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David R. Fletcher
Executive Pastor
March 18
Valleyview
In January, Pastor Sartarelli brought a wonderful vision and “state of the church” message. One of the things that he mentioned was a possible merger with Valleyview Chapel, a daughter church of The Chapel’s.
For many of you, that was the first that you had heard about Valleyview Chapel. Behind the scenes, many leaders have been working for months, looking at this possible merger of two churches.
In the linked Questions and Answers, you can learn all the facts and vision for the endeavor. There is plenty of potential, but we are looking for God to confirm the plans. We have been praying for some time and hope that you will join us in prayerful consideration.
Consider Paul’s words:
And so imagine with me the powerful potential that the marriage of Valleyview with The Chapel could have years down the road. The great impact of Christ, not just on individuals and families, but on Northeast Ohio and even globally. The future can be very exhilarating, if one just imagines it through the eyes of Christ and of faith!
We are looking to have an impact for Christ in the Wadsworth area. We would love to see plenty of young families, singles, older couples and all others come to call The Chapel in Wadsworth as their spiritual home.
Here are a few things that you can do:
- Read the Questions and Answers.
- Pray with us about the future. Ask God to lead us as we consider this “marriage.”
- Forward this email to a friend, your ABF or HABF (and encourage them to sign up to receive the free e-newsletter).
Thanks for your partnership in great ministry. Let’s see how God is working and leading us to have great ministry in the future!
March 25
New Worship Space Opens in Green
Resonate in East End, Sunday, March 28
After months of planning, a new worship space will open this week at the Green campus! In a desire to offer another culture of worship at Green, the High School room was renovated into “East End.” This venue will allow 250 people to worship in a Resonate service.
We hope that many newcomers to The Chapel will find this a great place. Since the room is smaller, newcomers can more easily get connected. The Pastor for the venue will be Zac Derr, bringing a sense of pastoral warmth and presence to the worship community. We would love to see home ABF’s emerge from this service, with people inviting friends to get involved.
Opening a new venue is a great time to invite friends to The Chapel. It is the 21st century equivalent of a “church plant.” New people can have a sense of ownership and belonging. They can get to know lots of other new people. What a great way to worship God! We expect that many people will come to know Christ in the Resonate service in East End on the Green campus.
The Resonate worship culture is casual and contemporary. Since it is in a small room, there is a more intimate feel to the worship. It will be led by a worship band with Ben White. The sermon will be a live video-stream from “the big room” at Green.
Worship in the main auditorium in Green continues to be led by Kenton Kober, with a live sermon by Senior Pastor Sartarelli or Campus Pastor Castelli. Also, see a description of all of our worship services.
Thanks to the many volunteers and staff who made this happen. Thanks to our Properties Committee of the Trustees, Gary Glosner (our Director of Facilities) and his wonderful crew, Rick Zuercher (Director of Technical Arts) and his dedicated team, and so many more. Thanks also goes to the teams that will make this worship happen—tech teams, worship teams, set-up teams, hosts and ushers. This is God’s church that needs all of God’s people to make it happen. Thanks to so many for having a ministry here!
Do you have some friends who would like experience a casual and contemporary worship culture? Invite them to come with you to Resonate in Green. It begins this Sunday, March 28!
April 1
It's "Only" the Next Generation!
In any country of the world, the church is always one generation away from dying. Let me say that another way: if we don’t reach the next generation in Northeast Ohio with the gospel, then the church will die in our community.
Some great news is that our newly revamped Chapel Kids Ministry is a wonderful place for kids to discover Christ. Here’s a Chapel story from a few weeks ago as told by one of the coordinators …
At the beginning of second service a little boy named Sam was dragged by his parents to Sunday School. It was obvious by the look on his face that he was not pleased to be here. Seriously—arms crossed, big frown, and eyes glaring at the ground!
His mom said to Sam that he would like the Sunday School class. Well, I was not about to argue. So I walked Sam to Mr. and Mrs. Livigni's class, trying to convince him that he would enjoy it. When we got there, I introduced him (still glaring and not talking) to Mr. Livigni.
I was so proud of Sam's parents for not giving him an "out" at this point. So, without saying a word, Sam eventually took a seat and we all went our separate ways.
I don’t know what happened during that hour but Mr. and Mrs. Livigni worked the love of Christ. After service, as I was walking up the stairs I saw Sam again. But I wasn't sure it was him. I only recognized him by the coat he was wearing! It did not look like the same boy so I stopped and talked to him.
Sam smiled and told me about the great time he had in class and how much he liked it! His mom walked over and thanked me and told me how much Sam enjoyed himself.
Miracles come in all sizes. Thanks to the great volunteers who share the love of Christ in our Chapel Kids Ministry. Want a piece of the action? Want to impact the next generation for Christ? Drop an email to Janice Kelley, our Kid’s Ministry Director.
Imagine the impact you could have—giving a child an introduction to Jesus … impacting his or her entire life … teaching the Bible and giving a wonderfully warm experience of Christian community. You can have this impact, if you want it and will work for it in the Chapel Kids ministry.
April 8
New "Christ-followers"
Jesus said it so well, "Come and follow me." Being a Christ-follower means that one is trusting Christ for our earthly and eternal lives. The Chapel is seeing people become Christ-followers.
Just this week:
- Five teenagers watched the movie, The Passion, and one decided to follow Christ.
- A family showed the same movie, The Passion, to four extended family members. Several came to one of our contemporary services and said, "We could come here every week!"
- At the Good Friday concert in Akron, "The Deliverer," a twelve year-old came to faith in Christ.
- An 82 year old grandmother decided that now was a terrific time to follow Christ.
- On Sunday morning, a high school sophomore who was serving in our children's ministry, shared the gospel and an elementary child trusted Christ as Savior.
- In Valleyview, events flowed from the Friday night service with Pastor Sartarelli into the Sunday Easter service. Friday night highlighted that Jesus died and Sunday celebrated his resurrection. A 7-year-old said, "Mom, I got it!" He understood that Jesus had died and is now alive.
- A person missed the "Forgiveness Symposium," and so began to study forgiveness in the Bible on her own. She wanted to be free from hanging onto "those thoughts that are keeping me in bondage."
What a great week! Thanks for being partners in ministry!
April 22
The Word of the Hog Riders
This is a vital update about our worship services. Consider using the “forward” button at the bottom of the email to send this to others in the church.
We want The Chapel to have outstanding worship services where we together adore Christ, and where God’s Word transforms our lives. Imagine coming to services where you are filled with awe of God and thanksgiving for his grace, and inspired to live for Christ. Thank you so much for making The Chapel your worship home!
Because we have a rich and diverse array of Christians here at The Chapel, we want to be a church where we model for the nation a variety of worship services. As you consider the following items about worship at The Chapel, will you pray about them with us?
As we consider merging The Chapel with Valleyview Chapel, we put Pastor Matt Kandel on assignment there to help lead the worship services. And even this week, I will be preaching on “worship” at Valleyview. This will begin a three-week sermon series about Chapel DNA of “worship, community and mission” for the congregation at Valleyview. From time to time, I do preach—though my main gifts are in leadership.
Green’s new contemporary worship venue opened a few weeks ago. Resonate is a great worship culture at 9:00am each Sunday in the room called “East End.” We’ve expanded the options to give more people the opportunity to participate in a culture that best helps them worship God. While normally there is a video sermon from the big room, this week Pastor Zac Derr will be speaking “live” in Resonate-Green.
Green’s “Big Room” worship service had a problem this week with static electricity building up in Pastor Sartarelli’s microphone. It was noisy and bothersome, and we eventually had to switch Paul to a handheld mic. We are studying the best options for avoiding this in the future and having more back-up solutions for when and if conditions again create the popping. We all have a love/hate relationship with technology.
The 10:40 service at Akron is now led by Drew Belden and the Fir Hill band. The first Sunday (Easter) was terrific but this past Sunday sounded unusually loud for many of the attendees. We are working on that. For those of you who found this unbearable, please accept my apology. As Pastor Sartarelli likes to say, “Worship is not supposed to be painful, except if it is on our knees.” We care deeply about each of you and want you to have a great opportunity to worship. Our plan is for 10:40 to continue to have excellent contemporary, band-led worship music, but not at sound levels any louder than where we have been for the past several years at that hour.
Worship Mentor. We want all our worship leaders to have the opportunity to continually grow as life-long learners and be renowned for leading us in deep and meaningful worship experiences. To this end, we are working towards having a nationally recognized worship mentor come and consult with our worship staff. Stan Endicott is a deeply respected and beloved worship pastor, music producer and mentor to hundreds of worship leaders around the country. With more than 25 years serving the church, Stan has produced more than 200 albums for Maranatha Music and directed music productions for dozens of internationally-known names and events such as Franklin Graham Ministries and Promise Keepers. Stan will be here for a day or two later this spring to encourage our team.
Why Worship? The leader of our worship department, Pastor Jim Mitchell, writes: “We are passionate about people genuinely encountering God’s presence in our worship services. Even more so, God is passionate about hearing from his people who praise him in unity and with humble, honest hearts. Our lives can get pretty noisy and distracted. In our weekend worship gatherings, we get reminded of who God is and what he has done/is doing in our lives and the world around us. But it’s not a spectator sport. We all participate in expressing our awe and thanksgiving to him, and he pours his Word into our needy hearts. We offer a variety of worship styles—each with a focused purpose of glorifying Christ. Whether your cultural worship language is formal/traditional or casual/contemporary, you can find a home at The Chapel where you can connect deeply with Christ and his Word.”
As always, your thoughts are important to us. Feel free to drop me an email.
Come to worship at The Chapel and bring some friends with you. You will find worship that equals that of any church in the nation, right here in your home area!
April 22
The Word of the Hog Riders
I don't know if they all ride hogs. This isn't about a farm contest, but about "Chapel Riders." We are talking motorcycles here--and "hogs" are Harley Davidsons. Of course some of the Chapel Riders are on BMWs and Suzukis, Ducatis and Yahama and many other kinds of bikes.
Have you heard of Chapel Riders? What do these folks do?
From Chapelriders.com
Chapel Riders sponsored events are serving opportunities that Chapel Riders organizes and leads. Our goal is to first staff these opportunities with Chapel Riders before we open them up to other churches in the Ring of Iron. Sometimes there is a limit to the number of people that can serve at an event, so we encourage you to sign up as soon as possible.
The following are “big events” that we sponsor each year: Alcoholics Anonymous Founders Day, Hospice Cookout & Ride for Red.In addition, we have our regular monthly serving opportunity on the second Saturday of the month, where we serve either at Refuge of Hope or at another Chapel Community Services ministry.
One of the leaders, Todd Smith, and I have been emailing. He said to me:
It has been my pleasure to assist in this way, and I am excited about the ways God will be able to use Chapel Riders to reach out to the motorcyling community and those who He puts along our path. I see this as an opportunity for me to use my gifts to assist a group that I have a strong affinity with. There is a unique affinity among motorcyle riders, and I firmly believe that the plans this year for Chapel Riders will bring riders from The Chapel into a stonger community with one another.
While seeing Chapel Riders grow as a ministry is a passion of mine, our (Candy and I) real passion is our ministry working with Zac Derr in teaching the Pre-Marriage class at The Chapel as well as mentoring young couples. After working with youth at The Chapel for almost 20 years, Candy and I feel that God has opened this door for us to share God's design for marriage with a generation who may have not seen it modeled in the best of ways. We have been privileged to speak on the topic of "Love and Respect" (Eph 5:21-33) this year at Marriage Matters and at Today's Mom. We are working on developing a 6-8 session follow-up class for young married couples (married 2 years or less) that we hope to be able to offer later this year. Another dream of ours is to to develop a network of mentoring couples to be available for young marrieds to go to for mentoring and advice.
This is great! Teaching on the one hand and using your love for motorcycles with the other.
Here's what Chris Klein said about Chapel Riders March 27 Camp Carl ride :
Admittedly at 09:00 the four kick stands were still firmly resting on the blacktop of the Bob Evan’s parking lot on Gilchrist Road. But when you take a look at a wind chill table and realize that 65 MPH in a 33°F ambient temperature equates to 14°F, you might excuse the extended coffee refills. The good news is that above 40 MPH any added speed has very little additional effect on the heat transfer rate, so throttling up to pass a lumbering semi doesn’t take you much past numb.
Mike Kelley, Todd Smith, Bill Arrant, and I did manage to consume enough liquid courage to finally fire ‘em up and set out for Camp Carl. We spent most of our time on Route 18 with an enjoyable view of the rural home settings, small community centers, and occasional farms, culminating in the vast wilderness surrounding Camp Carl.
While there we were treated by three very gracious hosts: Monica Haluga in the kitchen with delightfully warm beverages and even some home baked cookies, Jenni Holmer with a full tour of the horse barn, and Mike Landis with a safari style tour of most of the grounds. All I can say is wow! I knew about Camp Carl, but I had no idea what an incredible facility it is. Some of my greatest and most spiritual memories as a child stem directly from accompanying my cousins on their Lutheran sponsored religious retreats. And as the father of three young children, I feel so blessed by the prospect of them being able to attend Camp Carl. I am so grateful that the providence of God and the foresight of The Chapel's leaders have led to the creation of such a special environment where children and adults alike can be touched by the hand of God in his most intimate setting.
Just before noon we said our goodbyes and raised our stands. On the ride home, my ambient temperature gauge read between 46-48°F, which in reference seemed downright balmy.
Now, I am not excited about getting on a vehicle with just two wheels. But, these folks love it and they are using their motorcycle love for Christ. Cool!
April 29
Shocked, firsthand!
Society is unsafe. That statement is not a "maybe," but a "plain fact."
Recently, a friend's online bank account was broken into. I don't know how someone did it, but he or she got into their online account. Then, this thief began to write checks. Hearing about this, I decided to check my checking and credit card accounts. Amazingly, I saw that someone was doing some unauthorized purchases on my credit card! Colossal bummer!
We know these things happen. Yet, we are shocked when firsthand we see thieves at work.
We expect that our church is going to be a safe place. Right? Well, yes, we expect church to not have thieves. But this is unrealistic and unbiblical. Jesus tells us that only Heaven will be completely safe, where thieves won't break in and moths destroy. Jesus tells us that in this earthly home we will always have tribulations.
Until we reach Heaven, there will be weeds in with the wheat. We will have people who come to our church and steal:
- A laptop computer was recently stolen from an office.
- Someone went through coats hanging in the hallway, looking for cash.
- An offering check was stolen from a tabletop.
Let's all be careful with our temporal possessions, even at church:
- Lock doors when you leave.
- Don't leave valuables in coats.
- Place offerings in the plates or boxes.
May 6
Trustees of The Chapel
I am coming up on the anniversary of my first year at The Chapel. Though born and raised in California, and then spending thirty years in Texas, the people of northeastern Ohio have welcomed Tami and me with open arms. You could call it my homecoming, as almost two hundred years ago John Fletcher moved from Virginia to Ohio. In 1812 he moved west and in 2009 we moved east.
One of the great groups that I have the privilege to work with at The Chapel is the Trustees. These are elder-qualified men who help lead our church. Serving a three-year term, they oversee our finances, facilities and missions program. Once a month, the entire group of twelve Trustees meet. With grace and wisdom, they prayerfully help lead our church.
Trustee Board: David Beasley, Gary Wimer, Terry Lawrence, Dean Kohmann, Larry
Hausch, Keith LePage, Shaun Martin, Randy Fairfax, David Hoff, Mitch McKenney, Jason Kolb, Michael Smith, Mike Castelli, Jon Platek, Hal Webb, David Fletcher, and Paul Sartarelli
Not only does the entire board meet once a month, but also each Trustee serves on a committee that meets during the month. The Trustees have three committees and on these committees are at-large members. At-large members are church members who are appointed for one year to serve. Like Trustees, the at-large members can vote and make a quorum for a meeting. But, the at-large members only serve on their committee.
Let me list the committees:
Finance: Otto Bosshard, Gary Wimer, Dean Kohmann, David Beasley, Terry Lawrence, Hal Webb
Facilities: Larry Hausch, Keith LePage, Shaun Martin, Randy Fairfax, Gary Glosner,
Kurt Goodenberger
Missions: David Hoff, Mitch McKenney, Jason Kolb, Michael Smith, Bob Schneider, Jay
Halley
Several of the committees have subcommittees, so Finance has an audit subcommittee, a pension subcommittee, etc. Missions has two main subcommittees--local/national and global missions.
So What?
The importance of these groups is that they keep our church running with "great governance." In society, it is a fad to gripe about our government, but here at The Chapel we have leaders who pray often, study the Bible together, and seek to honor God with every decision.
Often you will hear phrases like:
This seems like a good thing, but is God really in it?
Let's wait a month and pray over this.
Should we really be doing this?
Training Others
A passion of mine is training the next generation of leaders. To this end, we began to invite all of our pastors and interns to periodically attend a Trustee meeting and a committee. At some point after the meeting, I sit down for an hour and debrief with them. What did they learn? What did they see about how decisions are made? How can they grow from this? For you see, if some of our staff are going to be leading churches later in life, then they need to learn "great governance" from our Trustees.
What You Can Do
The first thing that you can do is to acknowledge that God has given a wonderful group of leaders to our church. I talk with pastors from coast to coast, and we have one of the most outstanding group of leaders. We have a strong history of leadership as well, with the wonderful influence that we had with Pastor Larson.
One of the most important things that you can do is to pray for your leaders--and let them know that you are praying for them--this keeps us even more accountable to God.
Your church leaders (pastors, trustees and ministry leaders) are praying for you all the time. We are always asking for God's best for you, for spiritual growth, for healing and your great personal ministries of serving Christ. Please pray for your leaders.
One final thing that you can do is to graciously ask questions. When there is a problem or concern, just ask. Don't bottle up your issues or think that no one cares. We care and want to talk with you. You can always drop Paul or me an email. We will always respond, generally in a day. We may be able to answer the question or may have one of our church leaders also respond to you. My assistant is Fran Hughes and Paul's assistant is Tammy Kennedy. We may get their help in responding to you.
If you haven't thought about how great your Trustees are, then now is the time. As I advise and counsel pastors around the nation, I see a great many boards. We have a board that is seeking God, has an excellent governmental system, and have elder-qualified men who are serving well. Thank God for this!
May 13
Acts 1:8
I am coming up on the anniversary of my first year at The Chapel. Though born and raised in California, and then spending thirty years in Texas, the people of northeastern Ohio have welcomed Tami and me with open arms. You could call it my homecoming, as almost two hundred years ago John Fletcher moved from Virginia to Ohio. In 1812 he moved west and in 2009 we moved east.
Someone in the community recently said to me, "why would you want to move to Ohio?" My answer, "Have you heard about how God is moving through The Chapel?"The Chapel is one of the most alive and mission-minded churches in the United States. Yes, it's true. You, the people of The Chapel have responded to God's vision, given through great leadership, and done some amazing ministry in Akron, the US, and the world. Just this week, hundreds of volunteers helped about a thousand homeless people with dental and doctor needs, legal and housing issues, food and clothes, and many other local agencies helps.
Long before it was the "in thing," The Chapel was involved in adopting elementary schools and meeting the needs of kids--giving aid in the name of Jesus. Long before many churches saw the "publicity of it," The Chapel was involved in street ministries, The Haven of Rest, and helping the homeless. There is also Chapel Community Service, Through the Roof Ministries and Urban Ministries. In the words of Acts 1:8, this is "Jerusalem."
Long before many churches were helping with disaster relief, The Chapel was developing ministries to share the tangible love of Christ. In the words of Acts 1:8, this is "Judea and Samaria."
In overseas ministry, we have wonderful missionaries and terrific causes in Mozambique and India. We send out our youth for one and two year global assignments. We bring the good news of Christ to International Students. In the words of Acts 1:8, this is "the uttermost parts of the earth."
These are not just words on a page, but the living deeds of the people of The Chapel. Jesus said, "let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).
Did you know that The Chapel takes a portion of its capital campaigns for new buildings, and devotes it to missions? The Chapel has been doing this for decades. This is only now an "in thing" to do with leading churches around the country. Let me say it again, The Chapel has been doing this for decades!
I write these things to remind you, the people of The Chapel, of the great work that you continue to do. You are the ambassadors of Christ. And, I write these things to remind you to continue in them. It sounds rather biblical, doesn't it. The apostle Paul said much of the same thing to a few churches. You are on a great path. Stay on it!
This answers the question of "why would you want to move to Ohio?"
May 20
More on the Kitchen
Last week, Paul and I announced changes that will be taking place in the kitchens at The Chapel. Let me share a few more thoughts on it.
One of our Pastors got a call this week and the person asked, "Why are we going to sell the kitchen equipment?" We are not going to sell it. We are keeping all the equipment in the kitchens. This caller concluded that since we were not having full-time staff in the kitchen, that we would get rid of the equipment. Not so.
Ministry belongs to the people of the church, not to staff. The apostle Paul says in Ephesians 4:11-12 that the role of pastors is to "equip the saints for work of ministry." Pastor and church staff are not to "do all the ministry" but to "equip you to do ministry." We would like to see more volunteers in the Kitchen.
It is true that many of our meals will be created by caterers. Right now, the cost savings is so tremendous, that we will use them for many meals. But, we will also have the people of The Chapel cooking in our kitchens. We are going to have a "both/and" solution not an "either/or" solution.
In the past, we only had our two full-time staff who were certified to operate our kitchens. We are going to have three part-time staff and seven volunteers who are certified to operate our kitchens. This means that it will be easier to use our kitchens for funerals, weddings, and special events.
Pam McFarland is licensed by the state of Ohio as a caterer—as one of those staff members in transition, we are thrilled to have her as a "preferred caterer." Pam and I have already talked about things she can do this summer.
Pam is also interested in continuing the cooking classes. The classes are great places to bring friends and neighbors, introducing them to The Chapel. We want people to see the love of Christ in our classes and be invited to come back for services. This is what we are about—creating events where people can be introduced to Christ.
The entire review process was spearheaded by a bright woman and involved our two campus managers (both women). We involved lots of other people. Yes, this is a change. But, as leaders, we think that this change will help us grow and improve. In all that we do, we want to give people plenty of opportunities to worship God and get to know him at The Chapel. We want to use the funds entrusted to us well, helping get the word out about our events and services, making The Chapel a warm and biblical community.
May 27
This Happens on Earth, not Heaven
Let me keep it short this week. This is why we keep the doors open:
"Got to have a neat conversation with one of the girls Saturday morning about the verse on the lodge wall, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). She wanted to know what it meant and I broke it down for her. She was from a church background and it was a neat opportunity to reinforce what she has already heard. Her final thought was: "I want eternal life." I explained to her how we can have eternal life and asked if this was something she understood and has done. She understood completely that Jesus died for her and she needed him, and I said, "well, now you have eternal life." So she skipped away enthusiastically."
Please pray for Ashley who accepted Jesus Christ on Monday. Basically, she made the decision during our meeting. It is a cool story. She comes from a rough background and will need extra support.
This is why we worry about the horse trails, zip lines, and crazy house projects!
Mike Landis, our Director of Camp Carl, sent this to me a week ago. What a sweet story! Thanks to all who are laboring diligently this summer at Camp Carl.
June 3
Counseling
Whether it is formal or informal, we all need good counselors in our lives.
There are times when we need to seek out people like Pastor Wes Hartzfeld. At other points in our lives, we need a good friend who can lend an ear. And, once in a while, we could benefit from a trained, clinical counselor.
The question is--do you know when you will need that counselor?
Getting help is central in the Bible. Thinking that you don't need any help is also in the Bible--the Pharisees took that point of view. Jesus came to help the needy. Everyone who comes to Christ needs to come as spiritually needy. If you want to come to Christ as spiritually strong and healthy, what does he have to offer you? Jesus opposes the proud but gives grace to the needy.
Jesus is the one who bring spiritual health. He can work through good counselors. As the Proverbs say, "in the abundance of counselors ..."
If you are facing challenging issues, consider:
- Do you have a friend who can give you some input? Set your pride aside and ask your friends for some help. If you don't have any friends, then make some through an ABF or Home Group. A great way to have friends is to be a friend. In giving, we receive.
- Recognize when you need some spiritual counsel. Call the Counseling Department at 330.315.5529. Pastor Wes and others will give you some great assistance. Wes and his trained volunteers are terrific and can help with so many issues in life. What a gift God has given us in Wes and his ministers.
- Seek out a licensed, professional counselor for long-term counseling in your life. Get the right help so that you can be healthy, restored or work on major issues.
Jesus came to bring us life and bring it abundantly. Finding the right kind of counseling help is a part of having this abundant life.
In a fallen world, we will always have conflict. The real issue is how we are going to resolve the conflict.
June 10
Work Hard, and Rest
I tend to work pretty hard. I'm not sounding my own horn, but just giving you a slice of my life. I enjoy serving as an Executive Pastor, helping our Senior Pastor as he leads the congregation.
And there is a time to rest. That doesn't mean taking a week off and sleeping on the sofa--but I suppose it could. I think it means getting away from one’s normal work. Often, Mrs. T. (one of my many nicknames for my wife, Tami) and I will take a few days off after I have spoken somewhere around the country. Other times, we save our pennies for a longer time away.
As an aside, let me say that it can be a challenge for a pastor to get away. E-mail and cell phones are like “leashes,” and problems and life-events happen. Still, I work at periodically getting away with Tami.
How are you doing with rest? Is your life in balance between the things that must get done and the things that will recharge your batteries? This is one of the aspects of the “sabbath,” one day of rest in seven. God worked hard for six days and then he rested.
I'm at Gilboa Quarry, near Findlay, Ohio right now, scuba diving and camping out with a guy from The Chapel. It is exercise--and lots of it--but it is rest from my work.
If rest was good enough for God, then it is good enough for me. Why did an all-powerful God need to rest? The Bible not only tells us, but commands us to do likewise. Work hard, then rest.
June 17
The Best Kids Ministry Possible
We are vitally concerned about our Kids Ministry. We are working to have our Kids Ministry as one of the best possible. By God's strength, and plenty of hard work by volunteers and staff, we will see major improvements by September 1.
Our Kids Director is Janice Kelly. In January of this year, she and her team introduced exciting curriculum changes, bringing the Bible to our kids in relevant ways. We want church to be exciting, educational and a great experience for our kids.
Another way that we are making our Kids Ministry the best is by changing the check-in procedures. In September, we will have new check-in procedures with a new database. You will be able to go to either campus and easily sign in with your family information. Visitors can visit Akron one week and Green the next, and easily check-in their kids.
At Akron, we are moving some classes. All the elementary kids will soon be on the third floor. All nursery and preschool classes will be on the first floor. There will no longer be any kids classes on the second floor. We have talked with the ABF leaders that will be moving to new rooms. Those adult class leaders have a great attitude--they are doing a short term sacrifice for the sake of our kids--and getting an improved room in the long term!
Great Bible-based curriculum. Fantastic volunteers who are sharing the love of Christ. Improved check-in procedures. New and renovated classrooms.
So, please pardon our dust. The Kids Ministry improvements are well under way.
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