So What's Up with the Neon Church?

A lot of my neighbors and friends in Oswego have been asking, “What’s up with Wheatland?” I normally smile and return with “why do you ask?” Their answers are very telling but most often revolve around the cars in the parking lot every night, the additional parking across the street, the fall bonfire and all the new banners announcing new support groups. The truth of the matter is we are striving to live up to our mission: Love God. Love Others. Change the world.

It often surprises people that we actually decided long ago to do more than a Holy Huddle on Sunday morning. A Holy Huddle is a football analogy whereby the church gathers on Sunday morning in huddle, talks about what they are going to do on the field, gets fired up but then never goes out to play the game. Wheatland has always been about getting fired up and putting the principles into practice in the community. This past year had us orchestrating a Gift Mart at a local school, hanging out at the Christmas Walk, bringing multiple churches together at Prairie Fest and then following it up with a community clinic. We also have been striving to reach the next generation through alternative events like this year’s student led Bonfire and ghost story evening.(I still can’t believe the students ate over 900 donuts.) Finally, we have been busy with our missions’ partners in Aurora, Florida, Kentucky, Haiti, India, Poland, the Middle East, Panama and Tanzania. If you want to hear from one, consider joining us on Nov. 12th (tonight) at the Naperville campus to listen to our Panama partner and their work with abused and traffic girls.

Our parking lots will continue to be full for the remainder of this year and all of next. We will be offering a more of the same. We have Blues thanksgiving eve service for those who love the Blues. We will be holding a larger Gift Mart this year, Christmas in a Barn and an “Open House” in January. Next year, we have 8 short term mission trips both locally and internationally for individuals and families. We are looking for more support and recovery groups to hold meetings and are planning some more distinctive children events.

I love this Christian outpost. We have learned and are putting into practice what it means to be real with one another. We have come to understand that God has created us all uniquely and there is a real beauty in that. Finally, we have found that walking in the ways that lead to a good life requires getting into community.