my pastor could beat up your pastor....

This article appeared in our local newspaper today about Dave Ferguson, lead pastor of CCC. It's awesome to work with someone so gifted and yet so humble about himself.


5 Questions: Dave Ferguson
February 26, 2007

Dave Ferguson has a green thumb when it comes to growing congregations.
He is lead pastor and co-founder of Community Christian Church, a nondenominational faith community which has grown to eight sites: Romeoville, Chicago, Shorewood, Plainfield, Montgomery, Yorkville and two in Naperville. In addition, the church has launched 10 other churches in cities across the country including Boston, Denver and Knoxville.

Ferguson, 44, was born in Missouri and raised in Chicago's south suburbs. He is the oldest of three children of the Rev. Earl Ferguson, pastor of a church in Chicago, and his wife, Pat.

A 1981 graduate of Crete-Monee High School, Ferguson entertained the idea of being an attorney but decided instead that he could make a bigger difference in people's lives through the church. He graduated from Lincoln Christian College with a degree in the Bible and teaching and from Wheaton College with a master's degree in education.

He came to Naperville in 1988 with a dream of starting his own church. With the help of his wife, Sue, brother, Jon, and a few friends from college, he began to lay the groundwork by going door to door to some 5,000 homes over a four-month period to find out what people were looking for in a church. That input has figured into the church's services, music, ministries and even its name.
Ferguson held the first service in 1989 in the cafeteria at Naperville Central High School. Some 465 people showed up, many of whom had not been to church for some time. Three years later the congregation moved to Naperville North High School, currently one of the church's two Naperville locations. The other is affectionately known as the "Yellow Box" which was built six years ago at the corner of Ogden Avenue and Rickert Road.

Today, about 5,000 people attend Sunday services at Community Christian Church, which has been named the 13th-most influential church in America by "The Church Report" and the seventh-most innovative church in the country by Outreach Magazine. One of those innovations is the subject of a new book written by Ferguson along with his brother, Jon, who is executive director of the church's New Thing Network, and Eric Bramlett, church creative arts director. "The Big Idea," published by Zondervan earlier this month, shows church leaders the benefits of focusing their congregations on one major theme every week rather than bombard them all at one time with several concepts.

Ferguson's other interests include sports, basketball, running, coaching his children's athletic teams and reading. He and his wife have three children, Amy, Josh and Caleb.

1. What made you choose Naperville to begin your church?
Naperville was a very fast-growing community and the demographics told us there were a lot of people moving here and they'll be looking for a church. It made sense in a couple of different ways. ... Part of our early vision was we knew this was a place of both affluence and influence and if we could get these people really excited about the things that Jesus talks about, about the way God really dreamed the world could be, if we could get those people excited about it, really the sky's the limit.

2. How does God make his presence known to you?
I think God speaks to people in different ways. ... For me there's a couple of ways, but one way in particular is I try to start my day with journaling. I read the Bible and I journal and when I journal one of the things I always do is I pick out a piece of scripture and I'll write it out. ... I always draw a line and after I draw the line I sit there and wait to see if God brings anything to mind. So I have a fundamental assumption that yes, God wants to communicate. And as things come to mind I jot those down. Now I don't assume that everything that comes into my mind comes from him, because lots of things pop in my head. But sometimes you kind of say 'you know what? I wouldn't have thought of that.' That feels like that was maybe from God.

3. What do you want people to take away from reading your book?
I hope they would take away that the instruction that God gives us and Jesus gives us in his word is really meant not to just be known in our head, but lived out in our life.

4. How would you describe yourself?
I don't feel real comfortable with the term pastor because I think the assumption people have when you think of pastor you think of somebody who basically shows up once a week and delivers a homily to a bunch of people. If I could make my own title I think it would be spiritual entrepreneur. That's what I'd like to be. I think my job is to help create communities of people who help people find their way back to God.

5. Who was the biggest influence in your life?
I think my parents have been very influential. My dad is somebody who really likes people. ... He's the real deal. My mom, she's a very emotionally healthy person and consequently, I think I received the benefits of that. I'm not sure I ever really felt insecure. I remember going to college for the very first time and having this twinge of self doubt and it was a foreign thing for me. I realize most people, because of the situation in which they grew up, it's a very familiar feeling. I was well into adulthood and there was a voice inside of me saying 'you can do that.' I really think that was her.