Time to catch up

Many things have been happening since the last time I wrote on here.  I can't believe I didn't add one post throughout August, September and October!  It's time to catch up....

Edgewood has many things to be excited about right now.  We just got to celebrate the fact that we are now completely debt free. That is a huge relief and reason to celebrate as a church. 

The new vision/direction that I talked about on here in July is in FULL swing and things are going well.  .  In addition to all of those changes, we as a staff have been working hard at preparing an improved "assimilation" process.  We are looking at better ways to help people move through the process of "just visiting" to making Edgewood their home.  One interesting statistic that we found during our research...did you know that most people have decided whether or not they will come back to a church after their first SEVEN minutes on that church campus?  Seven minutes...that's before the service even starts!  Visitors notice everything and they have many times made up their minds about our church before the music even begins.  That sure changes our perspective on things and how we approach our guests!  We're finishing up some details for this strategy with the goal of launching this new plan on Sunday, November 20.  I invite any of you Edgewood readers to come join us in the sanctuary for a meeting on Monday, November 14th, at 7:00pm.  Dave and I are going to present these plans and share ways that the whole church can get involved.

In addition to the assimilation process, I'm absolutely PUMPED UP about our Christmas program this year.  We are bringing in World Class Illusionist, Brock Gill to highlight the show.  This is going to be a Christmas program like we've never seen before!  That's coming up on December 10th at 3:00 and 7:00.

Our "vision" team that met throughout the summer has continued meeting in order to evaluate our progress and to work on other church issues.  We're currently evaluating the structure of our Elder Board and wanting to make sure it's setup in the most effective way.  Lots of good things going on there.

On the personal side, a LOT has been going on as well.  It has been a privilege serving on the Edgewood staff, the elder board, and the vision team.  But through all the challenges over the last year, I have many times felt "under-equipped" in knowing how to handle these situations.  I have also realized that my education and background has been strictly in music and music ministry.  I haven't had much training in church ministry as a whole.  So, I have been praying hard about the possibility of going back to school.  I believe a seminary education would be very beneficial.  It would greatly enhance the ministries that I am already involved in and would give me a wider set of knowledge for things to come as well.  Multnomah Seminary in Portland has a Bellevue extension campus and I am strongly considering going there to get a Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies.  This would include many great Bible classes as well as a variety of ministry management classes....all of which would be hugely profitable to me.

As a family, we are feeling really comfortable in our schedules right now.  Megan has been able to continue with her job, but they've allowed her to work only two days a week.  That has continued to give us a steady income, but make it where she can be home with Madelyn more.  Megan and I have also both recently gotten involved teaching music lessons at a studio near our house.  It is extremely convenient, adds a few more hours of work/pay each week, and has been an enjoyable place to meet some new people.  So...I have been feeling that we've been in a great groove recently...working hard, but enjoying life.

And...then comes a little surprise =).....

We just recently found out that Megan is pregnant again!  Madelyn will be one in March and then will become a big sister in May.  Keep the diapers coming!  Even though this was a little sooner than we expected, we are excited about adding another little one to our family.  We should find out whether it's a boy or girl right around Christmas.

So...you can see why I haven't written in awhile.  There is a LOT going on right now.  It was time for an update...so there ya go!  I'll try not to wait three months to write again.

I'd appreciate your prayers as we continue plowing ahead ...

For the church....I believe the next couple months are going to be very exciting.  Pray that the new assimilation process and the Christmas program will both be powerful opportunities to help new people connect with our church. 

For our family...pray for Megan and the new baby, and pray that if it's God's will, He will make this opportunity to go to seminary become a reality.