The Pastor's Article in this week's E-News
It is hard to believe that we are already starting our 21st month together! The good times have rolled for sure and we have seen lots of healing and growth. As your pastor, I have often tried to share my heart with you. I have also tried to listen to you and your heart about your life and your ministry. The journey has been sweet, even as we have faced a few bumps here and there.
This week I want to unload something that is dear to my heart and where I think we should head as a church. Before I do this, I want to explain why I think we should head to this place.
Have you ever thought about the system that is in place at Mt. Oak? What is our DNA? What is the pattern or practice we follow? Is our system Biblical or denominational or something else? Is our system conducive to growth and spiritual maturity? Are we calling and equipping people to Christian maturity and leadership?
What is it that will bring about a healthy church? Are there things we must do as a United Methodist Church or as Mt. Oak Fellowship? What are the rules we must live under, the system we must follow? All of that is for another article, I just felt led to share it to prick your thinking.
One of the truths I know to be true is that people need to feel connected in order to feel ownership. If people continue to be merely Sunday morning worship members of our church, our church will not grow beyond certain limits and barriers.
How do you connect people? The way to connect people – and it hasn’t changed in generations – is to bring small groups of people together. When a person feels loved, accepted, cared for and allowed to do the same for others, they will connect and establish an ownership of our church.
This Saturday Pastor Charlie will hold the first of many small group trainings for small group leaders (new and existing). We want to teach, instruct, and guide our small group leaders to form groups that will grow and multiply. We want groups that are always welcoming to new people and that care for one another. We need pastoral care on the small group level. We need to be intentional about inviting new people to our church to join us. We need that same intentionality to invite folks from the community to join us in our small group.
I won’t go into it all, because Pastor Charlie will on Saturday. Please know that the key to connecting the whole church, those who were here 20 months ago, those who have come since, and those who will continue to come in the future lies in our ability to connect them through our small groups.
Come Saturday, I will, and hear what Pastor Charlie
has to teach us all. It is the future of our church.
Have you ever thought about the system that is in place at Mt. Oak? What is our DNA? What is the pattern or practice we follow? Is our system Biblical or denominational or something else? Is our system conducive to growth and spiritual maturity? Are we calling and equipping people to Christian maturity and leadership?
What is it that will bring about a healthy church? Are there things we must do as a United Methodist Church or as Mt. Oak Fellowship? What are the rules we must live under, the system we must follow? All of that is for another article, I just felt led to share it to prick your thinking.
One of the truths I know to be true is that people need to feel connected in order to feel ownership. If people continue to be merely Sunday morning worship members of our church, our church will not grow beyond certain limits and barriers.
How do you connect people? The way to connect people – and it hasn’t changed in generations – is to bring small groups of people together. When a person feels loved, accepted, cared for and allowed to do the same for others, they will connect and establish an ownership of our church.
This Saturday Pastor Charlie will hold the first of many small group trainings for small group leaders (new and existing). We want to teach, instruct, and guide our small group leaders to form groups that will grow and multiply. We want groups that are always welcoming to new people and that care for one another. We need pastoral care on the small group level. We need to be intentional about inviting new people to our church to join us. We need that same intentionality to invite folks from the community to join us in our small group.
I won’t go into it all, because Pastor Charlie will on Saturday. Please know that the key to connecting the whole church, those who were here 20 months ago, those who have come since, and those who will continue to come in the future lies in our ability to connect them through our small groups.
Come Saturday, I will, and hear what Pastor Charlie
has to teach us all. It is the future of our church.
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