I am a member of Long Hollow Springfield – a satellite campus located in Springfield, Tennessee. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the whole process from the beginning. I attended meetings when it was just a dream and have gotten to watch the dream become a reality. Through it all, being located in a totally different city from the main campus, and relying on people most of us have never met, we have fondly started calling the main campus “the Mothership”. Whenever there’s a major change or an event, someone inevitably will ask “what did they say at The Ship?”
I think our precious pastor, Jeff Armstrong, has been mortified that the main campus would not find that moniker flattering but I beg to differ and here’s why.
Think about it – who have you gone to your whole life when things got tough, when you were sick, when you were sad? Your mother! My mom was always there for me to get me through those tough times, hold me when ill, and cheer me up when sad. A mother is a comforter and there are times when even a campus needs comforting.
My mom was a cheerleader. Whatever I endeavored to try, she was there cheering me on. I know for a fact, that the main campus cheers with us when something fabulous happens on our campus. They rejoice in our attendance, they love (most) of our ideas, and they are over the moon when someone is saved and we get to baptize yet another person. They are definitely our cheerleaders.
Proverbs 22:6 says “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.“ The main campus (aka mothership) supplies us with training and resources for our new campus. They’ve been there, tried new things and used old things and they already know what works. Just like our parents did for us, steering us in the right direction so we don’t make the same mistakes they did, the main campus is there to lend their knowledge.
Lastly, most of us, I believe, started out attending the main campus. Just like your kids leave the nest to homes of their own – we have left the main campus to start our own church home. And even though we are out on our own, we know we can always go home. I love being able to be a part of our local congregation but having the ability to go to the main campus for big events like The Gift. As Dorothy put it “there’s no place like home.”
So, never fear, Mothership – that tag is said only in pure love for the place that helped us get started and is always there for us. We appreciate all you do!
Carol Goad