Pastor’s Corner February 2008

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

State of the Church Address

As 2008 begins, we leave behind one of the most eventful months of Redeemer’s life. So much happened last year with the completing of the sanctuary and attending celebration over what God has done. It is a good time to briefly reflect on the state of the church, meaning our recent past, current health and future vision. To say I am excited about our future would be a sizable understatement. I am enthused about the future because of what God has done in the past.

2007 was a unique year in the life of our church, it is usually only once in the life of a church that a sanctuary is constructed. Inevitably, the building of our sanctuary was a major part of our focus and anticipation last year. Certainly this is largely a positive thing, however, it can also create a false security about how well the church is doing and lead to a ministry letdown once we “get in”. Thankfully, each of the ministries of the church continued to be effective and grow, I think God spared us from such a letdown. Last year saw growth, change and challenge in our school ministry, but ultimately a strong set up for where we are now with 240 students and an aggressive eye toward High School expansion next year. The summer months included camp, VBS, a mission trip to Juarez, and another to Moldova. We moved to the gym for worship, building the suspense for the first Sunday we would worship in the new sanctuary.

How about those first weeks in the sanctuary! What awe! What a feeling! What a tough time talking and hearing! Praise God for the fine tuning the sound technicians were able to do so the singing and music remained great and the speaking became audible. The sanctuary dedication weekend was a climax of sorts, especially for our founding families. The Lord has provided a tremendous place to worship Him.

A great ministry addition of last year was the forming of the new Welcome Team. This team prepared us for the visitors God is now sending. We have grown in our morning attendance by over 100 people in 6 months. So, we say goodbye to an incredibly eventful 2007, filled with blessings and excitement, and turn toward 2008 and beyond.

Very humbly and with gratefulness to God, I think the health of Redeemer is very good. Our commitment to the Bible as God’s Word is unwavering. Our confessional standards are a strong safeguard. Our clear commitment to Reformed and Evangelical theology are anchor points. There are many ways in which we need to mature as a fellowship, but by and large, I praise God for the strong leadership that is in place and the apparent unity that exists in the congregation. We are a diverse group of people who seem to be melting together nicely. I pray regularly for our growing unity.

In 2008 we will be looking to add one or two elders and two or three deacons. Several men will be eligible for nomination soon (there’s a considerable process to go through), and they will be placed before the congregation for a vote. The training “pipeline” for leaders is strong, one of the reasons I am so optimistic about the future. The leaders collectively believe there is an area of current weakness that is being addressed already- the assimilation of the congregation in to ministry service. It is typical, they say, for 20% of the church to do most of the ministry service. I think the percentage has been higher at Redeemer, but not too much. When we were less than 200 members it was relatively easy for Nathan, the Elders, and me to lead most things and mobilize people to join various ministry service efforts. But, those days are gone as we are approaching a regular attendance of 400.

We have many newcomers who are initially excited about the church, but studies show if a person or family doesn’t “plug in” inside of 6-9 months, they’ll likely move on. We are addressing this immediately by implementing an expansive web-based software program that will be a people manager for the church. Every family will fill out a detailed survey noting areas they would like to serve, areas of need, and past ministry experience. This data base will then be accessible to existing ministry leaders for the purpose of ministry recruitment and to identify needs that should be addressed. We are hoping to capture and enter data in the next 3 months or so, and have this program operational heading in to the fall. We see assimilation of every member being our immediate area of address. We don’t want anyone to have a sense of not being wanted or needed. I’m afraid our new building can give the air of a maturity level we do not yet have. We still need all hands on deck, so to speak. Hopefully, this newly implemented program will help us. In the not too distant future, we would like to add an administrative “pastor” or assimilation director to our ministry staff, such a person is crucial to free up the existing pastoral staff and to plug in God’s people in areas of service and ministry at Redeemer.

I pray very regularly that God would grant us sustaining grace to make the right decisions as leaders. Seven years ago, when I became the senior pastor, I presented a vision for Redeemer’s future which the elders collectively adopted. I want to challenge each of us to pray concerning these future ministry efforts God has laid before us.

In the Lamb,
Pastor Tony Felich