I had a safe trip home and I have been processing the information I gained at the conference.
The reason why New Hope Christian Fellowship holds an annual Doing Church as a Team (DCAT) Conference is so to teach people who are new to New Hope their understanding of church. It is the fastest growing church in the US so there are lots of people who are new to the church. For people like me it was an opportunity to gain an insight into what makes the church ‘tick’. Over the course of the conference I heard a lot about the importance of people using their gifts to serve but the thing that really impacted me was that I saw it happening. I was in Honolulu the Sunday before the conference as well as the Sunday after the conference so I went to the New Hope services held at Farrington High School. The number of volunteers required to set up and pack up at this site would be significant. However this wasn’t a burden to them but rather seen as an opportunity to serve. Also during the services a large number of people were involved. It was very much a team effort.
Wayne Cordeiro, the senior pastor of New Hope, spoke about Matthew 23:11, “The greatest among you will be your servant.” Wayne made the observation that to be a servant requires that you are good are forgiving. Servanthood also requires lots of grace and love because when you serve people the potential to be overlooked, slighted, and not appreciated is great. This is why Jesus held servanthood in high regard because it requires spiritual maturity to be a servant.
I must have heard hundreds of sermons about servanthood but I gain a new understanding of what it really means to be a servant as a result of attending this conference.
