FITZSPEAK-BLOG: 2012

An Ode to Franklin

For me the best of cities,

A city set upon a hill shining brightly for all to see;

Of all cities in our land your foundations have been laid in righteousness

And the Godly works of man have built your walls.

“On earth as it is in heaven” is destiny’s invitation beckoning us forward.

And yet a city settled, too settled for me--

the magic and the mystery have faded.

All is understood, tomorrow will be as today

And goodness will prosper by rote and routine.

No mountains to climb, simply masses to manage;

No seas to cross, merely spiritual goods to distribute;

No vistas, only endless pews to arrange.

Acute attention to the vertical or visitation has produced transformation,

And transformation rightly demands attention to the horizontal.

In settling the land we have become settled

A city where the accommodations are comfortable,

the demons cultured,

possessions eclipse passion

and those who dwell therein are at ease.

And while life is lived above lukewarmness

not much is truly hot or cold.

I came to change you and you changed

But now twenty years later I am finding myself the one changed;

I came to “lose my Life” and yet I have gained it.

So my heart is restless,

pilgrimage is tugging at my soul

the highway of Zion summons me on.

My journey may be outward and take me afar

or it may leave me right here to scale new heights within,

either way for a season be it in body or merely in soul,

be it in location or in altitude alone

I now know afresh

I was made for the vista, to see beyond what man can build.

So I’m looking for another city,

one whose architect and builder is God;

And maybe as I am changed once again, I can return and begin anew

to Franklin not just a city set upon a hill

but to my city, my dearest friends and my family.

DAVID FITZPATRICK

As a child of the 60’s Dave was born to seek; born to find. In 1969 in pursuit of truth and meaning, he left Michigan for San Francisco. Disenchanted by the hatred he encountered during the People’s Park riots in Berkley, he returned home briefly before resuming his pilgrimage in Europe. Still not finding what he was looking for he pressed through Turkey, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, paying for his travels by sending hash (drugs) back to the states. Eventually it was while living in India that he saw the emptiness of eastern mysticism. After much disillusionment and nowhere else to search, he realized whatever the answer to life, it would not be found by traveling. Though his catholic upbringing left him severely jaded on religion he began to feel that somehow Jesus, the person, not the religion, might be the answer. Six months after returning to America Dave had a radical salvation experience in 1971.

The following years held extreme transition while becoming grounded in the word, in character and in community. After a year of correspondence with Peggy, who was living with her family in Africa, they met when she returned home to Pennsylvania. They were married in 1976. Their growing community was leading so many to the Lord in these remarkable days called the Jesus movement that Peggy’s father converted his barn into a place for the emerging church to meet. It was in these dynamic days that, during a visit to friends in Nashville, he met Don Finto, who became a friend, a mentor and role model for many years. During these years Dave and Peggy had their first child; Dave received his ministerial degree in Philadelphia followed by a summer studying leadership at Princeton.

In 1979 Dave and the small family returned to Michigan where he and his wife Peggy started a church with a desire to bring light to the region where he had been so instrumental in darkness. The church was based on intercession, radical commitment to Jesus and the freedom of the Spirit. At that time, while doing intercessory trips with James Goll the Lord asked Dave to seriously consider giving an extended season exclusively to prayer. So in 1988, Dave turned the leadership of the church over to the leaders who had been raised up and moved his family, now with three children, to a pastoral setting outside of Nashville.

For the next seven years he gave himself primarily to prayer. During this season he was an instrumental player in Nashville’s prophetic movement, the eventual establishment of Abounding Grace Church, now called Grace Center, as well as becoming involved with Israel and living as a family for a year in Russia.

1n 1996 they returned from Russia and Dave became the senior leader (pastor) of Abounding Grace church (Grace Center). Again this was a rich season of establishing the congregation’s strengths of seeking God, intercession and community. In 2000 he recognized an emerging leadership and anointing on one of the elders and began the process of transferring over his position.

It was at that same time that the Lord called Dave into the market place and he began a several year journey of working as an executive coach, primarily focused and working one week a month in California. It was also during this season of working in the business arena that through the influence of his children that he and Peggy have progressively become involved in the causes of justice.

Dave’s heart continues to be toward his family and prayer. While a significant amount of his time and attention is aimed at serving the emerging army of justice workers, he is still involved in executive coaching and entrepreneurial endeavors. Dave also plays a supportive leadership role at Grace Center Church.

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An Ode To Franklin 2009

DAVID FITZPATRICK

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