The Following is the text from the 2014 Grace Report. Each year, we ask those that lead each ministry at Grace to share with us where they have seen evidences of grace in their respective ministries. What follows are their words and thoughts…all complied into a neat little packet of info we lovingly call the Grace Report. This report is meant to serve as an encouragement to you, and as a means of preparation for our Vision Night meeting on January 26th at 6pm at the church. Please read on…and join us at Vision Night!
We pray that you are encouraged and that God receives ALL the glory from any ministry effort here at Grace!
2014 an EXTRAordinary Year
Table of Contents
(click on a Ministry Name to jump to that section)
As you read this year’s Grace Report
Children’s Ministry – Shaun King
Counseling – Jason Bradshaw
Crossing – Justin Powell
Deacons – Rick Bohn and Gregg Dyke
Elder Team – Danny Wright
Elevate – Shaun King
Finance Team – Monty Stump
G4T – Danny Wright
Joy Club – Wises & Dearing’s
LIFEgroups – Marshall Gipe
Men’s Ministry – Shaun King
Music Ministry – Jason Bradshaw
Nursery – Courtney Harshbarger
Outreach – Chris Harshbarger
Preaching – Danny Wright
Women’s Ministry – Becky Gipe
GRACE Acrostic
Grow
Relate
Adore
Commit
Engage
Mission Statement
IN CONCLUSION
As you read this year’s Grace Report
N
othing helps you realize the goofiness of the English language like trying to teach your kid to read.
“Yes son, the words: laugh, giraffe and staff all three rhyme.” “No son, the words: tough, dough and through do not rhyme.”
Another example is the word extraordinary.
You and I already know that extraordinary means: “1. beyond what is usual, ordinary, regular, or established; 2. exceptional in character, amount, extent, degree, etc.” (at least that’s what dictionary.com says). But for a kid, they wrestle with the meaning here. How can something be “extra ordinary?” Does that mean it is remarkably average? Doesn’t that just mean it’s average?
So what do we mean when we call this year’s Grace Report “Extraordinary?” Are we saying it’s been an exceptional year? Are we saying it’s been an average year?
Answer: “Yes.”
In many ways, this has been an “average year.” Reading through this Grace Report will probably not inspire you to ask, “How did that not make the Times-Dispatch? Why wasn’t this on Channel 7?” Or, “I can’t believe my co-workers weren’t discussing this during break.”
Yet, in other ways, the year has been beyond exceptional. By God’s grace we’ve had the privilege to proclaim the gospel to those who are lost and to one another. Through the Spirit’s power, the Lord has allowed us to see fruit in people coming to Christ, turning from sin, restoring relationships, committing to serve one another…and much, much more. God has been doing things among us that God alone can do.
No, our 2013 did not really make anyone on earth take notice, but heaven took notice. As you read through this report, rejoice in the favor our Lord has shown us, recognize it wasn’t our doing that created fruit, and be encouraged that is the “everyday-ordinary” acts of faithfulness that God uses in extraordinary ways!
…we pray that you would be encouraged about the things that are happening and the souls that are being effected in ways you may not have known.
…we pray that you would be informed about ministries so that you could encourage others to participate and benefit by what is offered.
…we pray that you would consider using your personal giftedness to participate and serve in the ministries that are available here at Grace.
…we pray that you would pray for these ministries. Take the information in this booklet and allow it to inform your prayer life for our church!
…we pray that you would thank God. He has been very gracious to us. These reports do not intend to communicate how well we are doing for Him, but reflect on how gracious He has been to us! Take time to thank God for any fruit we’ve been able to see.
In the next few pages, you’ll read ministry updates from various ministry leaders in the church. Their task was not to record out every participant and flood you with a host of “stats” (other than the Finance Team…that’s sort of their thing). Their task was to chronicle for you how God has been working through their ministry and the fruit He has chosen to create through the faithful service of His people.
This report is also meant to be a precursor to our “Vision Night.” Please read through the booklet before Vision Night, AND interact with it! If it produces questions, write them down and come prepared to ask them. Our prayer is that this booklet allows us to discuss how the year has gone, and where Greenville Grace may be headed next year…rather than just giving a bunch of reports.
Please plan to join us January 26, @6pm!
Children’s Ministry – Shaun King
Shaun stepped into the oversight role of Children’s Ministry when he came on staff in mid-August.
The primary ministries that Children’s Ministry oversees are VBS, Children’s Church, and the Children’s Christmas program. This year, VBS was largely organized and handled by a team directed by Tammy Dietrich and Nicole Yost. Children’s Church has a host of teachers (21 to be exact) with Krista Stump and Stephanie Szymanski serving as “superintendents.” Robyn Bowers directs and leads the Children’s Christmas program and Michael and Melanie Coate have just joined the newly formed leadership team.
This year has obviously been full of a lot of transition. Though several teachers had stepped down during the year, many more positions were filled. Currently, we have 21 teachers for ages 4 through 6th grade. This is praise as it allows teachers to be in a regular rotation that keeps the ministry from being overwhelming to those that serve.
We’ve received great feedback on the curriculum. Parents seem to be enjoying “Long Story Short” with their kids, and the teachers all have given positive feedback about the materials. Kids are hearing the gospel weekly, and teachers have even been able to share the gospel with some visiting parents a couple times!
Please pray for children to come to know Jesus and for others to continue to grow in Him. Pray not only for visiting kids to hear the gospel, but even for our kids that come every week. May God use these ministries to raise up a whole generation of workers unto the harvest field! Please pray also for the volunteers. Pray not only that they would serve effectively, but that God would create personal fruit for them through their study and preparation.
Counseling – Jason Bradshaw
Our counseling ministry has continued to grow in depth and opportunity in the last few years. With the convictions that God’s Word truly provides conviction and comfort in the midst of trials, we are seeking to provide gospel direction for people inside and outside the church.
Many people separate out counseling into “formal” and “informal” opportunities. Everyone may not feel called to serving in a formal counseling environment (making an appointment to visit with someone for Biblical Counsel). However, the Body of Christ has been called to admonish one another. That means we should all seek to be prepared to share the Word of God with one another…it’s not just a “pastor’s job.”
This year, we’ve sought to help equip LIFEgroup leaders to speak into people’s lives (and not just the LIFEgroup questions) through some training. Many counseling needs can be taken care of simply as people are honest about their needs and struggles and others come alongside to encourage and offer direction from the Word of God. It’s been exciting to watch this continue to grow!
In our formal counseling environments, our counselors continue to grow in experience and in understanding of gospel application, even as they seek to help those they counsel. God has been gracious to allow us to see fruit as some counselees have turned from sin, found comfort in Christ and begun to live more abundantly in the context of “regular body life” of the church.
Our greatest needs for prayer are always wisdom for the counselors and openness from the counselees. Pray that the Lord would work faithfully in all lives! This ministry can always use more counselors. If you are interested, please see Jason about training opportunities. We continue to be in debt to Steve Short (Beamsville Christian Church) for the training that he has offered to us!
Crossing – Justin Powell
Our college-aged ministry has been working hard this year. They have been filling their already ambitiously full schedules (remember those years…”sure, I’ve got time for that!!”) with many events and service opportunities, all under the tag-team ‘Godfathering’ of Justin Powell and Shaun King.
Crossing meets every two weeks in some fashion or another…and like the bulletin text seems to state…it’s always epic! When they meet at the church (or in a home) for ‘normal meeting’, they spend their time in the Word, reaching out to each other and just enjoying each other’s company.
The college years are extremely transitional and this ministry seems to be constantly ebbing and flowing to meet the needs and demands that these unique years bring along with them. In spite of that uniqueness, the Crossing leadership team (Grant Miller, Jena Powell, Josiah Garber, Olivia Coy, Dan Pence, Amanda Balsbaugh, Madison Keiser, Rachael Powell, Cory Landis) have been encouraged in a multitude of ways in 2013. They have seen those that they minister to grow in their willingness to respond to service needs (they participated in no less than 15 events in the church and the community in 2013), their desire to grow in their knowledge of the Word taught (they have experienced record attendance to their ‘normal gatherings’), and their willingness to be more and more comfortable with respectfully challenging each other (as evidenced in conversations around the room). They have been very encouraged by the growing evidence of their group’s desire to serve without being rewarded, but simply for the benefit of the one they are serving at the moment.
The leadership team is looking forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for them in 2014. They would appreciate prayer for wisdom and discernment in how to best respond to the relationship and discipleship needs that the recent growth brings along with it.
…and if you’re curious about who we are and what we do…swing in to the church one Sunday evening at 7p. We’d love to see you!
Deacons – Rick Bohn and Gregg Dyke
Our deacon ministry was started in 2013 and we’ve seen the Lord working faithfully in it. Our deacons are not responsible to lead or teach for the church (that is the role of an elder). Their calling is to serve faithfully in areas of ministry oversight. Most deacons are servants-at-heart, and their temptation can be to do all of the work on their own. It’s been a blessing to watch both of our deacons equip and enable others to use their gifts to serve the body.
Rick’s area of oversight is the building and grounds. His oversight includes general maintenance as well as improvements or upgrades. This year, we had a septic “lift pump” get struck by lightning (causing our restrooms to be down for a Sunday). This allowed us to not only fix the damage, but to take advantage of the situation and upgrade the electric service to it as well. Thank you to the volunteers who helped with that project and allowed us to stretch our finances even further! We also had a workday in the spring where a lot of cleaning and maintenance work was done (as well as some wiring repairs under the stage). We had our parking lot resealed, and have negotiated a level billing contract for our propane. We’ve even begun the initial phase of a playground area down the road.
Gregg’s area of oversight is hospitality. Gregg has overseen most of the changes/updates in the narthex to make it more welcoming, as well as updating our offices to make them more usable. (We turned one office into a “counseling room.”) Gregg also oversees the “Welcome Center” volunteers, helping visitors feel welcomed and answering any questions people might have. The Welcome Center is also the location of our Children’s ministry registration.
If you would like to apply your abilities to either ministry, please contact either deacon for information on how you may serve. Pray for them as well, as they continue to make decisions on how to best use our resources to glorify God and point to Jesus Christ!
Elder Team – Danny Wright
Along with overseeing the shepherding of the whole flock, our elders also assigned specific areas of oversight for each elder. Our team consists of Jason Bradshaw (Counseling & Music), Marshall Gipe (Administration & LIFEgroups), Chris Harshbarger (Outreach), Shaun King (Children’s, Students & Men), Brian Reifsnider (Shepherding the shepherds), Monty Stump (Finance) and Danny Wright (Preaching & Leadership Development). This transition has allowed us to function much more as a “plurality” (less as one person in charge). Now our meetings are even led by multiple people.
While this shared leadership model is more Biblical, it can be less efficient. It becomes critical that ministries are functioning together and toward the same goal. As a team, we reworked our Core Values (G.R.A.C.E.) and developed a basic “mission statement”. We pray that these tools might help us equip others for service and serve as accountability for the function and purpose of our ministry teams. You can read these revised documents at the end of the Grace Report.
As members of the flock, the under-shepherds at Grace are in a continual process of growth as well. We’re thankful for the grace of the body as you follow our lead and are patient with us. We find the Word of God true that God desires to grow us both through the trials we face as a church, as well as the fruitful seasons!
As elders, we appreciate your prayers for us in wisdom with shepherding decisions and caring for others souls. Pray that we would serve and care for others, but not in such a way that limits the rest of the body from serving and caring for each other as well. Pray that we would maintain lives that are “above reproach” and assist us in that area as we seek to help you grow as well. As always, pray for more workers to the harvest field, that we would continue to equip (and potentially) send out elders into the harvest field!
Elevate – Shaun King
As with other areas of ministry that Shaun oversees, his role with our student ministries officially began in August of this year. Clearly, this year has been one of transition, as Matt Strader departed in early June and we saw a large senior class graduate.
Currently, Elevate’s “staff” consists of Shaun & Jessi King, Shawn & Jennifer Sachs, John King, Doug Wise, Rachel Knight and Justin & Lori Palmer. The youth staff did an amazing job of caring for students in the “gap” between Matt’s departure and Shaun’s start. During that transition the staff planned and led bonfires, a trip to Kings Island and continued Wednesday evening meetings. If you have not already thanked them for their faithful service, please find one and do so!
Our student ministry has also enjoyed Dare2Share, district retreats, overnighters and even Pinterest parties (sorry guys, girls only). The “backbone” of the ministry continues to be the Wednesday evening gatherings where the students are able to study the Word of God, worship together and discuss what they are learning in small groups. It’s been exciting to see the students grow in their walk with the Lord, as well as inviting other friends to come and hear about Christ.
You can pray for our student ministry by praying for the teens. Pray that they continue to grow in the Lord and grow in their understanding of the church, so that they become life-long disciples of Jesus Christ. Pray that they would take advantage of this great time in their lives to introduce others to Jesus Christ. Pray also for our youth staff. Pray that they would grow as they minister to our students. Lastly, remember to pray for the parents of teens in our church. Pray for wisdom for them as they lead their children into adulthood and pray that Grace would equip and minister to the parents well. Pray also for additional youth workers to assist with shepherding the students.
Finance Team – Monty Stump
The Finance Team consists of Linda Fourman, Mike Gallagher, Dennis Light, Katie McKee (Church Treasurer), Kent Powell and Monty Stump. As a team, they help coordinate good stewardship of our resources. The team oversees the accounting, deposits and payments of our church. They also help set a budget for us under the oversight of the elder team.
In addition to overseeing the “corporate budget” of our church, the Finance Team also helps in financial training for homes. We are currently using “Crown Financial” materials to train others in gospel-centered stewardship. Currently, Mike Gallagher and Monty Stump have taught small groups the Crown material and there is a plan to continue with this training.
Continue to pray for the Finance Team that they would exercise wisdom and discernment while also showing faith in God. We’re thankful for the strong, wise, gracious direction the Finance Team helps provide.
Numbers for last year, and proposed numbers for 2014:
2013 2014
Budget: $403,782 Budget: $412,075
$7765/week $7925/week
2013 Income: $400,719………………………………………$7706/week
2013 Expenses: $390,243………………………………………$7505/week
Mortgage: January 1, 2013: $248,510………December 31, 2013: $188,748
As you can see, as we look to pay of the mortgage soon, this will free up more finances for other gospel purposes. Pray for wisdom for the Finance Team and elders as we consider where those materials may be best spent!
G4T – Danny Wright
G4T (Greenville Grace Gospel Growth Training) is an intentional ministry intended to develop other ministry workers. We seek to develop other leaders in convictions (Porterbrook), character (faithful LIFEgroup participation), competencies (ministry experience with coaching) and chemistry.
We have about a half dozen men who have faithfully participated in G4T for a couple years and are looking (Lord willing) to “graduate” from Porterbrook in the spring. We praise God for the training, growth and development we’ve seen through Porterbrook materials. Part of ministry development is understanding the need to be a “life long learner” so we will be looking for other ways to continue to train and pour into these men.
We’ve also had a handful of people (including a lady!) who have taken the year one materials with Porterbrook. It is our desire to start with Year two training in September (though we are still working out details with Porterbrook).
It’s our desire that G4T would be accessible to anyone in our church, yet challenging enough that a person needs to be committed to really gain from it. To date, God has used G4T to help equip current elders, help raise up elders, and provide men to help assist some hurting churches in the area. It is still our desire that God might use G4T to even prepare a church planter for us, and we trust that the fruit we have already seen is consistent with that goal being a possibility.
If you are already actively involved in a LIFEgroup, growing from Men’s or Women’s ministry, and yet feel like God is calling you to more, contact the office for information on Porterbrook. It’s for men and women, young and old. It can help prepare a church planter, or simply help you serve better in the ministry you already participate in!
Joy Club – Wises & Dearings
Our JOY Club is a ministry to “seniors” in our church that seeks to serve, experience fellowship and grow together. Since starting back up this year, the group has been very active, enjoying events like: Whirlpool Tour (baking apple dumplings at Kitchen Aide) followed by lunch, Fountain City Amish market day, Fellowship Carry-in, Summer cookout at Dearing’s place, and Christmas bingo! The group has also served by helping with communion preparations as well as visiting nursing homes and shut-ins.
The group would like to challenge those who are eligible age but don’t want to admit it (you know who you are!) to join them. The group is totally willing to embrace some “young blood” and as you can see, you’ll eat very well!
JOY Club is not meant to replace LIFEgroups, but it is a great ministry for some who are not able to attend to still receive fellowship and be challenged by the Word. The Joy Club would ask you to pray for their events. Pray that the Lord would provide genuine “gospel opportunities” as they gather. Pray that others would benefit from this ministry that have not.
If you would like to participate in JOY Club, contact with Mike and Shawna Wise or Ron and Madonna Dearing for more information. We think you’d be blessed by this great group!
LIFEgroups – Marshall Gipe
Our LIFEgroups ministry is where we seek to apply the “one anothers” of Scripture. Throughout the week, we have 17 different groups that are meeting in homes to discuss the text, hold one another accountable and pray for needs within the group. In the past year, the groups have also grown in their response to needs in the community (regularly participating in service projects), as well as participating in Operation Christmas Child and helping meet other benevolence needs. Groups have sought to rake leaves and do small projects for others in the church as well. Groups have also seen the value in times of “fellowship” where there is not really an agenda beyond enjoying a meal together and getting to know each other better.
In essence, we see an encouraging trajectory in our LIFEgroup ministry. A few years ago, people referred to LIFEgroup as “Bible Study.” While we do seek to study the Word of God together, that is not all we wanted to accomplish. A couple years ago, people spoke of “going to” LIFEgroup. While a LIFEgroup does need a specific time of meeting, we did not wish for the meeting to be all that a LIFEgroup consisted of. Lately, people talk about “being” a LIFEgroup. Ah, that’s what we’re aiming for!
As our LIFEgroups have continued to expand we incorporated LIFEgroup coaches this year. Marshall Gipe, Kyle Lehman and Dan Wright serve our LIFEgroups through coaching, encouragement and instruction. This has helped our groups have a consistent goal and function.
In the next year, as always, you can continue to pray for the process of multiplication. Currently, we have about 200 people attending a LIFEgroup. Looking at average Sunday attendance will tell you there are plenty at Grace that we’d like to make room for, as well as preparing our groups to minister to anyone new who comes along. Pray for the groups as they consider how, and commit to making, multiplication happen!
Men’s Ministry – Shaun King
Men’s ministry largely consists of our Men’s Training (every other Monday night) as well as the Edge (breakfast on the first Saturday of the month). Along with these events, we also enjoyed a golf outing (organized by Rick Claudy and Frank Szymanski), and a Father/Son campout (at Dearing’s Retreat). Special thanks goes to Chris Denlinger, Jeff Beavins, Tim Kauffman and Glen Markley for many early mornings helping prepare meals for us!
During this last year, the men finished their study of Systematic Theology, How to be Good and Angry and are working through Dangerous Calling. We also enjoyed some individual teaching by men sharing their heart from a passage or sharing their testimony.
It’s our desire that men would grow in their love and knowledge of the gospel. This gospel growth should lead to men becoming better fathers, husbands and disciples. We’ve been encouraged to see men of all generations attending events and gaining from teaching.
Pray for our Men’s Ministry as we consider future planning. We are looking at ways that multiple generations can attend. (We’d love to dads to do some “training” with their sons.) We also want to look at ways that different environments could provide different discipleship opportunities.
We’re thankful for the number of men who have participated and benefited from our ministries. Nothing helps our ministry serve other men like inviting them personally to join us.
Music Ministry – Jason Bradshaw
Our music teams function every week, but also participated in some additional gatherings. This year, members of the team also served at “Night of Worship” (Grace Baptist, Troy) and “Questfest” (Greenville City Park). Playing outside of our usual context helped remind us how clear our gospel liturgy needs to be. (“Liturgy” simply means our desire to articulate the storyline of the gospel through the songs, Scripture readings and prayer in a given service.)
This year, we also incorporated “coaches” for different areas within the teams. Michael Couch, Chris Denlinger and Jerald Yost began overseeing specific responsibilities and team members in their respective areas.
During the course of the year, we emphasized Galatians 5:13
For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
We’re so thankful that our 20+ volunteers (musicians, sound and power point) seek to serve the Body on Sunday mornings. It’s a joy to serve along with them we are corporately teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)
If you are interested in serving the body with your gifts (whether instrumentals, vocals, sound or power point), we have seen some transition this year and are looking for some more volunteers.
Nursery – Courtney Harshbarger
Courtney Harshbarger wants to first thank Sara Deaton for stepping in and leading the nursery ministry when Courtney had her most recent baby.
While some people think the nursery may just be about wiping bottoms and noses, we’re thankful that its influence is far beyond that. By providing care for these little ones, our desire is that parents are freed up from distraction and able to hear the gospel clearly, knowing their baby is in good hands.
The adults aren’t the only ones who hear the gospel clearly through the nursery ministry. Michelle Keiser, Libby Lehman, Sara Deaton, Kari Ganger, Rachel Wooten and Shawna Wise all help teach our toddlers a gospel lesson. We’re praying that God would produce much fruit from sowing gospel seed in these little ones.
We currently have over 50 volunteers who work in the nursery, needing 10 volunteers to serve every week. This means we regularly need more volunteers, but especially so recently. If you are interested in serving please contact Courtney Harshbarger or Sara Deaton.
Pray for those who do work in our nursery as well. Pray that they would continue to show love for the children and seek opportunities to encourage the parents. Pray also that parents would hear the gospel without distraction.
Outreach – Chris Harshbarger
The Outreach team formed in the last year and is comprised of Mike & Melanie Coate, Mike & Linda Fourman, Chris & Courtney Harshbarger and Justin Powell. The team oversees our correspondence with missionaries, recommends a mission budget to the Finance Team, trains members of the body in evangelism and encourages people to be involved in short term mission trips. This year, they also planned a carry in while Bob and Anna Nilsen were in Greenville.
Through partnering with others, we’ve seen the following advances in the gospel:
Evangelism training at our church that equips our body and presents the gospel to those in the community.
Bob & Anna Nilsen equip church planters and serve communities in the Dominican Republic with medical needs to open up gospel opportunities.
In the last nine years, we’ve seen over 70 members of our body participate in a Dominican short term trip!
Aaron & Amanda Wolfe are bring electricity, water and the gospel to people in Uganda.
Daniel & Teressa Pierce are planting Greensboro Grace.
Through the Sojourn Network, we are being better equipped but also helping in planting churches across the country.
Rachel Knight continues to bring the gospel to students in southern Darke County through the ministry of Youth for Christ.
Please pray that God would grant wisdom to the members of the Outreach Team as they consider ministries to partner with. Pray also that your eyes would be open to opportunities to share the gospel. Pray for Grace as well, as we seek to plant the gospel locally, nationally and around the world.
Preaching – Danny Wright
As we mention nearly every week when we stand to read the Scriptures, it is a grace of God that He has revealed Himself to us and does not leave us to “discover” Him. If left to ourselves, we never would have found Him! We also know that Jesus will build His church (Matthew 16). Obviously, that means the church must let Him speak through the written Word. The only reason men can enter our pulpit on a Sunday morning and trust that it will be effective is not on the basis of their efforts, but on the basis of His power and faithfulness!
This year, our church has worked through the book of James and the book of Jude. We worked through Genesis 1-5 and John 1. We also did a six-week series that covered the story line of the Bible from cover to cover (“FastForward”) and spent five weeks discussing the nature of the church. It’s always amazing to see how God speaks directly to issues in the body as we simply work through texts on Sunday. By His grace, we’ve seen people trust Christ and also see believers continue to repent of sin and trust in Christ more.
While God is working through the preaching of His Word, He’s also working through the preacher. This means we understand that effectiveness is not dependent upon performance, but we do seek to be good stewards. We have begun reviewing sermons as a staff to try to help us continue to improve in our communication. Throughout last year, we landed on three main criteria: clarity, simplicity and passion. It is our desire for our preachers to all continue to grow in these areas.
In the next year, we will continue working through the books of Genesis and John. We also have a series on Money, Finances and Possessions coming up right after Resurrection Sunday, and will do another series on the nature of the church in the fall. Please continue to pray that God would honor the reading and preaching of His Word!
Women’s Ministry – Becky Gipe
The Women’s ministry team tackles a lot more than the Bible studies throughout the year. In addition to multiple studies a year, they also have held brunches, coffees, women’s conferences and our Moms Group ministry. None of this would be possible without participation of an entire team. Carrie Gallagher, Charity Wright and Jessi King help direct the Bible Studies. Margaret Yost heads up events, along with the assistance of Chris Wright, Christy Mortensen, Sharon Ester and Tammy Dietrich. Rachel Wooten heads up Moms Group with Janie Reifsnider and Kellie Eikenberry helping with major responsibilities.
Our women’s ministry has had a successful year of digging into God’s Word and growing in His grace. The gatherings also provide opportunity for genuine fellowship that is centered around our fellowship with Christ. It has been an encouragement to see how the truth of the gospel effects a woman’s role as a disciple, a wife and a mother.
If you are lady and you’ve never participated in Women’s Ministry, the team wants to invite you to join. They would love to have you be part! The team is also looking at ways to bring more diversity to the studies, as well as incorporating more small group facilitators and teachers.
GRACE Acrostic
We’ve been using G (grow), R (relate), A (adore), C (commit), and E (engage) to state our core values for a couple of years. However, as and elder team, we decided to revisit our core values to make sure they accurately reflected who we are, as well as to provide some clarity.
As you looked at the “revised statement” it may not seem that different. There’s a reason for that! We were thankful to discover that the core values still seem to accurate communicate our heart’s desire as a church. However, as we revised, we did make a couple of changes:
We added Scripture references. Rather than assuming our desire to be Biblical, we wanted to intentionally point to passages of Scripture for the initiation of our values.
References and statements to the Old and New Testaments. We wanted to make it clear that we consider all of the Scripture to be inspired and authoritative to the life of the church.
Cleared up Commit. Since we first created the core values, there has been a lot of confusion about “commit.” Is it a commitment to one another? A commitment to the Word of God? We reworked commit to communicate our desire for the Word of God to be our authority of our church corporately, not just individually. This means the Word calls men to lead, elders to govern and the church to raise up and train her own leaders.
Identities. The church is not ultimately about what we do, but about who we are. The church does not make herself into who she is, but Christ does. Therefore, we started each of the core values with an identity from Scripture. (Special thanks to our friends in the Sojourn Network for helping us see the need to emphasize identity!)
Here are the new “revised” GRACE Core Values:
Grow:
As disciples (John 15:8), we are growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord, Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). As God conforms us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29-30), this inward change manifests itself in visible ways (Galatians 5:22-24). We work with the assurance that God will create the fruit for His glory (Philippians 2:12-13).
Relate:
As family (Romans 8:16-17), God calls us to show love to one another (1 Peter 1:22). We are devoted to one another (Hebrews 10:24-25), using our unique gifts to serve and love one another (Romans 12:3-13). We abandon our selfish ambitions and consider others, just as Christ did for us (Philippians 2:1-10). We pursue such unity because we know it is Christ’s desire for His church (John 17:20-21).
Adore:
As worshipers (Revelation 15:4), our only appropriate response to God’s mercy is to offer our entire lives to Him with thankfulness (Romans 12:1). By dwelling on who God is (Psalm 86:8-10) and what Christ has done for us (1 John 4:10), we respond with gratitude both in our everyday actions and when we corporately gather (Colossians 3:15-17). We know our worship is received by God, not by our efforts, but because of the work of Christ on our behalf (Hebrews 10:19-22).
Commit:
As servants (Luke 17:10), we do not have an authority of our own, but recognize Christ’s headship (Ephesians 5:23) as seen through the authority of the Scriptures (1 Thessalonians 2:13). This means we submit ourselves to the Word—Old and New Testament—in our lives (2 Timothy 3:16-17), in the structure of our church (Hebrews 13:17) as well as her calling to develop leaders for the church (2 Timothy 2:2). Though we are sinful and weak, we have confidence that He will advance His church (Matthew 16:18)
Engage:
As witnesses (Acts 1:8), we participate in God’s redeeming work (2 Corinthians 5:20-21) by proclaiming the gospel message that leads to salvation (Romans 10:14-15) in the context of loving actions (1 John 3:18). Together, we are salt and light (Matthew 5:13-14) as well as helping establish and encourage other churches in our region and throughout the world (Matthew 28:19-20). We pursue this with joy and anticipation, knowing God’s glorious mission is the worship of every tribe, tongue, people and nation (Revelation 5:9).
Mission Statement:
Christ already gave us a mission statement when He issued the Great Commission. While it can be tempting to just quote a passage (Matthew 28:18-20, Luke 24:44-49 or Acts 1:7-8 for example), it can be beneficial to express that commission in your own language.
As elders, we decided to use an agricultural theme to express our mission. First, Scripture uses agricultural metaphors throughout. It seems a safe way for us to express things without getting to far off from the original intent. Second, we’re blessed to live in a setting where agricultural illustrations make sense. People know what we mean by the terms we use.
Our mission statement is simply three brief phrases:
Planting Gospel Seed
Nurturing Gospel Fruit
Harvesting Gospel Workers
It is our prayer that the gospel would work in and out of our lives continually…regardless of the task at hand or the environment that we find ourselves in!
First, we seek to plant the seed of the gospel into lives. This means we evangelize those who do not know Christ, but also that we point one another back to focusing on the gospel. This must be done by knowing the gospel well, and communicating it verbally!
Second, we do not seek for the gospel to be intellectual fact alone. The gospel desires to produce fruit in our lives. This fruit should mean that believers are individually changing more and more into the likeness of our Savior, as He changes our hearts. This change should manifest itself in the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) and in our love for the lost.
Lastly, a heart for God should generate a heart for God’s mission. Therefore, we desire to participate in the Great Commission. We want to send workers into the fields, train up gospel workers and support gospel causes!
Lord willing, our core values and mission statement does not strike you as anything surprising. There may be even a temptation to question if they are even necessary. In some ways, they are not. God has spoken what a church is, why it should operate and what our mission should be. In another way, having statements like these help us keep us from distraction and helps us better assess “how we are doing.” You will probably be seeing more and more of these statements throughout the years.
IN CONCLUSION
When we look back at 2013 and look forward to 2014, we are moved to gratitude for God’s goodness and grace on this church family. God has proven Himself to be so very faithful, so completely in control, and so entirely trustworthy.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your response to His goodness in the form of your continued support, love, trust and sharpening. At the risk of wearing out the phrase…we are shepherded by you. We can all state with confidence, that we are more like Christ because of your trust in Him and His gospel…as evidenced by your very lives and speech.
If you ever have a question, a concern or just a curiosity, please know that we are here to serve you in any way that we can.
You are loved. You are prayed for.
May God receive all the glory for all that happens because of our united efforts in the Gospel…”to the praise of the glory of His grace!”
In Christ,
Your Elder Team