Community Updates from Dr. Bob: 09/13/2023
Vision Night was GREAT!
Thanks to all who attended—more than 70 people joined us for Vision Night. That is a great turnout!
For those who weren’t able to make it—we missed you! Capture the closest feeling to being in the room with us by watching the video recording of the evening HERE. Highlights are also available below.
Life with God for kids
Life with God, discipleship for kids, began during Vision Night and will continue on Monday nights running parallel to the Discipleship Lab for the adults. In this class, children learn age-appropriate ways to relate with God in a natural way and to put their own spirituality into practice. We’ll end on time at 7:30pm each week so you can get the kids home and to bed on time.
Click HERE if there is a child in your life that you’d like to have join us in future weeks.
Where are we now?
Seasons of transition feel slow. We are still in the in-between time. We can’t go back. And we aren’t yet where we want to be. It’s an uncomfortable place to be. As we move forward in the following ways we cling to the understanding that God has good plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11-13).
Even though it feels slow, a lot of progress has been made in the last 4 months. Your Board is filled with prayerful, honest people who seek God faithfully and make wise and brave decisions. To learn more about what we have accomplished over the last 4 months and where we are now, watch the full presentation of Vision Night HERE.
Where are we at on the benchmarks for starting the senior pastor search?
We identified these three things to do before launching an official search. Let’s look at where we are with each of them from the lens of a pastoral candidate:
1. Vision clarity. “Does this church have a solid foundation in the basics?” At this stage, our focus needs to be on the clear vision God has given the church: love God, love people, help others become followers of Jesus (make disciples). We are making some progress here—baby steps, but it is progress.
Experiencing God is the key. As we grow in knowledge and relationship with God we share that experience with others. Therefore, we want to be both making disciples while growing as disciples.
2. Ministry engagement. “Is this a community that puts action to their words?” The work of ministry is something in which every Christian plays an important part.
We started by making a list of all the people serving in ministry. That list is growing. We have added 10 to 12 people who were not previously involved but are now engaged. That is movement in the right direction!
3. Financial stability. “Is this church financially stable?” Financial stability is important. The financial reports are one of the first things a senior pastor candidate will ask to see.
After at least 18 months of operating at a negative cash flow, we made hard decisions in order to create a budget to operate within our means. In July we had our first positive month of cash flow that we can remember! That’s encouraging and something to celebrate!
I was hoping to be able to tell you that August was also positive, but the report came in on Monday, and our giving dropped down about 20% from July. I hope that’s a blip and that we will rally. We hope to be able to show that we have bounced back in September and are on an upward trajectory to provide senior pastor candidates with a reasonable level of confidence.
What’s next?
Next we’ll start putting together a church profile to provide to senior pastor candidates. This is a bit like an online dating profile: a good one should provide an accurate picture and description of who we are. We certainly hope that when a senior pastor candidate sends their resume to us, the information is accurate and informative rather than just selectively provided for our positive areas. Essentially, the photo and description in our “online dating profile” should match our reality as closely as possible.
As the process continues, we will post the position and do a lot of networking in order to attract prospective pastoral candidates. After extensive interviewing and evaluation, the Board will make a recommendation to the congregation. There will be opportunities to get to know the candidate, and the ministry partners will vote to confirm and call the new pastor.
Can churches in decline really turn things around?
The answer is yes. As a consultant, I once worked with a denomination that had been in decline for 90 years. Ninety! In the whole room, there was only one first-generation Christian. I shared the data with them and it was grim. I explained that there are strategies, things you can do. But that’s not really the issue. The issue is one of the heart. You need to tell God you’re sorry to have let this decline go on for so long. They did. Some with tears. It was the beginning of a mighty work of God. The denomination did turn around and did start reaching people for Jesus again.
If you’ve read this far, you’ll have seen that we have made some progress and had some setbacks. The challenge we have is a 20-year pattern of decisions and actions that have all contributed to where we are today. We are all part of that. Let’s pray that God transforms our hearts and prepares us to serve as Jesus’ hands, feet and voice starting where we are and beyond.
There is hope
God will work if we seek him with all our hearts. When we allow God to do whatever he wants to do in and through us- he does amazing things.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NIV)
The first prayer of revival is, “God, start with me.” The question is how willing we are to live into being disciples of Jesus—not just understanding it intellectually but acting and living out of that discipleship.
We believe God is not done with us!
