It’s hard to believe, but one year ago today, a small group of us met in an old schoolhouse with hearts intent on quitting.
As experts in our fields of software, design and development (the full stack) we had spent our entire careers honing our skills in ways that only benefited our employers and our clients, potentially ourselves. Is that why we work overtime, so that none of what we learn can be utilized for Jesus? We wanted to quit this.
As followers of Jesus, we experienced first hand that, on our own as individuals, our volunteer efforts for our churches were limited. We have families to feed, bills to pay, the needs are often front-loaded with many hours necessary to deliver quality work, and we're all so very busy already. Working alone in these isolated silos was holding us back. We wanted to quit this.
When we did see expertise being harnessed for Jesus, it was stretched thin, and burning out, with no fallback or long term viability. We wanted to quit this.
As a community of believers, we saw churches consistently and repeatedly scrambling to figure these things out. Each time rebuilding the same wheels, making the same mistakes. The duplication of effort and the inefficiencies were unnecessary, but for the islands that we were toiling from. We wanted to quit this.
We saw churches investing large portions of their budgetary resources in software technology such that they had very little budgetary “will" to invest in the “communication strategy” and “design thinking” side. We wanted to quit this.
As business owners, we saw churches struggling to justify paying the going rate for top tier software and technical expertise. We saw that when the barrier to entry was too high, many struggled on their own with lower tier solutions. We wanted to quit this barrier to entry all together.
Quitting is tough. But less so in community. Habits formed over the years are not easily broken. But less so with the encouragement of linking arms and marching together. And together we have.
At this one year mark, with all thankfulness to the Lord in my heart, I want to take a moment to thank our team of quitters for their varied contributions to the effort.
To my wife Lucy, for her encouragement and steadfastness through all the ups and downs, the listening ear, the pancake flipping and the blog post editing.
To my brother Jerry, and sister Stephanie, for their feedback, insights, the regular use of their pancake warming trays, and their warm hearts.
To those who have been so faithful and willing to share their expertise at our Full Stack Faith meetups: Jake, Jared, Jeff, Jerry, Kevin, Matt, Paul and Russ.
To those who listened and shared valuable advice, strategic thinking and encouragement over the months: Ark, Arley, Armen, Jeff, Jake, Jason, Jermaine, Kenneth, Kevin, Russ, and Tim.
To the team from Redemption Durham: Ark, Armen, Jeff, Liam, Michael, Neil, and Pete. Your prayers, contributions and camaraderie have blessed more than you know.
To everyone who has liked our Facebook page, followed us on Twitter, encouraged us with notes, digital high fives and offered up prayer-borne requests on our behalf.
Yes, this past year has been an incredible journey of quitting. Maybe you’re a quitter as well. You should join us. We’re just getting started.