Letter went out USPS today

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We have an important meeting Sunday. 6:00-7:15 at Hope Community Church. Childcare will be available. We’ll gather to inform you about some important elements of our life together. On the agenda:

#1. Land
#2. Ministry to Families
#3. Money (Regular Giving and Site to Serve)
#4 Our Key Result Areas for the October through May.
#5. Leadership Development



#1. Land
Buying the piece of property on Newberry Road has been a comedy of errors. It was the desire of everyone in leadership to stand before you Sunday night and say, “We have final news, good or bad.” Sadly, we can’t do that. The meeting that was scheduled between seller and attorney was postponed by Hurricane Jeanne until Monday October 4th.
At the meeting you will hear the latest on this whole situation.

#2. Ministry to Families
A.) Children
1.) Good to Great
With the dramatic increase in attendance of undergraduates it seems appropriate to restate our vision for and commitment to seeking to partner with parents in helping their children to hope in God.
Currently Christ Community offers solid biblical teaching at 9am on Sunday mornings. During the 10:00 hour we offer Children’s Church every other week to K-2nd grade.
In order to build on this good we really need to add to this:
~a welcoming environment
~better signage showing newer people where to go
~clearer markers of what our children are learning to help them experiencing & extend the grace of Jesus Christ
~putting resources into parents hands and hearts to teach the Scriptures to their children


For those who want more, I highly recommend an online article: The Family: Together in God’s Presence which can be found at http://desiringgod.org/library/topics/family/family_worship.html

Core Values of Our Children’s Curriculum:
Redemptive-historical Perspective. The Reformed approach to the Bible is to see it as the complete, unified counsel of God. Therefore, we interpret every small portion of God's Word in the context of the whole.
A God-ward Focus. As we encounter any biblical truth, it teaches us about God and ultimately elicits worship from us as we discover him to be sovereign Creator, Redeemer and King.
Show Me Jesus. The subject of Scripture is God's unfolding story of salvation, and Jesus is its focus. We show how Jesus Christ, reflected on every page of the Bible, came to seek and save the lost.
God's Covenant of Grace. From Genesis to Revelation, covenant is the thread that ties the Bible together: we build on that truth to teach students of all ages the constant faithfulness of God.
The Home Link. Church and home — working together to point children to Christ. We believe parents are key in the spiritual training of their children, and we provide resources for them to reinforce the solid teaching children receive at church.
2.) Children & Communion
The elders are very excited to see that we have many children in the congregation who are interested in taking their place at the Lord’s Table. The elders take the profession of faith of children very seriously. Our normal practice for adults to join the church is to meet privately with the elders to profess their personal faith in Jesus Christ. We don’t force the children to fit into this “interview model” which adults even get nervous about. The way it works is that you or your child should let an elder know that it is time to set up a home visit. I’ll come out with another elder to visit very informally with you and your child(ren). We are simply looking to hear of your child(ren)’s personal faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ and some basic understanding of the Lord’s Supper.

I’ve enclosed the pertinent sections of Christ Community’s Book of Church Order and a lithograph we’ve used in the past.

B. Youth
Currently we have David Bagwell working on a part-time basis with the jr hi and hi school. He’s teaching Deuteronomy in Sunday school and Romans in Youth Group on Sunday evenings.
David and the volunteer leaders are doing a great job of seeking to spend one-on-one time with students during the week. This is crucial and we commend them for seeking to incarnate the gospel to young people.
David is supported administratively and emotionally by help from Maggie Martin, Tyler Walker, Lorraine Martin and of course, Margaret Thaler. This group is always looking for ways to bring more youth in contact with the gospel of grace.

#3.) Money (see attached sheet)
A.) Regular Giving
B.) Site to Serve Capital Campaign

Now, there are some points here that are very encouraging and some points that are quite concerning. Shall we start with encouragements?
Ø To see Land/Building Fund go from $9,000 to $182,000 in 24 months is great progress. One pastor who has seen his church through numerous capital campaigns says, “Rob that is good progress if you have something visible for people to give to. Christ Community can’t even put a ‘Future Home’ sign in the ground and they’ve given like this to an idea? That’s outstanding.”
Ø The amount of money that 50 contributors are giving is quite good.

Opportunities for Growth
Ø Seems that the number of inconsistent contributors (72) is high, we need to see 10 of these become regular givers
Ø Seems that you can’t go long or far with non-members giving half your money. There’s two ways to change that and of the two I prefer to see a migration of non-members into a covenantal relationship with us.



#4 Key Result Areas for October 2004-May 2005
Frankly, I’ve got to talk with our elders, committee chairs and staff to boil these down. Plus, if I give you everything here, you might stay away Sunday!

#5. Leadership Development
The elders and the Education Committee have been working on this, giving time regularly to pray and plan towards elders and deacons to emerge and be ordained from our membership. One thing we’re doing is having me teach Sunday School more often. Also, the elders are taking a relational approach to officer identification.


Let me wrap it up like this…sometimes I stop and stare at my wife and realize, “If I was starting all over again and I was single, I’d set my sights on Kim and go for her.” Yet I can wrongly allow day to day familiarity to cause me to take her and her greatness for granted. Sadly, this happens with Christ Community as well. Does it for you? Do you forget that with all our problems (and we have ‘em!) Christ Community is a work of God’s strong grace? Have you forgotten:
~ the quality of people God has gathered here
~ that some churches go years without seeing a visitor, we rarely go a week
~that we have cross-generational friendships that are vital in this fragmented culture
~that some churches would jump for joy to have the opportunity to impact as many university students as we do
~that we have godly & gifted musicians helping us worship
~so many people are working so hard behind the scenes to help us grow in faithfulness
~ the healthy blended emphasis we have on knowing Christ emotionally and intellectually




One recent note that came into the office said:
So I admit I've been jaded by my previous experiences at other churches.
What I had observed was most Christians are hypocrites, don't care, and are overly worried about appearances. The more I do with Christ Community, the more I realize that I'm wrong. I've really enjoyed my time in Bible studies, really being able to learn about and from other Christians. I know our church isn't a wonder-church … But I feel like people genuinely open up and are seeking after the Lord, for the most part.

I look forward to being with you on Sunday, morning and evening.