LeBlanc to join North Pointe team

LBC Service Network Pastor, Dick LeBlanc, at age 61 will answer a new call to ministry by joining the leadership team for North Pointe Community Church, which is an extension of LBC targeted for the communities of North Lincoln for the purpose of presenting every person complete in Christ.

LeBlanc will assume the position as administrative director for the church, which is set to launch in fall 2005. However, many preparations have been taking place in order to begin services at full speed. It is likely that LeBlanc will transition out of his position with LBC and into his position with NPCC this spring.

After much prayer with his wife, Miriam, they considered leaving their position of comfort to pursue a new and somewhat uncertain ministry. "God calls us to do really hard things, to live beyond ourselves and our comfort zone," LeBlanc said.

His decision came as a result of a search for an individual who could assume the responsibilities set for the administrative director of the new church. In winter 2004, NPCC Senior Pastor Andy MacFarlane asked LeBlanc for a recommendation of someone he may have known in the congregation. LeBlanc agreed to give it prayer and thought to pursue that right person.

Later, LeBlanc sought a more detailed description of the position, but instead he was told that he would know best, rather "the things you do," he remembers MacFarlane saying. "Because of his experience, I figure Dick knows much more about what needs to be done administratively than I do," MacFarlane said.

Last summer, shortly after his discussion with MacFarlane, LeBlanc entertained the thought about filling the role. He also prayed and shared his thoughts with Miriam and decided he would like to help, but he was already doing too much for LBC, he said.

However, the Holy Spirit continued to prompt. "Why not?" he concluded. "I was comfortable at age 61; is that a good reason not to?"

He compared his decision with that of people in the Bible. "God continued to move people around to reach new people."

Later that summer, he met with LBC Senior Pastor Bryan Clark to seek godly counsel. "As soon as Dick said it, I could immediately see the fit," Clark said. "I got excited about it pretty fast. At this point in his life, most people would be coasting to the finish line." Clark said he believed there was no reason for him to bring it up unless God was "stirring in his heart."

His decision was brought before the Staff Directional Team and later before the Board of Elders, which unanimously agreed in the October 2004 board meeting that LeBlanc should proceed with the call.

"When we determined to launch [NPCC], we had an understanding that if God leads any of the staff to go, they would go." The first occurrence of a staff member leaving was when MacFarlane first considered being Senior Pastor of the church in September 2003. LeBlanc's decision marks the second occurrence among LBC staff.

"The fact that Dick, at this season of life, is willing to take this step of faith, a big and risky step, will be a price to pay," Clark said. He said that as LeBlanc leaves his ministry at LBC, it will be a matter of transitioning current people and determining who needs to be hired. Some plans are already in place to prepare for LeBlanc's departure. It will be an opportunity to reshuffle players to where they work best and to hire who would best fill the gaps, according to Clark.

"I knew we needed huge help on the administrative end of running a church," MacFarlane said. "So, to get someone like Dick to be a part of the team was just amazing."

LeBlanc said that, in his wife Miriam's case, it will be "extremely hard to leave," as she is the current director of the Children with Special Needs ministry. "We also had to cope with the fact that by leaving Lincoln Berean, we won't walk in to be ministered to here." That also includes friends, the Service Network ministry, which LeBlanc established from the beginning, and other ministry they have enjoyed at LBC, LeBlanc said.

Yet, with all decisions to consider, "We would be sticking our heads in the sand" to settle for what is comfortable, he said.

"God has wired me to love administration and service. And recently he has been giving me a heart for new church plants," he said. "I like where I am and like what I'm doing, but I'm willing to let Him set my agenda. Why would God give me [these abilities and experiences] if He didn't want me to use them somewhere?"

One of the topics of the Connections Class, which is core to the church and specifically to the Service Network ministry, led by LeBlanc, is the acronym "S.H.A.P.E.," which stands for "Spiritual gifts, heart's desires, abilities, personality and experiences." As MacFarlane described the job to LeBlanc, not only did the entire acronym hold significance, but "experiences" really stood out.

"All the things Andy was asking for, I had experience with," he said. "How can I ignore that?"

Among his experiences in ministry, LeBlanc has served LBC administratively in several different facets. In addition to church boards he sat in prior to his attendance at LBC in 1986, he began at LBC as a volunteer to chair the efforts to construct the "C" and "D" wings of LBC in 1989 and 1998 respectively. He also sat on the board of elders beginning in 1991, which was prior to joining the pastoral staff as Service Network Pastor in 1999. Later, in 2001, his role grew to become the "Directional Pastor of Administrative Resources and Service Network," a lengthy title, yet descriptive of his duties.

LeBlanc received Christ when he was age 33 as a result of a turn of events that gave him a "passion to know His word and learn from others right away." Since then, he has been leading or hosting Bible studies and small groups consistently for the last 28 years. "We have taken part in as many Bible study and small group experiences as we can be in," he said.

"He built the Service Network ministry from the ground up, has been a LifeGroup leader and has been serving in the trenches for a long time," Clark said. "Dick has a tremendous amount of experience with issues [NPCC] is going to face. They'll need to rally the small groups and service network," but he is also "highly experienced in the business arena."

Prior to his ministry at LBC, LeBlanc already had several years of administrative and business experience. He received his master's degree in business and economics from Colorado State University, which he later applied to jobs in both Colorado and Nebraska.

He began his career as the business manager for the National Cattlemen's Association in Denver, Colo., and later became the land and livestock sales manager for a private land company in Scottsbluff. Then he became the national real estate manager for Doane/Western Farm Management Company prior to accepting the position of the director of the Nebraska State Land Office, which he directed for 14 years prior to joining the LBC staff in 1999.

Yet in spite of his abilities and experience, LeBlanc realizes everyday that "It's all about God, not about me," he said. "I need to allow Him to be the potter, and I am the clay so that He can use me for the purpose He created me."

Despite the challenges he will face in time, he said he must quickly "scrap" his own plans, constantly giving up of himself, and allowing God to "lead and determine the next step. This is the essence of a church plant, to walk by faith and not by sight."