Suzanne and I had a great weekend worshipping with the good folks at First Baptist Church of West Monroe, LA, pastored by former Fayette County citizen Dr. John Avant and his wife Donna. They brought me in to lead worship in their contemporary services.

We capped the weekend off with a great lunch with John and Donna at Copeland’s. The food was great and the conversation even greater! I was able to share the vision that God has called us to in starting browns mill church and our upcoming involvement with Missio (see previous blog post for more explanation). John is a kindred spirit when it comes to missional reformation of the church. It was especially eye-opening for me since First West has a membership near 7,000. The common belief among the missional church community is that it is impossible for a mega-church to be missional. Someone should have told John Avant. They have some great elements of missional living already in place with more to come.