Mike Hammer

Before Mike started his church he did something for the community. He saw a store front for rent and decided that a neat idea would be to rent the storefront and stock it with cool stuff for students to come and hang out. This opened the door for all kinds of opportunities...he met the mayor, got to speak to the school board and met some prominent people in the neighborhood and community!

I would like to check out the student center and see what it looks like. How much is it open and available for students...what kind of rules are in place...is it volunteer run...how late is it open?

When they decided to start the church they had a decision to use the country club or the legion...needless to say the decision was not difficult (they went with the country club!)

One thing they do on a Wednesday morning at 6:00am (wow!) that has a men fraternity which is described as being "the quest for authentic manhood". It seems that guys would rather get up an extra hour early and do it in the morning than tie up another evening.

Mike feels that as a whole the program works well for discipleship.
Bridges is also an incredible program! Getting real with yourself...who you are...what's in your heart...why do i continue to get stuck...why do i feel the way i do...are there others like me...?

If there is anything you can control it is your emotional growth; but the only way to do this is to be open, honest, and evaluative with yourself. Sometimes in the Christian community we deny the way we feel or what we are going thourgh...we tend to overlook or try to forget our junk and our wounds and those areas in life that we struggle; but before long our issues end up catching up with us and drag us down and can lead to a devastating conclusion!

In life people get stuck...traditional church does not understand this because it believes that when you are are saved you are free from prior bondage! When no body deals with the problems that they are experiencing and we continue to go to church and most of these people are on fire for God and fill leadership roles within the church...the problem is that most of us in the church feel that we are under the blood and that we are all okay...when we are not! We are suffering in silence. "Secrets keep us sick!" Our past sets a tone for where we are now.

Before Mike was even involved with starting a church he did Bridges. In fact, in the beginning Bridges was for the unchurched; but now he uses it for the church. Specifically, he uses it for his leaders in the church.

This sounds neat! It is rare to have the opportunity to investigate your past in a community of believers and work through our hurts.

If so many of our issues come from childhood and our teen years, it would be an awesome idea to somehow implement this in a youth group. Not only can they learn to deal with "junk" that they have experienced in child hood but also stuff that happens every day when they go to school or when they come home, or when they interact with their parents or brothers and sisters.

I think about this and feel that it would be an incredible opportunity to do this with church leadership; but I definitely feel that it would be challenging and difficult. In the long run, I can see it leading to an incredible experience both as individulas but as a ministry team!