Ministry In Motion

If you have not heard yet we are looking into facility improvements for The First Baptist Church of Elgin.  In order to move things forward in an organized fashion two teams have been commissioned by the diaconate to pursue development with the Nestler Road property as well as our Highland Ave facility.  Vic Ribando is heading up the team for Nestler road to look into the possibility of developing 15-18 acres of our 48 acres currently owned in order to raise funds for facility improvements.  The idea is to save 30 acres for future ministry expansion.  Vic is communicating with real estate and development professionals to develop realistic proposals to consider.

Bill Duzet is the chair of the Highland Ave. vision team.  Team members include..  Bill Boscaljon, Vivian Bartt, Floyd Cork, Gary Green, Mary Pierce, Jason Poland, Dave Pohlmeier.

We have contracted with a church design firm Wildesign  Group Architects Inc. to evaluate our current facilities and develop realistic proposals for improvement.  Our first meeting with the architects and the vision team is set for this Monday 8/31.  This process will involve three parts.

1. Ministry and Facility Visioning.  During this step we will be taking a look at our current facility from a visitors perspective.  We will evaluate our existing facility and how it serves our current ministry.  Finally we will begin to set financial parameters as well as time lines to begin planning facility improvements. At the end of this phase our hope is to have clarity about purpose.

2. Facility Design Concepts - during this phase we will be meeting with various ministry groups involved at the church as we begin to discuss concepts about facility improvements.  We will start to look at preliminary concepts and probable costs associated with improvements.  We will begin to look at doing one big project or a project with multiple phases and address a time line for the project.   At the end of this phase we hope to have conviction about a plan.

3.  Facility Strategic Plan - During this phase we will communicate the scope of the project with the congregation at large.  We will finalize concept plans consistent with city guidelines and restrictions.  Our hope at the end of this phase is to clearly communicate to the congregation the strategic plan and look at the possibility of construction.

Thorough out this process if you have any questions or ideas share them with someone on vision team.  It is exciting to see what God is doing through our ministries and how we can continue to dream about the future possibilities.

For most people it is pretty easy to talk.  That doesn’t mean that it is easy to communicate.  To say the right thing to the right person at the right time takes more than just saying what is on your mind.  If you want to take it even farther to truly communicate well it requires the ability to listen and adapt information to be more clearly understood.  A great challenge for us as a church is to clearly communicate with the community and the congregation what God is doing in and among us.  To this end we have put together a communication team to help get the word out with regards to the mission of our church as well as all of the awesome things that are going on.  This team will also be listening to make sure that the message is being heard by the appropriate audience.  Currently we have a website, two monthly newsletters, blogs, bulletins and announcements to get the word out.  We are excited about a new opportunity to install two digital signs in our common areas to share information in an eye catching and relevant way.  If you have any ideas on how we may communicate more effectively post a comment here.

Just a quick update.  After the final cups have been collected this week we have raised over $5,000 to help those who are without employment in a variety of ways.  We have continued to have a great prayer time on Monday morning at 9:30AM.  A number of men have been keeping busy helping us fix things up around the church.  From our Monday morning prayer time the idea came up to offer a career path assessment to help make choices about future career decisions.  That is now available if you attend the church and contact Jason Poland at the office.  It is amazing to see how God can work when His people draw near to Him and one another.  God Bless.

We had a blast at the Grand Prix.  I can’t thank Randy & Janet Kmieciak and all of the Awana volunteers enough.    I happen to have a daughter that is very competitive (she gets it from her mother :)).  Prior to race day we talked about competition and good sportsmanship.  I hope that she works hard and does her best, but always values her fellow competitors and celebrates their victories as well.  I know that Awana is a program that helps me as a parent build those values into my child’s everyday life.  As a parent of young children I have concerns that they often get the message sent to them that there is no such thing as foundational beliefs.  Anything goes and all options are equal.  Tolerance and acceptance appears to be the rule that guides our society.  I believe there are such things as values and beliefs that are foundational to how we live our lives and how we hope our children live their lives.  One of those is to love others and accept their opinions and beliefs as their own.  That is only one of many core beliefs that we value as a Christian family.  Awana is a program that helps us as parents establish that foundation in our children’s lives in a fun and exciting way.Now, onto the results for speed and design from the race day they are as follows….

Speed

1st Joshua Eadler,  2nd Riley Bloomberg,  3rd Brett Bloomberg

Design

1st Ashley Poland,  2nd Ashley Lawson,  3rd Joseph Farqhuar

Congratulations to all the competitors for a great race day!!!

We are off to a slow start.  I got the email yesterday that 41 people have taken the spiritual life survey (I think 10 of those are Pastor Greg).  We really have no idea exactly what to expect, this is something new for us.  Our hope is to have somewhere between 100-200 people by the time the survey is completed.  We will be sending out an email remider to people about taking the survey.  The problem with a small number of people taking the survey is that it will not give us a great deal of confidence that this survey represents our whole congregation.  We still have about 1 1/2 weeks left to complete our surveys.  If you have not taken it yet please do so.  Chances are that if your reading this blog, you have probably already taken it, and I thank you for your participation.  Check back and I’ll let you know how things have been going.

I feel the need to admit I wasn’t too excited when the idea of a ministry fair was brought up.  A pastor probably shouldn’t admit that, but that is how I was feeling at the time.  I was in a meeting with the children’s leadership when the idea was brought up.  It seemed like a lot of work and I really couldn’t see what kind of impact it would have.  The leaders were persistent and so I said, sure maybe we can plan something for the fall.  Almost in unison they said, no sooner.  OK when?  Next month.  We didn’t pull it together in one month, it was more like six weeks.  With a lot of help from Sandy and Paul Brotzman the fair came together and went off really well.  In hind sight I am really glad that we did and some of the benefits were not what I thought.  Often when I have a conversation with leaders I can sense they are bracing themselves.  I can almost picture the wheels in their brains wondering what crazy thing is Jason going to ask them for this time.   Sometimes I am even disappointed because my ideas don’t translate as well to others.  The opposite was true with the ministry fair.  Leaders were excited at the opportunity to share what God was doing in and through them.  As we promoted the fair some even came to me with new ideas.  Jennifer McMahon, one of the young moms here, came to me with the idea of starting a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers Group).  I found myself excited and encouraged by others enthusiasm.  It didn’t end there.  The day of the fair a number of leaders expressed the success of the fair because people were excited about their ministry and signed up to serve or participate.  The community table I was at was next to Work Force, I noticed about 13 new people signed up to help with their ministry.  I love being in community where people are excited about serving their savior.

We often hear Acts 2 quoted in reference to the early church.  If you haven’t read it recently I encourage you to spend some time there.  I am often encouraged as I read about how the early church interacted with one another.  How often do you actually get to see it lived out?  One week ago we started a new initiative to help out those impacted by the global economic crisis.  You can read about “From the Grounds up” on our website.  It has been awesome to actually see the local church acting like the church of Acts.  We have had a great time of prayer on Monday morning beginning our week praying for those seeking employment, and networking with one another about how to take steps forward.  This past week the congregation gave generously as we collected $2,000 to assist those with financial need.  I am even more excited to think about all the prayers that were lifted to God on behalf of those in a moment of crisis.  “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

I have been inspired by friends of mine to enter the blog world. I don’t believe that I am the most creative writer so this is a bit of a stretch for me, but I am looking forward to the challenge. I believe that ideas flourish in community when we are willing to take risks and step out in faith. In a growing community we can each share the part that we have to offer with the sum being far great than any of us may offer alone. If you want to be a part of the ever changing landscape of ministry at First Baptist then it will be important for you to check back here often and contribute to the conversation.