A Peek into Our Journey

Bob and Cathee have been doing this ministry stuff for forty years. The winds of change have caused them to transition from one stream of Christian practice to another as they seek to live out the truths of Christ’s kingdom – here and now. They have ended up at this juncture seeing there’s a “third way” in this “third day.”

“Having labored at pouring new wine in old wineskins for the past 20 years, we finally got the message that we need a new wineskin. And here’s the great news: permission is granted to do church differently in the 21st Century,” Bob says. Yes, it’s the title of a book by Graham Cooke and Gary Goodall, but it’s also a truth inspired by the Wild Goose Himself – the Holy Spirit.

Bob was baptized three times and it finally took. He was ordained in 1968 by Grove Community Church in Miami, FL (an Independent Fundamental Church of America fellowship). This was the conclusion of four years and a BA in Biblical Education from Florida Bible College. Later, dissatisfied with the lack of community in the independent churches, Bob returned to graduate school at Luther Rice Seminary in Jacksonville, FL where he earned his Masters in Theology. He was ordained a second time as he entered the Southern Baptist denomination. “That and $3.00 will get you a Tall Mocha Latte at St. Arbucks,” says Bob. For the next 15 years he pastored Southern Baptist Churches.

After coming through a time of brokenness and restoration, Bob began to look for something more, feeling that while his knowledge of God’s Word was solid and secure, his experience of the power of God’s Spirit was lacking. At this juncture, he gladly took on the description of “an evangelical who believes in the supernatural works and gifts of God.” Christianity began to take on the look and feel of a radical adventure at this point.

Cathee was baptized at Riverside Baptist Church, Miami, FL at the age of 9 and it took the first time. An avid reader, she’s been searching for the door into Narnia all her life and low and behold when she reached her 60s, she began to feel the snow crunch under her feet! “I’ve always told my friends that at my funeral I want them to play I Had the Time of My Life (and I Owe It All to You) the theme song from Dirty Dancing. Of course, it’s Jesus I’m talking about. He’s my everything and I’m thrilled that I’m finally beginning to understand what His kingdom is all about. Jesus has left the building. He never was in the building very much, but I’ve spent most of my life in there. I’m grateful for all the churches that have mothered me – loving, nurturing, teaching me about Him. But we are in a different season and it’s time now to love and impact the world like He did. We’ve got to stop being orthodox in belief and heretical in practice. It’s about time the church moved into the streets.”

Cathee, along with her pal, Fran Lankford, has authored a soon-to-be-released book titled Thresholds and Passages…portals to the life you were meant to live. If you want to read her whole bio, get the book. It should be released by November 2007. (For more information, please visit our blog site www.thresholdsandpassages.blogspot.com and web site www.thresholdsandpassages.com.)


 
Bob says, “We formed Wild Goose Ministries in January 2007 for the purpose of gathering a company of people who want to submit to the Jesus style of 24/7 radical discipleship and mission. It’s less about meetings, or arguing our theologies, or building walls that keep people out. It’s a whole lot about living passionate lives in a broken world with Jesus as the center of it all.”