Congregational Meeting

Congregational Meeting

Wednesday night, June 18, we had our first congregational meeting together. It was a well attended meeting and much was shared. For those who missed the meeting and for those who didn’t take notes, here is the basics of the meeting.

We started with prayer for the church and her ministry. We continued with a retelling of the vision, mission and strategy of the church.

Our Vision

Our vision or churchwide purpose is to be a people who are – Living as disciples of Jesus Christ! We want to truly be walking the walk and not simply talking the talk.

Our Mission

Our mission or steps to meet this vision is to be a church that is – Introducing people to Jesus Christ, Developing relationships in Jesus Christ, and Making mature disciples of Jesus Christ. We want to be purposeful about our vision. We do not want to merely be say this but rather have it represent us. We want to be actively introducing people to Jesus. It amazes me when people who have attend church all their lives say they have never heard about the need to have a personal walk with Jesus. We want to introduce folks to Jesus, help them develop a deep relationship and then to mature their faith relationship.

Our Strategy

Our strategy to accomplish the above is by – Being inviting and welcoming, Being intentional about growing disciples, and Being a servant of Jesus Christ. We heard that 75-85% of the people who come to a church the first time come because they were invited by someone. We need to be intentional about inviting people to church to hear about Jesus. We need to be intentional about developing discipleship programs that will grow our relationship with Jesus. We need to learn to serve, because in serving we become more like Jesus and mature in our faith.

We are starting to see this vision, mission and strategy working in many areas of our church’s ministry. People are excited about the direction of the church.

Our Children’s Center

One place that we are seeing an increase in activity and excitement is with our Children’s Ministry. We are planning some work on the Children’s Center and work will begin shortly. Our target date for completion of an amazing area is September 1 and we can only accomplish this with your help.

Dione Bowlding, the Director of Youth ministry and until we hire someone for Children’s Ministry he carries a duel title of Director of Children and Youth ministries, shared an exciting presentation of the plans for the Children’s Center.

I could not do justice to his sharing in words what he shared in word and picture form. There is a PDF file (it is large) on the children’s page on the website where you can see what is planned. Suffice it to say the children’s workers are excited and the children will be blessed. We wish to develop the Children’s Center to be a children’s haven. The place to be for the children of Mt. Oak and the community! The name of our Children’s Ministry is now Kingdom Kids and we plan to use the theme of a kingdom, God’s kingdom, with castles and other items. Check out the pictures.

When we start in the next week on this project we will need your help a plenty. Check out Kurt Bulger, Allan Macomber, Molly Bragg, and/or Dione Bowlding to offer your help. Excitement is catching and God is not through with us by a long shot.

Pictures of the ideas for the Children’s Center will be on display in the entrance way to the gym for all to see. They will also be on the website. Get excited about where your church is headed.

Our Budget

The last part of the Congregational Meeting was about our budget needs.

Attendance is up! Average attendance for the last four years running goes like this – 361, 250, 204, 374. God has reversed the trend downward and people are finding Mt. Oak the place to be once again.

Our budget is growing and our giving is up! Our weekly need for the 2007 budget was $12,596. For 2008 that climbed to $17,059 a week.

The huge increase mainly comes from two major capital fund projects, the Children’s Center and the HVAC for the gym, and our full apportionments.

Our giving has increased by almost $2,000 a week but we need to raise it another $1,800 a week more to meet this year’s budget.

Carolyn and I challenged the church the first Sunday of the year to increase giving by 10%. Some may have taken the challenge. If we all did, I believe we could make budget.

I realize that everyone is under some financial pressure these days. The recession, even if it hasn’t been named that, has hit most of us. Gas prices have reach all time highs and other commodities will follow. Yet for the price of a pizza a week ($10) or two ($20) your church could continue to meet their needs and projections.

A Vote Was Taken

One vote was taken at the Congregational Meeting, giving the Church Council a voice from the congregation. The Children’s Center project asked for a $15,000 overrun cushion on top of the $55,000 and other designated funds in case they run into things not foreseen. This passed without descent and was passed to the Church Council.

Conclusion

Our vision, mission and strategy are sound. But remember, they need you. Without the support of the body of Christ named Mt. Oak, they are merely plans. Even well intentioned plans are useless unless they are walked out. Won’t you walk with us in the process of making disciples for Jesus Christ?