Who We Are

***Welcome Everyone

***Have everyone sign in

Explain:

Last week, we looked at what we believe. Today, we are going to look at who we are.

Church History

Hand out church history pages…

Our Vision - What We Are Striving To Become

Our vision is to be a:

“A spiritually healthy, unified, and growing church that reaches the lost, equips believers, and impacts our community for Christ.”

Our current vision is simply to be a healthy church. To be a healthy church, we feel that we should be accomplishing all of the biblical functions that God has commissioned the church to do.

We have a vision team that meets once a month. We have been praying and working through what we felt God wanted us to do, and this is where we are. God wants us to strive to be a healthy church. So over the course of the next 5 - 10 years, our aim is to become a healthy church that accomplishes all that God has asked of us.

Our Strategy - How We Pursue the Mission

Building T.E.M.P.O.

T - Training

Equipping disciples and developing leaders

E - Exaltation

Glorifying God through biblical praise and worship

M - Ministry

Evangelism, discipleship, missions, and service

P - Prayer

Cultivating dependence upon God

O - Oneness

Building biblical unity and fellowship

Building TEMPO is a framework for evaluating and strengthening the ministries of the church.

Our Motto - The Heart of Our Church

Our Motto is on the wall when you come in the front door of the church:

“Where Love Is Felt, The Message Is Heard”

I truly believe that this describes the heart of our church.

Leadership Structure

Christ is the head of the church! This is a must.

Our current leadership structure is made up of myself as the Pastor and five deacons.

Keith Emrich

Kenny Gilliam

Bruce Seber

Vance Williams (Current Chairman)(This rotates every year)

Bruce Seber

I meet with the Deacons once every month to discuss whatever might need to be discussed.

We are currently looking to add more Deacons to the list. We have been praying through this for a about a year now. We have a few promising candidates, but we have not made a final decision just yet.

Decision-Making

Explain that each department head has so much leeway to make decisions, but all major decisions are fun through the Business meeting.

The exceptions are time-sensitive things, Disciplinary things, and things of a sensitive nature.

Current Ministries

Point them towards the Ministry Portfolio in the folder.

Membership Participation

We encourage every single member to be involved in ministry. Everyone has a gift. Everyone has something to offer. That could mean something as simple as being on the funeral meal prep team or being a part of the Building & Grounds Team… all the way up to serving in leadership.

(This has not always been the case, but we are actively encouraging that now… especially with every new person that chooses to lock arms with us. This change in culture has to start somewhere!!)

So as we finish up the class next week, I am going to ask you to prayerfully consider everything that we have talked about and ask yourself this question: Where do I fit?

As you think about our church, what God is doing here, and how God has brought you here, consider where God would have you to get plugged in first.

Now I will be honest. Much of this is a work in progress, and none of this done perfectly. But this is our heart. Just like with any organization, there are things that slip through the cracks. There are things that don’t always get accomplished as they should. But our hearts are driven by what we have discussed, and we are actively working to make those things better.

Questions