CHURCH IN TRANSITION

Brothers and sisters,

Jeremiah 29:11-13 “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
We are a church who seeks to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves. (Luke 10:27)
Since the “Healing the Heart” service and even before the elders and many of you have been praying for God’s direction for this church. He has impressed upon us that; 1) Christ is the Head of this church, He purchased us with His blood, we are to glorify the Father in the name of the Son; 2) elders must shepherd the flock by devoting themselves to prayer and the Word, ensure sound doctrine, disciple others and provide direction to the church; 3) the Body of Christ must love one another so others may know we are His disciples; 4) we must reach our community for Christ; and finally, we are a church in transition and must prayerfully trust Him as we make our plans and He guides our steps.
Elders devoted to prayer and the Word changes how our church operates day-to-day. Our role in the church is to shepherd the flock of God by ensuring sound doctrine, discipling others and providing direction. We are using a study on Biblical Eldership to focus our efforts and as a tool to disciple others. The heart of our church is changed and our structure must change as well. In the coming months we will be discussing with you changes to our bylaws we believe will better reflect God’s direction for this church.
Loving one another means spending time together, Potluck with a Purpose starts us in that direction and we must build on that. It has become clear that loving one another means better planning and communication. A Planning and Communication Team began meeting earlier this year to recommend changes and they are still at work. Their initial reports to the elders recommend a staff position to coordinate ministries and prepare the church for increased ministry opportunity.
At about that same time, a pastoral search committee was established and the decision was made to form two sub-committees one for youth pastor and one to seek God’s will regarding an additional staff position. The work of both committees continues and the latter recommends that our church pursue a pastor to coordinate current ministries, help crystallize God’s future direction for this church and implement change in our ministries and structure. As this process has unfolded, we believe God’s provision may already be here in this church body. We hope to confirm that very soon and continue this process culminating in a vote at the congregational meeting on 8 June. If not, the process will continue, as we trust God for His provision.
Two themes have consistently come to the forefront as we consider God’s future direction for this church. God designed the family as the primary discipleship tool (Deut. 6:6-7) and His church must encourage that model. This affects the design and scheduling of our ministries to bring the generations together, results in a youth ministry that includes a focus on fathers and may lead to a church family focused on serving single moms. God commands us to go and make disciples of all nations. (Mt 28:19) In Fairfax He has brought those nations to our very doorstep. We must be intentional about embracing the cultural and ethnic diversity within the Body of Christ and beyond and that means spending time together.
We are firm in our commitment to God, we will continue to plan and take each step as He illumines. We covet your prayers as we go through this transition together.

In His Service,
The Elders