Let Go Of The Ring
The Hope Chapel Story
Ralph Moore
A Straight Street Publication
Copyright 2019 Ralph Moore
All rights reserved.
Note: All scriptures in this book, unless otherwise noted, are from Holy Bible, New Living Translation , copyright 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.
DEDICATION
I drop a lot of names in this booknot the names of famous people, but the names of those who have put their lives at the disposal of the master, Jesus Christ.
There are probably too many photographs, but these are important peopleto me and to our family of churches. You might not recognize most of them, and I know that I missed many, but it is important that we remember what theyve done . Each has a unique calling and role in building up the body of Christ.
This book represents the lives of ordinary people picked up a cross to follow Jesus. Theyve made disciples, planted churches and constituted an invasive movement that now finds itself on every continent. They are my heroes!
Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord and he will give you your hearts desires. Everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. He will make your innocence as clear as the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. Psalm 37:3-6
CONTENTS
WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK
Let Go of The Ring began life as a simple record of the shared lives of people who called themselves Hope Chapel in Manhattan & Hermosa Beach, California.
The purpose was to leave behind a history after I, the chief-storyteller , moved to Hawaii. That purpose expanded when people in Hawaii became interested in the book. To my surprise, they saw it as a record of their heritage. It functioned as a kind of introduction to our vision and values. We began distributing it among new people as they joined in our mission to touch the world.
Some years later I discovered the book on a table of recommended church growth books at a conference. Indeed, it presents a model that many pastors have found useful, so we began using it to train church planters.
My current thought and purpose are that people joining with us in Hope Chapel churches will understand us better and that they will join our mission to bring the world to Jesus Christ. Others will undoubtedly find direction and grace through the book, but my thoughts are still on the congregations that I pastor and those leaders whom I enjoyed serving with in the past. I included the names of lots of people either who influenced us or who are the chief actors in this drama.
If you read this as a leader, the book offers you a simple, and hopefully, biblical approach to disciplemaking and church multiplication. This is not the story of a denomination or a hierarchy. We are a leaderless network. I have some input through podcasts, a blog, books I write and email, but no official leadership capacity. I was spared the agony of being the president or CEO of anything.
Maybe you feel like I did at the beginning of this story. Youve invested a great deal in preparation for ministry but youre not sure you have what it takes to make a dent in your world. If so, Im hoping that my words here (and tools I pull together at www.ralphmoore.net) will help you become the leader God intends. My goal is simpleto lend encouragement to those who will disciple the next generation.
Our work at home has touched the world. Churches now exist on every continent but Antarctica, though we had one there for a short time. The number of churches planted now exceeds the number of people in any of the three churches Ive pastored. All this grew from a dozen people, including one frightened pastor, meeting together on a Sunday morning in September 1971
Chapter 1
LET GO OF THAT RING
Youll never let go of the ring, Frodo, they never do.
My friend Ken Hiroshige was a dentist. He had me where I couldnt escape, pinned down in that big chair, mouth propped open, his hands working a very long needle into my jaw.
They never let go when they get to your place. It just isnt done. There is too much pride involved. Youd have to really sell out and I dont think you can.
In J.R.R. Tolkiens splendid trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, a hobbit named Frodo faces a dilemma. He possesses a ring that can give him control over the whole world. It can also corrupt the owner and turn him into a despot, or worse. If he destroys the ring, a righteous order will restore peace to the cosmos, but Frodo will lose the extraordinary power of the ring. If he retains it, he can rule and take his chances with the moral corruption that accompanies that situation.
Youll have to read The Lord of the Rings to find out what Frodo did; this is a story about what happened to me.
I had just told my friend Ken that I felt God calling me to leave my secure job of 10 years to start a church in another city, involving people of a different racial and cultural background from mine. It meant leaving the pastorate of a congregation of more than 2,000 people and a home in a California beach town that fit like my own skin. Id be leaving friends whom I dearly loved. This came while our church benefited from improbable attention in the local and national media.
The Associated Press had just put out a story about our church that ran on radio stations and in newspapers across the country. The TV networks did follow-up interviews. It all began with a long article in Esquire magazine, which mushroomed into 15 minutes of fame. It was heady stuff to forsake for the relative obscurity of a pioneer pastorate, in a distant city where I knew practically no one.
Ken was right. It would be difficult to leave the security that I knew for the insecurity that comes with planting a new church. However, he was also very wrong in his assumption that this just isnt done.
The Bible brims over with stories of people who let go of the ring in their lives.
LOSING TO GAIN
The ring, as Ken spoke of it, represents power, position, and prominence. More importantly, it signifies control of our lives. God often chooses to disrupt all the things we cling to for security. We must learn to let go of those things, lay down our lives, pick up our crosses and follow Jesus. Christianity works best in the tension of letting go so we can receiveof seeking to lose life so we can find it.
