Congregational Meeting 9/15/2024
Prayer
Direction for the meeting
Much to be thankful for
Thankful that God has been working at LCC
Thankful for all the service from each member, which is bringing honor and glory to God
Thankful that the congregation has been continuing to pray, to rely on God, to hear God's voice and obey with the power that God provides
A continuing conversation with you and God
In this meeting, we plan to talk about what we are hearing from you as a congregation.
We also plan to talk about what we believe God wants for us right now.
We also plan to offer new ideas and to ask for your prayerful feedback.
Sunday morning breakout groups
Review (where we have been)
Travis and family leaving
40 Days of Prayer and gathered feedback from the 40 Days of Prayer
Congregational meetings led to an expressed need for community
This expressed need for community led to our Sunday morning breakout groups
Feedback: written was positive, overheard verbalized was less positive
We have wrestled, thankful for benefits (have led many into deeper relationships with God and with others), concerned for struggles (some have really struggled with breakout groups as being a meaningful experience to their walk with God)
What is beneficial
One aspect of breakout groups that we really appreciate and want to keep is how more workers are being raised up and inspired to minister to other members and to visitors.
We got other ideas from feedback about how to improve breakout groups. There are good ideas. Keep the conversation going.
What could be improved
One aspect of breakout groups that we would like to improve is making it easier for those who feel stress deciding what group to join each week.
Another aspect that we would like to improve is accommodating the people who don't want to be part of breakout groups at all. Here are some ideas we have considered:
We could let those who don't like them do whatever they want or provide other option
However, creating a completely new option for those who are not growing from breakout groups is not something we have the capacity for. We don't want to add to the burden, so if we provide another option, we probably want to simplify something else, because there are already close to 30 people involved in making any Sunday morning happen, not counting breakout leadership
Options for the survey (See survey for more info)
We are prayerfully considering the following options for Sunday mornings:
Begin small group prayer groups at 9:15am, Worship Service at 10am, Age appropriate classes at 11am
Begin Worship Service at 10am, with a choice of Breakout Groups or Age Appropriate classes at 11am
Keep things as they are: Begin age appropriate classes at 9am, Worship Service at 10am, Breakout groups at 11am
Considerations about a second full-time staff member
Corie
Explanations
The eldership prayed and tried to follow God's leading about Corie and the education minister position. Hopefully everyone is hearing the same thing from God that the change was the best thing for Corie and her family and for this congregation, but we realize that you may not all agree. We are not sure there was a good way to let her go. We wanted her to help us with the transition, and she was willing and to some extent she did help with that. We told her that the reason we wanted to use the phrase "effective immediately" was so that she could take time off to adjust if she needed to, and she did need that. We wanted her to be able to help us transition on her terms rather than restricting and pressuring her. We mentioned financial considerations, not because we couldn't have a second full-time staff member, but because we believe that if we have a second full-time staff member, it would be a role that would not fit Corie's giftedness. We realize that the timing was hard on Briana and on the congregation because of Wednesday nights, but we chose that timing so that the Foxes would have the summer to find their next thing and to make sure that Collier had a good school situation.
Apologies
As elders, we acknowledge that we hurt people, and we want to make some apologies.
We should have worded the message better than just saying "effective immediately." We apologize. We want to be more considerate. Please forgive us.
We should have not given confusing messages about why we let Corie go. We apologize. We want to be more considerate. Please forgive us.
Some of us didn't realize as much as we wish we did about all that Corie did for this congregation, and we did not have an adequate plan for transitioning. We apologize. We want to be more considerate. Please forgive us.
We each have our own failures. None of us fully reflects the glory of Christ. We want to change and be more like Jesus. May God forgive us. Please forgive us for our failings. Please keep helping us to be better as part of a team with you all.
After hearing these apologies, if you feel like there's more apology needed or more conversation or action needed, we're open to those conversations, because our ultimate desire is to bring about healing in this situation.
Is it financially feasible at the moment?
Our income approximately matches our expenses since January. There should be more available after we stop paying Corie at the end of October. We continued the budget from last year. We have reached out to a few people to help us determine our budget allocations moving forward.
What we don't want to lose
Upon reflecting on what has been spiritually nourishing and growth producing in this last year, we realized that we have received the most positive feedback from you about the preaching rotation. The congregation as a whole has really loved having different perspectives represented in the sermon. Additionally, preaching a sermon has provided remarkable growth opportunities for those who have done it. We do not want to lose this, so we will not be looking for a preaching minister. Instead, here are some qualities and gifts we are considering when discussing the next hire.
If we were to hire, what role would we hire for?
Someone who trusts in God's active work as well as the Bible
We are looking for someone who is gifted in evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of our congregation members and equipping them to all be ministers
Capable of giving a sermon and being in the preaching rotation as well as provide training to those who are in the preaching rotation. As we discussed this, we realized we and the congregation in general have really loved having different perspectives represented in the sermon. It has also provided remarkable growth opportunities for those who have preached.
Someone who is able to spur us on to good deeds and provide encouragement and pathways to plug our members in. Someone who can communicate the message that “the body of LCC specifically needs YOU here”.
Part of the equipping of the body of LCC would be someone who can encourage the members of LCC to serve and give from a place of a deeply rooted relationship with Jesus through participating in regular rhythms of spiritual practices both individually and congregationally.
Can help carry people's pain as well as share their joy
We are seeing this all as a possibility of who we would hire, but we are also using this as an opportunity to introduce the discussion and gather your feedback in the survey.
More about the survey
We are listing these thoughts about a possible hire to start the discussion with you and ask for your feedback in the survey.
Will it serve God's purposes for us to hire someone?
If so, does the role description above serve God's purposes?
After praying about it, what additional thoughts would you like to share, trusting that God is leading and giving wisdom, and seeking to obey and honor God?
Some words about where we believe God is leading us
A congregational meeting is a moment when we can look at our congregation and what God is doing in us. To lead by example, we want to offer some words about this church. Lakewood Church of Christ is a deeply rooted church, and yet it is a new kind of church that this community needs!
How is LCC deeply rooted? First, because it is made of the same stuff that the very first churches were made of, faith in Jesus Christ and the love and power that can only come from God's Spirit. Like those first churches, we have also had our problems, but we repent, and God is greater than our problems. Many of our members have roots in the Restoration Movement, and many of our members come from other backgrounds, but together we are all part of God's restoration movement, not just restoring the simplicity of the first churches, but restoring people to the life-giving relationship with God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit that existed in the garden of Eden, and restoring them in the way Jesus has provided, which is different from the garden of Eden, because it will last forever. We see God accomplishing this restoration through us in the lives we touch on Sundays, on Wednesday nights, and throughout the week. What God is doing through us is powerful, but even more powerful is what God is doing through the Holy Spirit, in us and in all people, enabling us to trust and follow the active leadership of Jesus.
And because Lakewood Church of Christ is deeply rooted, it is also becoming a new kind of church. Throughout human history, God has had a habit of challenging the status quo. So in keeping with that old tradition, Lakewood Church of Christ is blazing the trail, doing the hard work of setting an example so that many other churches can have an easier road to offer the kind of relational empowerment that is needed in today's world. Like many churches around us, part of how God pruned us has been by allowing many people to leave us. That has been hard for us to endure, but with God's help we have endured. We can use the pain of our losses to be better servants for the world, to serve with a humble wisdom that we did not have before we were humbled. When we do, it will be clear that the power source is God and not us, and we are happy about that.
And already God has allowed that power to flow through us, inspiring more and more people to find expression for their gifts, in their daily lives, and together on Wednesday nights and on Sunday mornings, including breakout groups. God has given us courage to offer something beyond what people can get from a live stream or a podcast. Thank you all for letting God work through you on Wednesdays and on Sundays and on other days. Thank you for your courage, the kind of courage that comes from God. It doesn't mean we are doing things that have never been done before. There is nothing new under the sun. But we are offering something that people cannot necessarily get just by driving to the next church down the street, and we hope and pray that soon more churches will be able to experience the empowerment that we are experiencing. God leads other congregations to fulfill other special roles, but this is a special role that God has allowed us to have in the Kingdom right now.
We are doing the kinds of things that lead to Kingdom growth by allowing every member to be a minister. That is an amazing and beautiful thing, or it should be. It does not mean that our identity is to put heavy loads on people. That is a problem that we, like most churches, have had to struggle with, and we see the power of God working in our lives to free us from this. In its place, God is giving us the identity of a church that listens as the Holy Spirit speaks Jesus into our hearts, because that word from God is the food we need each day, to hear it and to follow it, because God is inspiring us to want to serve, and to serve with joy. This is the light burden of Jesus. We take time to rest in God. We are thankful to be included and allowed to participate in what God is doing. Streams of living water flow from within us. And from this we see leaders being raised up.
Jesus taught us to pray for workers, and we see those workers emerging in our midst. We are not looking to a single pastor or even a small group of shepherds, because that would be a bottleneck, restricting the love that God wants to pour out on this community. Instead, we are allowing every person to care for their neighbor as God inspires and gifts each one. And as that happens, each one is growing in maturity and in the ability to continue serving wherever God may scatter them in the world. And so we find ourselves participating in God's plan for spreading the good news and saving the world.
Next steps
Elders and staff couples to listen
Work through survey responses
Take extra time September 26th through 28th
Draw near to God
Pray, listen and plan for coming year
The elders and staff and spouses will be taking September 26th through 28th, which is a Thursday night through Saturday, to process the feedback you give us from this survey and to renew our relationship with God and to seek direction for the next series and the possible hire and the year ahead. Please be praying for us about that, and prayerfully give feedback on the surveys so we can all listen to God together.
Congregational prayer and fasting
We're working with the Tuckers on a day of prayer and fasting in October, which is both an appropriate month given biblical history and also a significant anniversary for our congregation, one year after our 40 days of prayer. The day of preparation in the adult class time will be October 6th. The day of prayer and fasting is the 12th of October. More details will be coming in congregational announcements and in family matters.