David Kennard Interview

David Kennard, from Riverside Community Church, was our guest last evening. David is the site pastor for the Pittsburg Mills Mall site of RCC. Besides being site pastor, David is also the Adult Ministries Pastor for both the Oakmont RCC and the Pittsburg Mills RCC. As with most pastors, he wears multiple hats and fills numerous roles.

Riverside Community Church provides a unique spin on church, serving a populace who may not have been planning on going to church that morning, but because it was where they were (at the mall) and they felt compelled, curious, or welcomed, decided to check it out.

During the interview, the comment was made that, "Church is about the Presence of God and relationship". I would think that one of the biggest challenges would be to establish relationship with someone who may have been just walking by and not actually planning to go inside. I never considered before the importance of a greeter. I thought anyone can stand there, open the door, smile, be polite, and hand out bulletins. However, in a unique setting such as this, the greeter may have the most important role in pointing someone toward Jesus. They have to be likeable and sincere enough in reflecting Christ that people WANT to come in. And once inside, those connections must be continued in order for people to keep coming back for more of God. I sure hope David has God's best people standing at the door. And I hope I never overlook the importance of even the "smallest" jobs again.

Something I appreciated about David was that he took the time to notice people. He phones first-time visitors, which is huge in forming connections, but he also takes the time to notice and connect with regular attendees and volunteers by sending a word of encouragement or a thank you. How wonderful to be noticed and cared for! Noticing and caring about people is something Jesus seemed to do on a daily basis in order to show the love of our Father. Something else I yearn to do better.

One more thing that hit home: David said that Pastor Bill Ellis taught him to "Lead from a position of weakness (rather than from a position of strength)". Everyone can identify with weakness, but not everyone can identify with strength. Leading from a position of weakness takes humility. In that weakness and humility, everyone is placed on the same level, and only God is lifted up.

Thanks for coming, David. Be blessed.