15 May 2011
A Cord of Three Strands
05/19/11 10:03 PM Filed in: From the Pastor
| If you've been in the Sunday services for the past few weeks you've heard me mention an opportunity that has come our way as a church, to expand into the communities along the Ohio River by using a church facility in Newport called Full Gospel Assembly of God. This is a church that has existed for nearly five decades and had seasons of tremendous influence in their history. In recent years, however, the church has struggled and now numbers between 20 and 30 on Sunday mornings. They voted this past weekend to become a satellite location for our church, Christ's Chapel, and have asked us to set in place a second ministry campus at that facility. This would give us a platform to impact the neighboring communities for the Lord. Under the guidance of our District Superintendent, Joe Girdler, our church board granting approval for initial discussions, and me personally meeting with members of their board and church members, this process has focused primarily within the congregation of Full Gospel as they made a collective decision and expressed their desires concerning their future. Now the process moves to our church family as we collectively do the same thing. Is this something we believe is a healthy thing for Christ's Chapel? Is it an opportunity worth pursuing? Is this in the will of God for our church? These are the questions we will attempt to answer in the next few weeks. The process of answering these questions will include the following. First of all, please take some time in the next few days to pray about this situation. Secondly, make the effort to attend a few Wednesday evening services as we will devote most of our time discussing the opportunities and challenges presented in taking this journey and ultimately voting to either approve or decline moving forward. I have set aside Wednesday, June 8th as a time for us to discuss as a congregation, the initial plan of how this venture would take shape and to answer all questions on the subject. Our church will then vote two weeks later on Wednesday, June 22nd. This will allow the Wednesday of June 15th to be a format, if needed, for any additional conversation to occur and will also provide ample time for everyone to prayerfully consider our options. |