I just wanted to share how excited I am about the upcoming changes and new direction at Edgewood. If you missed the announcement this morning, here is the video...
I have struggled with a sense of "comfort" at our church for a long time. What I mean by that is I feel we are too comfortable within our four walls. As a whole, we are too content in coming Sunday morning, enjoying a good service together, and going home. Sunday mornings are important, don't get me wrong, but I think who we are as a church should be reflected through our lives EVERY day of the week. It should change the way we act, change the way we spend our time, change the way we spend our money, change the way we deal with those around us, etc., etc. Dave Anderson's new role as the "Pastor of Missional Living" is a HUGE step toward that direction. We are wanting to put a stronger emphasis for each church member to grow individually in order to reach people outside the church through our daily lives. While that is a huge mindset change, here are a few practical ways that Dave will help us work toward that goal:
1. Small Groups
2. Discipleship/Mentoring
3. Evangelism
4. Outreach Events
I am a firm believer in small groups and I'm excited that we will have someone overseeing and pushing this important ministry. Megan and I have had the privilege of being a part of the 20's/30's small group for the last year. Through this group, I have gotten more out of the Sunday morning sermons than ever before, I have met new people and developed stronger relationships, I have felt the support of a great group of people, and we have been involved in several mission-minded projects together as well. To be honest, this small group is one of my favorite things that I'm involved in. I love it and I'm thrilled that more people will be able to experience this type of setting in the very near future.
The importance of mentoring has been discussed on here before when I talked about being a multi-generational church. It will be great to see more connections there as well. Evangelism and outreach events were purposely listed as two separate headings. Evangelism refers to more personal training and encouragement to share our faith in our every day lives. Outreach events are church-wide events that Dave will be organizing with the intentions of reaching out to our community. There are lots of possibilities here! I am very excited about this new position for Dave and am praying for God to move through Dave in powerful ways.
And what about this? Chuck Orr leading Student Ministries AND the Shannon Bullock/Sabrina Orr Team for Children's Ministries???? Wow! I can't think of anybody that I'd rather have in these positions than those three. They are absolutely amazing people who have strong hearts for the Lord, strong hearts for Edgewood, and strong hearts for kids/youth! Any one of them would have been a great boost...but all three together? Wow! God has truly provided amazing people for these roles!
While the responsibilities for Jerry and I will stay practically the same, I believe we will both sense a renewed passion and fresh excitement for our roles on this team. We've got some details to work through over this next month, but we're pumped about kicking this into full gear on September 1st.
The Board will officially vote on this plan at the August 18th meeting. We'd love to hear your feedback before then. What excites you most about this plan? Are there any questions you have that would help clarify the goals or thoughts of these ideas? Feel free to add them here on the blog, or contact one of the Elders or Staff. We'd love to hear from you.
Be praying for us, be praying for God's clear direction as we get started, be praying about where you'd like to plug in to serve with us, and be praying for God to move in amazing ways. We're looking forward to seeing what He's going to do this fall and throughout the year!
