as opposed to growth through addition. one church alone can grow a person at a time, but if that church plants other churches, which then plant other churches, the kingdom grows exponentially.

last week i attended the 'exponential conference' in orlando. whenever i go to ministry conferences--about twice a year--my dad asks, 'aren't they boring? why do you go to those?!' the state mandates that he goes to dental seminars a couple times a year, and those are boring. this conference, however, was anything but that. the highlights included...

...hearing tim keller and alan hirsch, who reminded us that the gospel is the reason we plant churches and is the basis for everything we do as christians.

...talking with a handful of other church planters who are about a year ahead of us. they are quite helpful and encouraging: as an example of that, one planter's advice could save us about $10,000 when we purchase equipment.

...hanging out with friends, of course! i talked with several former coworkers and future planters from all over the country and it was fun to catch up and hear what god's doing through them.

i'm thankful that there is such a thing as a national new church conference for church planters like me. it's encouraging to know we're not the only ones crazy enough to do this this called church planting!

providence

2008-04-23T16:05:00.004-04:00

a doctrine of god i'm coming to rely on more and more is god's providence.

today in orlando the family minister candidate i was excited about withdrew herself from consideration. she didn't think it was the right situation for her to be in, and she'll be pursuing other things once she completes school. i was really disappointed--it was like a kick in the gut, really.

but i trust our candidate and know she was doing what she believed is best. and i was reminded of god's providence. 'providence' comes from the latin words pro and videre, meaning 'to see ahead'. and i know that god has foreseen this and has the right person in line to become mosaic's family minister.

thanks to all of you who have prayed. please continue to pray that god leads us to the right family minister and the right worship minister. i firmly believe that like the israelites between the sea of reeds and pharaoh's army, god has not led us this far to disappoint us.

orlando

2008-04-22T09:35:00.003-04:00

this week i'm attending a conference in orlando for church planters--yeah, it's rough having to go to orlando. this is my 4th time attending the conference, and it'll be fun to be inspired and to hang out with other church planters from all over the country who mentor me. in addition, there are 2 staff candidates here to figure out if church planting is for them.
please pray that this week is inspirational and that we gain more clarity for our staff.

news #10

2008-04-15T16:06:00.001-04:00

this is a new one, i thought

2008-04-08T10:23:00.004-04:00

'could you pray for me? i think i'm supposed to enter the priesthood.' so said the barista as he handed me my venti, extra-hot, skim latte.

i had arrived at starbucks around 8:15, ordered my drink, and planned on knocking out a couple documents on advertising and marketing for mosaic yesterday morning. i've talked with this particular barista several times before, so he knows my name and what's going on with mosaic. i didn't quite know what to say, so i told him i'd be around for awhile and to grab me on his break.

a couple hours later he pulled up a chair and described why he thought this. i'm glad anyone wants to serve god, so even though i disagree with some catholic teachings and traditions i decided to set that aside. instead, i told him about my call to ministry and about different confirmations along the way. i also told him what professor dale holzbauer told our ministry 101 class in college: 'if there's anything you can do besides ministry and be just as happy, do it. ministry's tough, and there are lots of ways to serve god. so if you can do anything else, change your major now. but if there's something in you that can't not do ministry, then i'll give you some tools to help you along the way.' following our conversation i prayed for him and he prayed for me.

who knows who will talk to me at starbucks today...

if you live in maryland i want to meet you!

2008-04-03T21:53:00.003-04:00

the purpose of this blog is to enable our prayer and financial supporters throughout the country to keep up with the news and feel a personal connection to mosaic. however, i've realized that at least 1 in 5 people who visit this site live in maryland. if that's you, i want to meet you!

tonight, for example, we had dinner with a very gifted, fun couple who connected to us in part through the blog. while i'm not sure if this couple will feel led to help us launch mosaic (although i'd love to have them join us!), part of our strategy is to find other like-minded christians in the area who are not passionately connected to a local church to help us launch mosaic.

i believe the best way to reach people with the gospel is for people to feel so passionately about their church they can't help but bring their friends. so if you live in maryland and need to find a church that excites you because it helps you grow and it helps you spread the gospel, send me an email at carl@mosaicchristian.org, and i'll buy you a cup of starbucks so i can hear your story.

does the presidential election matter?

2008-04-02T08:20:00.005-04:00

this post is part of a contest on www.plantingspace.com. follow the link to vote for this post.

does the presidential election matter?
every president can lead according to god’s will or what is popular. he (sorry, hillary, it's over) faces the choice pharaoh had: submit to god and endure, or follow your heart and fall. either way, god is glorified.

the church shows the world what life looks like when christ is lord: we honor humility, respect the poor, comfort the hurting, challenge the bold, and worship christ. these are what our president should pursue for our country.

come november 4 i will have strong opinions about who can best lead war on terror, reduce government, appoint judges, and protect the unborn. if the elected seeks god’s will, god will receive honor. but if the president refuses god's wisdom and pursues selfish ends, god will still ensure he receives glory, just as he did with pharaoh. god could say to every one of us, just as he said to pharaoh, 'i have raised you up for this very purpose, that i might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.' we are planting this church so god's name might be proclaimed in all the earth, and i pray our next president has the same goal.

rick pitino and church planting

2008-03-27T15:51:00.007-04:00

tonight my beloved louisville cardinals take on the mighty tennessee volunteers in the ncaa sweet 16. it will be a tough game because the teams are so evenly matched, but one area i believe the cards do have a slight edge is coaching. rick pitino is the only coach in ncaa history to take 3 schools to the final four, he has the best record of any coach in the nation of beating higher seeded teams, he has over 500 wins, and he's a shoe-in for the hall of fame.

coaching isn't just important in basketball. i've also learned it's important in church planting! mosaic's management team urged me to find a coach to walk through this process with me. so david robinson is my coach--no, not the former nba great, but david robinson, lead minister of community christian church in white marsh, maryland.

last week david and i had our first monthly face-to-face meeting. he drove down to our 'hood and hung out with me for a couple hours, asking lots of questions about mosaic and what i'm doing to prepare for launch. it was very encouraging, because david launched ccc just a couple years ago, and he thinks mosaic is right on track. he also gave me some examples of what they had done to successfully lead up to launch.

i'm not sure if david robinson will end up in any hall of fame, but i know that we'll put a better team on the floor because he's a great coach.

thanks dave, and go cards!

the point

2008-03-24T08:30:00.003-04:00

yesterday was easter, and lindsay and i celebrated by going to damon's and watching march madness after church. it was actually a fun way to celebrate, since later i got to see my cards dominate oklahoma en route to the sweet 16.

of the many things i look forward to once mosaic launches, easter is in the top few. easter is the reason for everything we do. the bible contains many wise teachings, amazing stories of faith, and challenging examples. but the reason we follow jesus is because he rose from the grave. paul says if that tomb is not empty, our faith if futile. but because it is empty, we know god's promises are true: that we are not dead in our sin, this life is not all there is, we have hope for our future.

in college i was fortunate to visit israel and see the 2 places jesus might have been buried: one has a church built over it and one is more of a natural area for christian pilgrims to pray. (my professor/archaeologist/tour guide said there's no way it's the 2nd place, even though that one is much more serene.) the neat thing is that you can see the area that jesus was supposedly laid, the actual place from which he arose. it was fascinating and humbling to stand where he once stood. the hope found only on jesus is what mosaic is built on, and i can't wait until our church launches. while i stood in jesus' tomb and came to a new appreciation of his resurrection, some who come to mosaic will through our words stand in that place and hear about jesus' ressurection for the very first time. this, then, is the point of all we do.

i pray you had a humbling and joyful easter.

it's the most wonderful time of the year

2008-03-20T08:25:00.006-04:00

(warning: this post has little to do with church planting.)

today is the beginning of my favorite time of year: march madness. quite simply, it's the best playoff in all of sports, a one-and-done menu of basketball that will satiate even the most die hard of fans. there are several traditions i have, all of which are happening again this year...

taking a "sick" day
typically, i have to start coming down with a cough tuesday, then fake a fever on wednesday, all to set up needing to take sick days thursday and friday. this year, as my own boss, i decided to take a couple vacation days since i couldn't fake myself out.

seeing firsthand
i've been fortunate to go to the ncaa tournament several years, most recently last year when louisville played in rupp arena. this year, with games in nearby washington, d.c. my wife and i are going to the first 2 games of the first round here. go georgia and go baylor.

bracketville
once again i will prove that i have no knowledge of basketball, despite looking at scores daily for the last 5 months. i picked memphis to beat georgetown in the final in all 4 pools i'm in. (i'm a one-bracket kind of guy.)

watching with dad
this is one of my favorites. every year, if possible, my dad and i go to a sports bar together to watch all the games at once. in college my dad drove up to cincinnati and took me and my buddies to damon's--they thought he was the coolest ever. several times we've gone to the first round together. and this year he's flying up to baltimore friday night so we can watch the 'ville friday and go to damon's all day saturday.

screaming at the tv
this one i blame on my dad. he raised me a louisville cardinal fan in the 80's, when louisivlle went to 4 final fours in 7 years, including 2 national titles. well, every year now i watch in disgust as uofl bows out before they can get their one shining moment. oh well, it's always a fun year. besides, i'm a chicago cubs fan and with spring training starting, maybe this is our year.

news #9

2008-03-18T16:08:00.001-04:00

check out this month's video news...

the unnamed encourager

2008-03-11T09:59:00.004-04:00

a few days ago i checked our mail at home and included was a note to lindsay and me. it was pretty short, just saying "we're praying for you" and "you're doing great" and things like that. it also came with gift cards to both panera and starbucks. but the coolest thing is who it was from...it didn't say!

the only thing i know is that it was postmarked "louisville, ky". so whoever you are, thanks. we're having lunch at panera today on you!

my teammate

2008-03-06T16:59:00.004-05:00

i've been talking to a couple people recently about moving up to maryland to join us: one is the family minister we're recruiting, the other a friend from southeast in louisville who's trying to get a job up here so she can help mosaic launch. i've been talking to each of them a lot to answer their questions about coming up here, as well as to offer any support we can. i've realized what a huge sacrifice it would be for either of them to leave friends, family and comfort zones to move up here.

it reminded me that they'll be doing what my wife has already done. i realized as a teenager that my ministers who had good marriages were effective in ministry, while those with consistently stressful marriages were often distracted from ministry. i'm fortunate to have a patient, caring wife who consistently provides a loving, stress-free home. she's made several sacrifices in our 5 years together to move to virginia, to louisville, and now to maryland. she's a patient, disciplined mom, and a beautiful, fun wife, which enables me to work on mosaic without stressing about our home.

official website launch!

2008-02-28T21:48:00.004-05:00

for the last couple months i've been working with a good friend named irene davis who is a very talented web designer, and i'm proud to say that today mosaic's website is officially online!

simply click the link to go to www.mosaicchristian.org .

"why we fight"

2008-02-25T09:14:00.006-05:00

friedrich nietzsche wrote, "the essential thing ‘in heaven and earth’ is. . . that there should be a long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living."

last night my mom called me to relate that my grandma, who had been on her deathbed for several days, had breathed her last and gone on to glory. my mom and her sister were at her side when this happened. she is the first of my four grandparents to die. and while her mind had been viciously attached by alzheimer's, it is sad to know that my grandpa is alone.

i believe my grandma's life could be described as "a long obedience in the same direction". she was a faithful wife, mother, grandmother, and child of god for decades. her funeral is tentatively scheduled for friday, and there won't be thousands of people there, for she wasn't famous. her death won't make the news, for her life wasn't political nor scandalous. there will be a small amount of friends and family who gather to remember and say good-bye: we'll tell a few stories, sing a song or two, and read some scripture.

...

among the strange emotions this brings up, i am reminded of my favorite film series: steven spielberg's and tom hanks' "band of brothers", the made-for-hbo miniseries that chronicles the exploits of easy company in world war 2. one of the more powerful episodes is titled "why we fight", and it shows easy company discovering a concentration camp in nazi germany. the images are horrifically graphic, but serve as vindication for the atrocities that war brings--it is worth war's violence to stop evil like that.

my grandma was a part of several churches in her lifetime, of which i only know the names of a couple. but these communities encouraged her to strive for "a long obedience in the same direction". so while the funeral friday will be sad, we will not mourn as those who have no hope.

my prayer for mosaic is that many decades from now when someone's grandma dies, they also can mourn with hope, in part because a small church in suburban maryland helped lead her to the lord.

sometimes i wonder if lindsay and i are crazy for moving up here! but we must remember that this life is not all there is, and that "whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have everlasting life". to create passionate followers of jesus, who will one day hear "well done, good and faithful servant"--this, then, is "why we fight".

meeting people

2008-02-20T13:31:00.006-05:00

a church is all about relationships. so the reason we moved here 8 months before we plan to have a sunday service is to begin meeting people, making friends, and slowly spreading the word about mosaic. today we did 2 things to help further that goal.

i attended my first chamber of commerce meeting. i wasn't sure what to expect, but was able to meet 10 or so other people, tell them why we moved here and what we're doing, and heard what profession they're in as well. i've been told this is a good way to get our name in the community, as well as meet business owners who provide services we need.

lindsay went to her first baltimore mommies meeting. about 15 women (and kids) got together at a barnes & noble and hung out for an hour or so.

hopefully we'll keep finding ways to meet new people. remember, wherever you are that there are nonchristians you could meet too!

news #8

2008-02-18T16:15:00.003-05:00

here's the monthly news, in video format. remember, this is amateur photography and editing here!

preaching this sunday

2008-02-14T09:43:00.004-05:00

i love sharing the vision we have for mosaic: why are we even doing this thing called church planting? i'm excited because this sunday christ's church at manor woods has invited me to preach in both services to share about mosaic. their church has already committed to spend a day serving with us this summer, so i'm excited about getting them excited about mosaic.

if you're in the area i'd love to see you there!

visiting other churches

2008-02-10T14:29:00.000-05:00

since mosaic won't start for anther 7 months every sunday we visit a different church. we've visited churches in d.c. and around baltimore. today we visited one in annapolis. as a minister it's fun to show up to church and have no responsibilities. it's also helpful to get ideas from these churches. for example, 2 weeks ago we showed up late to a local church and they said the nursery was full--but then gave us a pager and said they'd page us when they found more nursery workers. sure enough, 5 minutes later the pager went off--pretty cool!

i wish we could start mosaic this sunday, but in the meantime we're worshiping and learning elsewhere.

all in a day's work

2008-02-01T14:03:00.000-05:00

at the request of "anonymous", i'll fill you in on some more things i did the past few days. mosaic now has a p.o. box. our address is:
mosaic christian church
po box 104
hanover, md 21076
what will mosaic's first piece of mail be?

yesterday mosaic opened a checking account. the only thing it will be used for prior to launch will be to deposit tithes of launch team members.

and i sent a proposal to the general manager of the local movie theatre about the possibility of mosaic renting a couple theatres. i met with him for an hour yesterday morning and he was very positive about the possibility, but i've learned from other church planters that you don't count it done until you've signed the dotted line.

today we picked up my in-laws at the airport for a fun weekend of tourist stuff and eating out. (reagan's too small to be spoiled by them just yet.) should be fun!

a good day

2008-01-29T17:05:00.000-05:00

another church planter gave me good advice last week. he said, "don't get frustrated if you don't feel like you accomplish something everyday; relationships take time." good advice for sure. fortunately, today seemed very fruitful.

this morning i had breakfast with a local senior minister and he had some great insights on the area. his church is experiencing healthy growth, which seems good for mosaic. i've been told that churches are like restaurants in that the success of one shows the need for more.

during a few hours working from panera i talked with the general manager at the theatre where i hope we can meet. we set up a face to face meeting for thursday, and he was very positive and encouraging about the possibility of renting his facility. there are certainly some hurdles to overcome, but it's a good start.

after lunch i headed into downtown baltimore where i met with the director of a crisis pregnancy center. she and her team were great, and it seems like they're accomplishing a lot of good. i'm interested in finding missions in the city that mosaic can be involved with even prior to our launch, so it was good to connect with them.

i ended the day with a phone call from church planting solutions, the organization that helps walk us through all the details involved in launching a church. that took a little over an hour, and my guy doug helped me understand the role of marketing and launch team, among many other things.

some days it seems i don't have much success, but every day i try to plant some seeds that will help build the kingdom overall and our little church specifically. my prayer is that wherever you're reading this from, you are doing the same.

we're legal!

2008-01-27T17:20:00.001-05:00

this isn't terribly exciting, but we received papers this week stating that we are incorporated in the state of maryland. unfortunately, after i opened the mail the doorbell didn't ring with 50 people outside wanting to be baptized. however, this is another step we must take to reach our goal of creating a thriving church that helps bring god's lost children home. i'll be glad when we get to the more fun milestones, like our first baptism. but for now, being incorporated will have to do.

2 prayer requests

2008-01-25T12:27:00.000-05:00

okay, prayer warriors, i need your help. 2 important things you could pray for.

last weekend we hosted a possible family minister, and i'm very excited about the possibility of her joining us. she's spending a couple weeks praying and talking with other children's ministers before she agrees to come back for an interview, but i'm really stoked about this. she is a great people person, sold out to jesus, and has great chemistry with lindsay and me. ask god to give her direction--and if you're feeling ambitious, ask that the direction be to maryland!

the other request is for our facility. yesterday i met with a manager at our #1 location. there are 3 hurdles to overcome before we could meet there, and the first one should be settled by tuesday. please pray that everything works out for us to meet at this location, where it would be easy for people to find us and it would be an inviting place for nonchristians to check out church.

i'll keep you posted on what happens!

what are you doing?

2008-01-21T17:03:00.003-05:00

often i'm asked what i will spend my time doing now that we're in maryland, but still have over 7 months until the church launches. several months ago we partnered with church planting solutions, a company that exists to help new churches cover all their bases. part of their services include a customized checklist of what we need to do to launch mosaic:

this checklist includes everything i could imagine--things like:
get a p.o. box
plan preaching calendar for first year
conduct soft demographic survey of 100 people
read specific books
design logo
hire children's minister

some of the items on the checklist take just a few minutes (i've done all those of course!), and some take many hours or meetings. but the bottom line is that these 366 items will take all the time we have up to launch, and should set us up for success, so that when we do launch there won't be any aspect of the church we haven't planned and prayed for.

what is mosaic?

2008-01-20T18:58:00.000-05:00

mosaic christian church is a church plant between baltimore and washington, d.c. mosaic is set to open in september 2008. carl kuhl is the lead minister of mosaic, and a family minister and worship minister are yet to be added. carl and lindsay moved to the arundel mills area of maryland in january 2008, and will spend the next 8 months planning for the church, laying the necessary groundwork, and recruiting people to join the launch team. over the summer mission teams from several other churches will assist mosaic in local outreaches.

if you would like to get more involved with mosaic, email carl at carl@mosaicchristian.org.

logo

2008-01-19T21:34:00.000-05:00

mosaic christian church has a logo. after many submissions and much debate, we have chosen the logo below, created by irene davis.

let it snow

2008-01-17T15:59:00.001-05:00

as i alluded to in an earlier post, southeast's christmas theme was "white christmas", taken from isaiah 1.18: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.

today it snowed in hanover, and i pray it is a metaphor of the grace that will fall on this area in the months and years to come.

for the church that has yet to be started, let it snow.
for the church planter plodding along, let it snow.
for the sinners desperately in need of grace, let it snow!

news #7

2008-01-16T09:06:00.000-05:00

good morning baltimore!
we are on the ground in maryland. we moved this past weekend and today are finally feeling a little organized. the moving process wasn't what i'd call exciting, but everything worked out. (well, aside from the episode a couple posts down on youtube.) we're thankful to have a great support structure around us of friends, family and churches. we are just beginning the hard part, and we know we have many tough days ahead, but we also believe there's fruit at the end of this process that will make every sacrifice worth it.

fundraising
we have commitments now for over 75% of our funds, and the sacrifices continue to amaze me. december was our biggest month yet for fundraising, and i'm confident we will reach our goal.

staffing
still no news here, but we do have a family minister candidate coming in town this weekend. it's very early in the process, but we thought it would be good for her to see the area and for us to hang out for a weekend to see if we might be a good team.

please continue to pray for lindsay, reagan and me. it will take some time to get adjusted to new surroundings, and it will take time for us to see some fruit. pray that we have discipline to stick to the plan, and pray that we see a harvest.

in the house

2008-01-14T08:30:00.001-05:00

we made it! we arrived saturday afternoon and have spent the past 2 days unpacking and organizing. today we're going to ikea to buy a couple more things, and hopefully in the next day or 2 we'll be completely settled. my mom's here until tuesday afternoon, which is a huge help. my brother left sunday night, and he was a huge help as well. thanks for your prayers

moving problems?

2008-01-11T20:29:00.000-05:00

today we loaded our truck and we, uh, ran into a problem. see the picture and video below...

move schedule

2008-01-09T10:08:00.000-05:00

the big move is finally here. i can tell because i can't sleep at night! several of you have asked when we're going and what our schedule is, so here you go:

wednesday and thursday: packing.
thursday: last day working at southeast.
friday at noon: load up the truck.
friday at 3: my bro and i will hit the road for cincinnati, where we'll have dinner with my in-laws and spend the night there
saturday at 7: we'll hit the road from cincinnati, while lindsay, reagan and my mom leave from louisville. they'll stop in cincinnati for breakfast.
saturday at 3: the boys will arrive in hanover, maryland where 2 guys are going to help us unload.
saturday at 7: the ladies will arrive and tell us we didn't put the furniture in the right places.
sunday: we're going to national community church in d.c., both because it's a great church and so my bro can see d.c. for the first time. we'll probably stay down there half the day. ben flies home to louisville sunday night.
monday: ikea trip to buy a desk for me and anything lindsay needs.
tuesday: my mom leaves after lunch.
wednesday: we're alone and need to begin recruiting a couple hundred people to check out our church in less than 8 months.

choose your own adventure

2008-01-03T10:41:00.000-05:00

a couple weeks ago i offered the idea to any brave souls who are willing to run a marathon in 2008 to raise money for mosaic...$100 for every mile you run. if you want to make an impact for the kingdom and get in great shape at the same time, this is for you. below is a list of marathons you may want to consider.

louisville half and full marathons on april 26, 2008
cincinnati half and full marathons on may 4, 2008
baltimore half and full marathons on october 11, 2008
washington, d.c. marathon on october 26, 2008
virginia beach half marathon on august 31, 2008
richmond half and full marathons on november 15, 2008

if you are interested in doing this, please let me know!

saying goodbye to southeast

2007-12-27T19:52:00.001-05:00

we've been very fortunate the past 15 months to attend southeast christian church, which is where i grew up and my favorite church community in the world. one of the saddest parts about going to baltimore is leaving southeast. we're leaving some friends, but we'll keep in touch. we're leaving family, but they'll come to visit and we'll talk to them on a regular basis....but southeast can't come visit!

on christmas weekend my family attended southeast together, and it was a fantastic service. the theme was "white christmas", centering on god making our sin white as snow. worship was excellent, the sermon was practical, and during a solo after the sermon it snowed in the sanctuary! it wasn't a gimmick; it truly enhanced our worship experience. and during "silent night" to conclude the service, i got choked up and couldn't sing. part of it was due to the touching service, part of it was because i knew i had only 2 weeks left to attend southeast, and part was the thought that i have a burden to create a church like southeast.

the reason i wanted to come to southeast as a resident church planter was to take some of its dna to our new church, and i pray that happens. but the reason isn't simply that i want to be like southeast. it's that southeast is a practical example of the church described in acts 2. and we're starting mosaic to create an acts 2 church for the people of baltimore and d.c., a church that is dedicated to the word, that prays for change, that has inspirational worship, and that is dedicated to supporting and encouraging each other.

southeast had over 30,000 people attend christmas services--a church record. some criticize that big churches are driven by numbers, but having seen behind the curtain i know that's not true. "success" for southeast is defined by the standard in acts 2, not by any number. and whether mosaic has 100, 1000 or 10,000 people in attendance, if we don't live up to that biblical standard we have failed. southeast does a great job of consistently living out that example, and that is why i both love and will miss this life-changing church.

go crazy!

2007-12-19T15:06:00.001-05:00

what's the craziest thing you've ever done? as i reflect on 2007, 2 things stand out in my life. one is decide to start a church. right now i'm in the middle of the fundraising stage, and it's an intimidating task to stand in front of individuals and church leaders i respect and ask them to give their hard-earned money or offerings to a church that doesn't exist yet. the second crazy thing i did in 2007 was run a marathon. i participated in the "goofy challenge" at disney world last january, when i ran my first 26.2 mile race. and although it was crazy, running taught me a lot about patience, discipline, hard work and--yes--pain.

in 2008 what will you do that's just plain crazy? skydive? get married? start a new job? i'd like for you to join me in my craziness by partnering as both a fundraiser and marathoner. you know that we must raise significant amount of money to plant mosaic christian church, and amazingly 69% of our goal has already been committed. so we're close, but we still need to push farther to reach the goal.

so i'd like you to run a marathon or half-marathon in 2008 and commit to raise $100 for every mile you run. i know some of you are already runners, and many of you are passionate about seeing mosaic come to life. this is your chance to do something crazy that will benefit both you and mosaic. i'll have more info in the weeks to come, but for now start asking, "what crazy thing will i do in 2008?"

news #6

2007-12-13T10:24:00.001-05:00

it's been a fruitful month. here are the highlights...

fundraising
fundraising continues to go well. so far we have 63% of our funds committed to be given over the next 4 years. we still have several churches and many individuals who have told us they will give but haven't committed yet. so we're well on our way to reaching our goal.

home, sweet home
we signed a lease on a home! we found a beautiful townhouse for rent in a prime location. and it had been empty since august, so we got a price that had been lowered twice. lindsay loves it, and it's much bigger than we expected. we're looking forward to moving in, which leads to the next bit of news...

moving date
we've tentatively circled january 12th as our moving date. that means the next time i email you the news it will come from baltimore. so we have less than 1 month to hang out with our families, prepare for the move, and attend southeast. i got a pit in my stomach writing that.

staffing
i am in serious talks with a friend of mine to become our family minister. i think he'd do a great job, and i know we'd have fantastic chemistry. we still need to interview him and send him to church plant assessment center before we'd offer him a job, but we're checking each other out at this point, and it seems like a great fit.

please continue to pray for staffing, fundraising and our move. pray that this dream becomes more and more of a reality!

home, sweet home!

2007-12-05T10:59:00.001-05:00

we just signed a lease! we found a very nice townhouse--only 2 years old--that we'll be leasing for a year. it's in a nice area of town, and the best thing is that it's a very new area--much of it is still being built. so we should be able to meet lots of new people moving into the area.

it has 3 bedrooms, a 1 car garage and 2 1/2 baths. it'll be the nicest place we've lived in since being married, and there's a community pool where lindsay and reagan will spend their summer.

i'm shocked and pumped that we found a great place in less than 24 hours. thanks for your prayers.

apartment search update

2007-12-04T17:00:00.000-05:00

writing from baltimore...

we spent all day looking for apartments and found what we were hoping for--a nice townhouse to rent. it's in our price range, so we submitted an application. we're trying to not get our hopes up too much but our hopes are, well, way up. so say a prayer tonight for the owner, that he takes our app.

we should find out tomorrow. in the meantime, we're still looking.

fasting remix

2007-11-28T21:24:00.000-05:00

so back in september several brave souls volunteered to fast 1 day per month, every month until mosaic opens next september. this week a person volunteered to cover the last day available. so now every day of the month is taken.

for those of you fasting (and if you want to get on board, simply post a comment in response to this that includes what date you want), here are the 4 things you can pray for right now...

1. fundraising. we are 56% of the way to achieving all the committed funds we need. we still need churches and individuals to say, "i'm in."

2. staffing. we are still looking for 2 full time staff who will move to baltimore in july. i am talking with a friend who's considering joining us, so pray that god gives us both discernment.

3. apartment! next week lindsay and i are spending 2 days in baltimore, during which we hope to secure an apartment and a move-in date.

4. launch team. 2 couples have committed to be a part of our launch team, and another person from louisville is considering moving to baltimore to join our launch team. ask god to give this person discernment, and to continue to open doors for others to join our launch team.

thank you for fasting. jesus says in mark 11.24, "whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours." god has already opened several doors for us, and i believe that in response to your prayers he will continue to open doors.

in case you're wondering what day you have, here is a list of those who have signed up to fast:
1-ellie s
2-kevin r
3-carolyn
4-lauren s, lee l
5-jim m
6-josh b
7-victor a
8-ben k
9-thad r
10-jen m
11-shelley r
12-anonymous
13-andrew
14-emily l
15-carl k, deena k
16-richie m
17-becka o
18-lynn a
19-megan k
20-jimmy j
21-carlos k
22-tony m
23-bob n
24-[andrea h]
25-ken l
26-emma k
27-mindi m
28-darin m
29-angela j
30-scott g
31-eugene d

what i'm thankful for

2007-11-26T15:06:00.000-05:00

i know the holiday is a couple weeks past, but in the spirit of thanksgiving I want to share with you the top ten things I am thankful for:

1. i am thankful that we added a family to our launch team. at the beginning of the month I spent a day in baltimore with a couple that I’d met through some providential circumstances. They are on fire for jesus and want to help us launch mosaic.
2. i am thankful that 55% of the funds we must raise over 4 years have been committed, and that we’ve received 7% of those funds. as we prepare to move on site next month it will become more critical that both numbers continue to go up.
3. i am thankful for two great organizations that are helping on a weekly basis: the orchard group and church plant solutions. right now orchard is helping primarily with fundraising and cps is helping set us up as a non-profit.
4. i am thankful for the opportunity to teach a couple more sunday morning classes at southeast, where I could share the vision of our church plant.
5. i am thankful for the people who have attended our fundraisers. we had another fundraiser in louisville recently and—just like the others—you could feel the excitement in the room about mosaic.
6. i am thankful that we have 9 mission teams committed to serving with us for a weekend next summer. our goal is to have a team serving with us the 15 weekends between June and our grand opening, so we’re almost there.
7. i am thankful that we have 30 people committed to fasting one day a month, so that someone is fasting for mosaic every single day until it launches. (we still need one more date covered, so let me know if you’re interested!)
8. i am thankful for the opportunity to learn from a great staff at southeast, especially from our preachers, dave and kyle.
9. i am thankful that I have a wife who loves me and is a great mother, that we get to celebrate christmas with reagan this year, and that we’ve spent this year close to our families in louisville and cincinnati.
10. i am thankful for the privilege of leading a church plant that will teach the bible in relevant ways and where the holy spirit will change people’s lives, so that god will be glorified.

news #5

2007-11-13T08:45:00.000-05:00

here are this month's happenings involving mosaic.

church grows 33%
i visited baltimore/d.c. a couple weeks ago, just for the day, and while there met up with a couple i had met via a third party. they're a young couple with a young boy who recently moved to baltimore from kentucky. i asked them to join our launch team and be part of the foundation of mosaic, and about a week later they emailed me and agreed. so our launch team went from 9 people (including kids) to 12. now that's some church growth!

fundraising
we had a great fundraiser here in louisville with about 20 individuals. we're having another one this coming monday, so pray that it goes well and people respond. right now 55% of our fundraising goal has been committed. so we're doing great, but we have a long way to go.

thanks for your prayers, support and interest. as i sat in the arundel mills panera a couple weeks ago i lost track of what i was typing and stared at all the people around me, wondering whose life would be forever changed by the gospel via mosaic. together, we're doing a great work. the harvest is coming!

fundraising

2007-11-08T21:30:00.000-05:00

a few weeks ago our management team met in baltimore for the first time, and the primary goal we achieved was finalizing a fundraising budget. the fundraising pays for 2 things:
1. it pays for all pre-launch expenses, such as advertising, equipment, computers, and anything else we have to buy before the church launches sunday services.
2. it pays for a portion of the salaries, broken down like this:
prelaunch and year 1 outside support covers 100% of the salaries.
year 2 outside support covers 75% of the salaries.
year 3 outside support covers 50% of the salaries.
year 4 outside support covers 25% of the salaries.
so on our 4th birthday we must be financially self-supportive.

the total amount we must raise to cover all of that is $848,000. this is a lot of money! part of the reason we're raising so much is to try to do things right and not skimp on anything that would hurt the future health of the church. we're also going to an expensive area--if we were planting here in kentucky that number would be tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars less.

so we're recruiting individuals and churches who are willing to give sacrificially to this project. this project isn't going to become a reality due to just a handful of people. this will take hundreds of people who pitch in as much as they are able to bring this church to a reality. and if you decide to become one of those people, i am convinced that one day in heaven you will have people thank you for helping them get there. if you want to give financially, click the link on the left to become part of the foundation of mosaic.

in baltimore & d.c.

2007-11-02T10:24:00.000-04:00

wednesday i did a whirlwind trip to baltimore and d.c., just for the day. i caught the 7am flight out of louisville and was in the city of baltimore for breakfast by 9. this couple had heard of our project from the article in the southeast outlook a few months ago. they just moved to baltimore and are sold out christians, so i gave them a pitch on how they could be an essential part of mosaic's foundation. they are a great couple, and i am praying they decide to join us, because i know they'd add a lot to our team.

i rushed out of there at 10.30 and in about 2 hours got to downtown d.c., where i had lunch with a guy who's already decided to be part of our core group. he's a solid believer as well, and we had a good time catching up--especially since he chose to eat at the finest lunch establishment of them all...chipotle! (just another sign that he's a solid guy.)

then i headed just north of d.c. to meet with the lead minister of a church. he said his church would love to be part of our serving and outreach events next summer, and we talked about the possibility of his church joining us as a financial partner as well.

i headed back to arundel mills for dinner and did some work there before catching the late flight home. as i sat in panera and starbucks i looked around at the crowd and wondered who there we might reach, and how their lives would change if they met jesus and joined his church. it got my heart beating fast, both from fear and excitement. but most of all, it made me want to move up there today and get rolling!

the mosaic staff

2007-10-28T21:53:00.000-04:00

when asking other ministers what staff positions we should start a church with, i get 1 of 2 responses. about half of ministers tell me the worship minister is the most important position to hire, because that person can provide an emotive draw to people. the other half say a children's minister is the most important, because he/she can draw families to the church.

in one of my early meetings with the orchard group brent storms said they suggest hiring both and starting with a staff of 3. so that's what we're going to do. we'll hire a worship minister and a family minister, both of whom will move on site in early june and will be full-time employees.

the worship minister will oversee all aspects of the sunday worship service and will lead worship. the family minister will oversee children's ministry on sunday and will focus on ways to equip families to minister to their children.

we don't have either position hired yet, and still have plenty of time to find the right people. but we're excited about finding two people who will help lead mosaic to become a great church.

living missionally at starbucks

2007-10-25T23:28:00.000-04:00

when we move to baltimore in january, we won't know hardly anyone. so we will have to live 'missionally' if we want people showing up at our church next september. after spending several weeks getting a lay of the land and feeling out the typical routine of the area, we will start to be very intentional about where we go and when we go there. we'll try to work out at the gym the same days every week and the same times. we'll pick out a certain favorite restaurant and eat there every thursday at 7pm. we'll go to the same park every weekend at the same time. all this in an effort to meet the people who work and frequent those same places, hoping to build relationships with them that will eventually result in them to attending mosaic.

the exact places and times of this have yet to be determined, but one thing i am planning on is making starbucks my office! i got this idea from dan smith at momentum church in cleveland. i could rent office space and hole up there every day to work on sermons and launch plans. but a better idea may be to hit up the local starbucks every morning, grab a latte, and try to meet people while i do the same work. after all, our #1 (and #2, and #3) priority is to meet people. so this is one small way we hope to meet some folks whose lives will one day be transformed by jesus.

louisville fundraiser

2007-10-18T09:26:00.000-04:00

last night we had our last (as of right now) scheduled fundraiser, and it was here in louisville. we had to change the locale at the last minute--which may have been some spiritual warfare--but it came together great. there were about 20 people there, and it seemed they all had fun and dug the talk about our church. it's fun giving that talk because i'm so passionate about it, and last night i could feel other people catching that same passion. now i pray that passion translates into more dollars for our project!

earthtones for the logo?

2007-10-16T15:00:00.000-04:00

i've gotten several emails from people who are designing possible logos for mosaic, per the previous post. i look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with! i told a friend (who is in graphic design school) that i liked the starbucks feel and here are his comments about color scheme:

i think that earth tones are a really good choice for this logo. earth tones convey a more natural, inviting feel. i would probably stay away from the bright, flashy, full intensity colors. another good option is a monochromatic palette (various tints and shades of a color). this creates a stable, grounded feeling (provided it isn't too bright or vibrant). on the opposite end of the scale a primary color scheme (red, yellow, blue) tends to convey a feeling of simpleness or being direct. i don't think a primary palette at full intensity would be good...too bright...but i think that a muted primary palette could look good as well. one drawback with a primary palette is that if it's not done properly it can tend to look a little bit like a 5th grader designed your logo. :)

psychologically, here is a breakdown of what colors invoke what feelings:
blue...dignified
green...persistent
red...assertive
yellow...optimistic
brown...passive
violet...meditative
black...surrender
gray...barrier

of course there are a few other feelings that these colors can invoke...it all just depends on who you ask. :)

all in all, i think that a muted earth tone palette would be a good idea...although it is one of my favorite color schemes so i may be a little bit partial. :)

help design mosaic's logo

2007-10-15T22:34:00.000-04:00

hey everyone, i'm calling all creative types to help me on this. it's about time for mosaic to get a logo. if you or someone you know has fun doing this type of thing, i'd love for you to submit a logo you think would be good for us to use. here is some stuff to help you:

our church will attract people in their 20's and 30's, most of whom are just starting to have a family. they make a lot of money and are caught up in their careers, but are spiritual seekers.

some random things i hope our church is about:
biblical truth
creativity
excellence
grace
simplicity
worship
families
love

the name 'mosaic' is pretty easy to figure out--just as broken pieces of glass seem worthless unto themselves but in the hands of an artist they become something beautiful, so we hope god takes people's lives that individually may seem worthless or broken, and forms them into a beautiful church.

if you have a logo you can email me or post it here. and please forward this to anyone who may be interested. thanks!

NEWS #4

2007-10-12T13:42:00.000-04:00

we've been very busy this month preparing for the church, and all it does is get me more excited. i've been to arundel mills twice this month and as i see people i wonder which of them will be changed forever by this new church. the way 1 samuel 14 describes jonathan defeating the philistines has convinced me that god will win the victory, but we have to fight the battle. so we're doing as much as we can to prepare to 'fight' right now. here are the highlights:

fundraising
we traveled to cincinnati and virginia beach to hold fundraising events for individual donors, and our last event is next wednesday in louisville. there are also about 10 churches we're asking to financially support us.

cps
wenesday we met with church planting solutions, a company based near d.c. they function as our project managers, and i'm excited to be working with them. basically, they give us a checklist of some 300 items we must do in order to launch. they will complete the ones they can, such as tax exempt status.

orchard retreat
we spent 3 days in new york state at the orchard group's planter retreat. it was great to connect with other leaders and talk about reaching people in the northeast. we even had a session on ministering to catholics, since there are so many in the northeast.

speaking
i got to preach this week at louisville bible college and talked about church planting. i've also spoken at various classes at southeast of 50-100 people, and without fail they love learning about church planting. the personal highlight was doing the communion intro at southeast last week--i can't remember when i was that nervous, but it went great. people even clapped at 2 of the services when i said we were planting a church next year.

please pray for our fundraising efforts. right now that is priority #1, 2 and 3! we want to focus 100% of our energy on meeting people when we get on the ground, so the more fundraising we get done now the more time we will have to connect with others once we arrive in arundel mills. please pray about what you can give, and pray that churches and individuals we've talked with will use their checkbooks to help build a dynamic church in maryland.

communion at southeast

2007-10-09T12:19:00.000-04:00

this past weekend i had a great opportunity at southeast. the worship guys asked me to introduce communion at each service, and tie in our church plant to let people know what we're doing. i was really, really, really nervous. part of that was due to being in front of so many people, and part of it is how much i respect the guys who stand in that spot each week.

i had 2 nightmares last week and felt sick to my stomach each service, but it went great. in fact, in the 2 sunday services the congregation started clapping! it's fun to know that southeast's leaders are excited enough about this plant to put me in front of the entire church. i can't wait until it becomes a reality.

a whirlwind tour

2007-10-02T23:34:00.000-04:00

tonight we're in cincinnati, winding down an 11-day church trip for our church plant. we visited 8 states in 11 days, put 2300 miles on the car, held 5 fundraisers, ate at 3 of our favorite virginia beach restaurants, played 2 rounds of golf, braved 1 high ropes course, and met about 40 leaders at a church planting retreat.

here are some highlights:
-seeing old friends
-having a day to play in manhattan, including visiting a great church plant called forefront
-shooting my all-time lowest golf score, a 91!
-enjoying our daughter reagan as a great traveler
-learning about other orchard group church plants
-having good turnouts for our fundraising events

and the best highlight of all will be when we get to go home wednesday and sleep in our own beds! we've been very busy, but have had a lot of fun.

where are we going?

2007-09-25T17:46:00.001-04:00

where exactly are we going? we tell people 'baltimore' because the area we're going is a suburb of baltimore. we're focusing around the arundel mills mall, the retail center of the area. and while it's called baltimore, my impression (from kentucky) is that most people there work in d.c. we will be 13 miles from downtown baltimore and 28 miles from the u.s. capitol. here's a map that shows where the arundel mills mall is, where we hope to center our ministry around:

View Larger Map

does being scared increase your faith?

2007-09-19T09:42:00.001-04:00

almost weekly i'm talking with someone about the church plant and they ask, 'so are you scared at all?' absolutely! among the things to be scared about:

-we know a total of 0 (zero) people in our target area, and in less than 12 months we want a couple hundred people to show up at our first service

-i've never led a church before

-i'm in the middle of asking people to give us hundreds of thousands of dollars, which i tell them will establish a solid church

-what if we fail?

-there are hundreds of things to do that i have no clue about...how exactly does one get tax exempt status?

-i've always wanted my lead minister to be my spiritual example, but i don't think i'm ready to be a church's example!

if i think about these things too long my stomach starts churning. a friend of mine wrote on his blog recently: 'there is a faith that I have been missing out on until doing this.' we haven't even moved on site yet, but i know exactly what he's talking about. come january, i will have a dependence on god that i've never had before. i will not only depend on him for grace for me, but for an entire church to start.

i wonder...was jesus scared in the garden, knowing he was getting ready to die for our sins? did moses get any sleep the night before he approached pharaoh? was joshua sick to his stomach as they approached jericho that seventh day? did david's mouth go dry as he approached goliath? i don't know, because the bible doesn't say. what i know is that their stories are told because in faith they did as they were told. am i scared? do i lose sleep? am i sick to my stomach writing this? yes. but am i convinced this is the path we're supposed to go down in order to bring glory to god? without question.

why i am a redskins (...or ravens) fan

2007-09-13T22:46:00.001-04:00

when we move to baltimore in january, i have promised my wife--a die hard cincinnati bengals fan--that i will join the redskins or the ravens fan club, in order to better relate to the baltimore/d.c. residents to whom we will minister. we are moving to an area between baltimore and d.c., so i will choose the team that has the biggest fan base in our new home.

i do have a couple of caveats to this--first, i have no favorite nfl team. for the past several years i've been a mike vick fan, but i haven't seen any of his highlights this year, so i've abandoned that. second, i'm not going to do this with college basketball or football, because i still love my louisville cardinals.

some of you will argue that it's cheap to so whimsically choose a favorite team, but it'll be a fun way to relate to our new church. in acts 16, paul has timothy circumcised to overcome barriers to the gospel, so the least i can do is adopt a new team. yes, i know some of you would rather be timothy than convert to the redskins, but i think it'll be fun to watch the cowboys find a new way to lose every season.

why church planting? #2

2007-09-06T08:26:00.000-04:00

as with everything in life, it's important to occasionally ask, 'why are we doing this?' why start a church? for that matter, why even give to or volunteer at a church? why not do something else, like help a homeless shelter or a program for kids or anything else that would give immediate help to a dysfunctional society.

let's say this winter you get really sick. so you go to the doctor and he can't figure it out immediately so he runs some tests on you. after awhile he comes back in the room where you're waiting, sick as a dog. he tells you he has good news and bad news. the good news is that your symptoms are from a very simple sickness that can be treated with antibiotics. but the bad news is that the tests also uncovered a disease that, left untreated, will kill you.

which of these do you treat? you treat both, of course--you don't want to be sick, nor do you want to die! but which is more important that you treat? the terminal disease.

to use the metaphor, many people in our world are 'sick'. they are poor, addicted, malnourished or broken in some other way. and they need immediate help.

but every person in our world has a terminal disease called sin. and left untreated, this disease will kill us. the only cure is found in jesus christ's sacrifice on the cross. without the cure people die 100% of the time, but with the cure they will live forever. and the body that jesus set up to promote that cure is the church. so let's start a church together in baltimore that will 'give antibiotics to those who are sick', but that will more importantly hold out a cure to those with the terminal disease of sin.

why the northeast?

2007-08-29T15:37:00.000-04:00

a couple years ago the church plant team of southeast christian church decided to focus its efforts on the northeast part of the united states, and that led to our eventual selection of baltimore as a place to plant. as you can see on the map, maryland and delaware aren't always considered part of the northeast, but u.s. census figures have included them and the washington/ baltimore corridor for several years. so southeast focuses our church planting efforts on washington d.c. and north. there are several reasons for this, but here's the main one: it is the most unchurched area of the united states.

sometimes this is debated, but take a look at this map:

here we see the percentage of population, by county, in an evangelical church in 2000. [click to see it enlarged.] the darkest colored counties have between 20-60% of their population in an evangelical church on a given sunday. the counties in white have less than 5% of their population in an evangelical church. so only utah has as few people in evangelical churches as some states in the northeast. the u.s. census estimates that 55 million people live in this geographic area, making it the most unchurched area in the united states, when measured by the people attending evangelical churches.

so when i came on staff at southeast, we visited baltimore, washington, new york and providence as possible places to plant, knowing the need was great in each place. and through much discussion, prayer, and study, we landed on baltimore. our prayer is that through the efforts of southeast and many other like-minded churches, one day the northeast u.s. will be the darkest area on the map.

NEWS #3

2007-08-23T15:30:00.000-04:00

387 days until mosaic opens its doors. here's the latest...

fasting

mark 11.24 says whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. this month i asked you to consider fasting one date every single month from this september until mosaic opens. it's a big commitment, but there is power in prayer, and we need as many people as we can get to bear this burden with us. there are still 8 dates that need covered before september hits. check out the full post here.

fundraising

we held our first official fundraiser this month in cincinnati. it went well, and we've already received our first gift from it. we're now busy planning upcoming fundraisers in cincinnati, virginia beach and louisville.

launch team

we have met several people recently who are very interested in what we're doing with mosaic and are considering being a part of our launch team. the goal of mosaic is to reach nonchristians, and we would love the help of some like-minded christians to accomplish that!

prayer requests

please be in prayer for those considering to move, that they have both discernment and faith. pray for our fundraising events that we're now planning. also, next thursday, august 30th, i meet with southeast's church plant team to make my 'ask' of southeast. and pray for staffing. we are wide open for the children's minister position but found a worship leader we are going to interview.

every week now it seems another small piece of the (very large) puzzle falls into place. part of me wishes we could move to baltimore today, but we're following a good process. i can't wait to see the fruit of it!

question #2

2007-08-14T15:55:00.000-04:00

what are the things your nonchristian friends look for in a church? in other words, aside from changing beliefs, what would a church have to do in order for your nonchristian friends to give it a shot?

fasting

2007-08-04T21:29:00.000-04:00

yes, it is indeed the most glorious of all foods...that's right, hot krispy kreme glazed doughnuts. if you're like me, you're a sucker for these and many foods like them--it doesn't matter what diet i'm on, what my budget is like, or how big a hurry i'm in. if i see the "hot doughnuts now" sign on at krispy kreme, i'm pulling in and eating half a dozen. there are few things that can keep me from eating them...

fasting is a spiritual discipline practiced by many people in the bible, jesus' forty day fast while being tempted in the desert being the most memorable. fasting has been practiced by christians throughout history, and is used today most often to show god the earnestness of our prayers. if you have ever fasted, you know that by simply removing food from your day you pray with a focus that is often lacking in our daily prayer times.

prayer is essential to mosaic becoming a sustaining force for the kingdom in baltimore. we expect that when we arrive we will build relationships, reach people through serving them, and attract others through advertising. good as our resources will be, i don't believe we are slick enough to attract a crowd and turn them into passionate followers of jesus. god must bless what we are doing if we are to be successful in this area. so we are going to ask god to do just that. the bible says in james 5.16 (nlt): the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. if we earnestly ask god to work in baltimore, i believe he will answer our prayers, according to what the bible says.

so i am asking you to join me in prayer and fasting for mosaic christian church. i want someone fasting for this project from september 1 of this year until the day mosaic opens in september of 2008. i'm asking you to choose one day per month you could fast for the entire year leading up to our launch, and for the 24 hours of that calendar day abstain completely from all food and drink besides water. then, when the hunger pangs strike, call on god to bless on our work.

if you are interested in helping in this way, choose a date by leaving a comment or emailing me at ckuhl4@yahoo.com. if you agree to this, it won't be easy, but i am confident that in heaven one day people you've never met will thank you for giving up some krispy kreme doughnuts to ask god to work in their lives.

here are the open dates remaining: 24.

mosaic on wikipedia

2007-07-30T16:15:00.000-04:00

mosaic is now on wikipedia. granted it's a short article, but you've got to admit it's cool to be on the world's biggest encyclopedia.

comments

2007-07-26T11:49:00.000-04:00

i was just looking at a friend's blog, and realized that i can enable comments without you having to register. so know now anyone can leave a comment without having to create an account or sign in. sorry for the previous hassle.

question of the week/month/day/moment #1

2007-07-23T13:42:00.000-04:00

what is the best church outreach project you've ever been apart of, and what made it great?

NEWS #2

2007-07-23T13:15:00.000-04:00

here's the monthly update on the happenings for mosaic christian church...

attendance increases 50%
with the addition of reagan love kuhl, we are now guaranteed to have at least 3 people show up for our first service! reagan was born july 16th, and we're adjusting to parenting life and loving it. lindsay was born to be a mom, and is doing a fantastic job. she is patient, compassionate, tender and very loving towards reagan day and night. and for those who wonder, i'm trying to change my share of dirty diapers as well. for pics of reagan, scroll down.

staffing
we are wide open at this point. i don't have any solid leads on children's ministers, but i'm still talking with a worship leader who may be interested.

newspaper article
the outlook, southeast's weekly church paper, did a cover story on our project last week. to view the entire story click here. It was a solid article, and i'm hoping that it will help raise awareness and passion at southeast about church planting. i already have at least 2 sunday school classes who are coming up next summer to do outreach projects with us, so the ball is rolling here. i've spent the last few years learning about and being exposed to church planting, so it's exciting to see others get excited about it as well.

fundraising
i started fundraising this past month by sending letters to family and to friends i won't be able to meet with, and the response has been wonderful. the orchard group receives all of our funds at this point, and several weeks ago i got a call from orchard to tell me about the support that has already come in. although it was only a small percentage of the total needing to be raised, i was on cloud nine driving home for work that day. i was overcome with a feeling of, "god's really going to make this happen!" sounds like a lack of faith, i know, but now that i'm seeing some returns on prayers and conversations it increases what faith i already have. to those of you who have already started to give, thank you!
this month i will have my first gathering of individuals to cast the vision and to ask for financial support in person. i'll be doing this in several cities where we've lived, and we're starting in cincinnati. hopefully our friends in cincinnati will respond like some of you already have.

question of the week/month/day/moment
to get more interaction on the blog, i'm going to start asking you all a question every so often. i hope this makes you more interested in the blog, but more than that i hope i can learn some things from you to put into practice at mosaic! question #1 is the blog entry above.