Happy Thanksgiving

Today is an awesome day! It seems like each day gets better and better and God is sooooo good. I hope this is true for you too. Here's a couple of updates for you about what is going on around the church.

1. Believe it or not, we are going to finally get the back door fixed. Boyd has received so many suggestions from many of you. Thanks to everyone who has shared their thoughts. Boyd is getting an estimate on fixing the door in the next two weeks. We will be installing a panic bar on the back door. We have panic bars on the front doors and they work well. We will teach everyone how to use it when the time comes. Only those involved in current ministries will receive a key. We will not be handing out keys to everyone.

2. Our Budget Listening Sessions will be on Dec. 13 after church and Dec. 16 from 6-7 pm. The budget will be out to all active members by the end of next week. This is an opportunity for us as a congregation to gather and talk about the ministries of the church. Please talk to any Leadership Team if you have question and can't make it to one of these listening sessions. You can get a list of Leadership Team members by calling the church office. At the Annual Meeting, there will be no discussion on the budget. Only a vote will be taken.

I hope you have an awesome Thanksgiving. May God continue to bless you and your family.

What’s He Doing Now?

The old joke is that a Pastor only works 1 hour a week and that is on Sunday mornings.  Sunday mornings is when most of the church sees me in person.  The congregation usually doesn’t stop in during the week to see or hear what I am doing.  So, in this week’s blog, I would like to share with you some of the things I have been up to.

Besides the weekly preparation for the Sunday Worship service which takes many hours to prepare for (sermons, connection cards, announcements, studying), I like to keep on learning.  I have been reading a book called “Inside the Mind of unchurched harry and mary” by Lee Strobel.  It’s been a good book to help me think outside the “box” and consider what unchurched people are thinking.  I hope to soon start the next book called “Ignite” by Nelson Searcy.

I just finished preparing the proposed 2010 budget for the Leadership Team to look at.  As you can imagine, money has been alocated for ministry, but it is tight.  We will be sharing the proposed 2010 budget in the beginning of December. 

I have also planned all of my sermons for next year.  Currently, I have all of my sermons planned until June 2010. 

There are so many other things that I do, such as training our future Ecuadorian Missionaries, visit members, prepare surveys, talk to other churches, plan meetings, counseling etc.

These are some of the items that keep me busy.  I hope this gives you a better idea of what I do.

Thoughts and Information

The purpose of this blog is to try and let you know what is the “talk” around the church.  I have been trying my best  to keep everyone informed.  This will be another avenue to do just that.

I want to thank Boyd Forest for preparing the walls and Deb Wishau for painting the Warm Room.  They did a great job.  There will be some pictures hung on the walls soon and Deb will rearrange the furniture in a more conversational way.  We are also working on building an electric fireplace that will go on the back wall.  This will provide a warm atmosphere for those who will use this room.  The work will hopefully be done in the next week or so.

There will be two listening sessions that will be held in December.  The 2010 Budget will be shared prior to these listening sessions.  All church members are encouraged to come to one of the listening sessions to ask questions about the proposed 2010 Budget.  During the annual meeting on January 24, 2010, there will be no discussion on the budget.  There will only be a vote taken.  The listening sessions are meant for people to come and share their thoughts and opinions.

I will be on vacation the week after Christmas.  This will include Sunday, January 3.  Our missionaries that went to Back Bay will lead the worship service.  We will not have communion on January 3.  Communion will be served on January 10 instead.

If you have questions, please let me know.

Growing and Changing

As humans, we are always growing and changing.  Our bodies mature and change as well as the world around us.  At church, we have been growing and changing.  Some changes have been very positive and others have not.  It’s been a learning experience for all of us.

Our Vision “Leading People into a Life Changing Relationship with Jesus Christ” has been stretching us in many different ways.  I and the Leadership Team have been learning many things on this journey. 

As we continue on this journey together, I pray that you will have patience.  I don’t have all of the answers.  I am still learning and growing myself.  I believe that as we walk this journey together, our church will be much stronger and we will have a bigger impact on God’s Kingdom.

Please come and talk to me if you have any concerns and we will work through the together.