Pastor’s Corner July 2005

The following was published in our monthly newsletter, the Redeemer Report.

For your pastors and elders, summer is a time of praying and planning for the fall. This fall promises to be one of the most active of our church’s short life. There are several ministry developments I would like to alert you to and ask you to pray concerning:

1. Home Fellowship Group Expansion. We are now in the process of adding three new group leaders and slightly reconfiguring the groups in order to be more geographically sensitive. As always, if the group you are assigned to meets at a time you cannot attend, you are free to choose a different group. In addition to expanding our groups, there will be a uniform format followed by all the group leaders this year. Each meeting will be 90 minutes (Prayer, Bible Study, and Fellowship) and the study will be from the sermon series that is currently being preached. Home Fellowship Groups start again in September.
2. Men’s Ministry. Beginning in September there will be a new ministry designed specifically for the men of Redeemer. Two Saturdays a month there will be a study time and prayer for the men. Additionally, participants will be divided into small accountability groups of no more than four men. These small groups will meet at least one other time during the month for accountability and prayer.
3. Leadership Training. For eight weeks, also beginning in September, I will teach a leadership training class. The newly revised class will include important leadership topics that will prepare a person to be a more faithful and effective leader in whatever sphere of influence God places them. It is open to men and women. This class is a requirement for men considering the office of deacon or elder. It meets on selected Saturdays from September to December. Each class is two hours long.
4. Missions Committee. The Session would like to have a committee specially designated to focus on our participation in missions. This committee would be responsible for communicating with our missionaries, alerting the congregation to current happenings in their ministries, and suggesting new ministries we might support as a church. If you are interested in serving on this committee, contact me.
5. Westminster Christian High School. This entire year will be spent planning for the beginning of our High School in fall of 2006. Bill and Jan Fischer will be moving here soon for Bill to begin his work as administrator this August. We will be making needs known as this planning develops. We already have a steering committee which meets regularly to prepare for Bill’s arrival and the work that must take place soon after.
6. “Welcome” Ministry. As the Lord brings new visitors to Redeemer, the Session felt it was necessary to have a specially designated, part-time staff person overseeing a more formal practice of welcoming new people and getting them “plugged in” at Redeemer. Meli Hotz will serve as our “Welcome Coordinator”. You will start noticing her efforts very soon. As always, be sensitive to newcomers and let’s practice biblical hospitality by greeting each person with a friendly welcome.
7. Crown Financial Ministries. Sometime during the winter we will be offering at least two “Crown” classes. Pastor Nathan and I are going through leadership training now and Elder Galen Mussman is already a trained leader. These intensive classes are ten weeks in duration and will change your life. If you would like to know more about Crown ministries, check out their website: www.crown.org
8. Gymnasium and Sanctuary Construction. The gymnasium and new classrooms should be completed by September. This will give us all the classroom space needed for Westminster Academy (we have 200 students enrolled for this fall!). Soon thereafter, construction on our new sanctuary will begin. There has been a slight delay in the process, most recently to figure out how to put a lower level to the sanctuary. As soon as final pictures are completed, we will have a congregational meeting for all to see. Keep up your pledges and if you are relatively new, please pray about how you might contribute to the sanctuary construction project. We have been debt- free for some time, and whatever we decide to borrow to complete the sanctuary project needs to paid off as soon as possible. By God’s provision and the faithfulness of His people, I believe this can be done soon.

As you can see, there’s a lot going on at Redeemer! My prayer is that all these ministry efforts will contribute to our vision to be a center for the worship of God in our community and a training ground for disciples of Jesus Christ.

In the Lamb,
Pastor Tony Felich