Dear Church Family:
Praise the Lord for O my soul; who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases; who vaccinates us and preserves us and brings us back to church! Halellujah!
We see the light at the end of that proverbial tunnel! The long haul may call for some adaptability, humility, and resilience, but God is truly blessing us as a country, county, Conference, and local church as well!
I wanted to give a quick update before we leave town for a bit regarding the MINISTRY NEEDS we’re praying to fill! First, I am so glad that Nadia Hinkle has accepted the Crestview Home & School Leader ministry. She’ll work with a team from other local churches to help support teachers and school morale while working on vital fund-raising projects. Thank you for hearing the call and stepping up, Nadia!
Joe Cardana has agreed to become the new Audio/Live Stream Team Coordinator. Along with providing A/V for church services we’d have no outreach to those beyond our doors if it wasn’t for our vital live stream ministry. Thank you, Joe, for providing the leadership needed at this time, and a huge THANK YOU to Loren Dryer for all he and his team have done to get a consistent—uninterrupted live stream to our church website and YouTube channel! Joe has already begun to call for more helpers in the Live Stream ministry. They are eager to train and some very young people have already responded—you do NOT need to be a ‘techie’ in most of the areas they’re willing to train for! See Joe if you have any interest in helping to build this ministry!
Since my arrival I’ve been repeatedly told that building up YOUTH MINISTRY is the greatest perceived need of our church. We have a fantastic Pathfinders and Adventurer program which we are so grateful to Richard, Jim, Audrey, and friends!
We are talking here of needing to build a TEAM APPROACH to working with our YOUTH and YOUNG ADULTS. We want our young people to associate POSITIVE, exciting, and supportive experiences with our local church. As you know, a large majority of young people leave our fellowship once they are on their own. Many of them say that the church did not provide a relevant and positive experience for them.
The great news is many churches are and they don’t have to have huge programs! They just need a committed TEAM approach! Youth and Young Adult ministry tends to fizzle out when the church sticks a ‘warm body’ in there to fill out an ‘leadership’ list! But that is why I’m claiming Matthew 9:38 that the LORD of the HARVEST will SEND WORKERS into His Youth Ministry harvest field! Will you please join me in that earnest prayer! I’m not going to give up until God helps us build a team(s) that our youth and young adults deserve!
There are varied ways to be involved either upfront, alongside, or behind the scenes. Different churches utilize various models including the AYM—Adventist Youth Ministries model found in the Church Manual. But right now, we first need to see who has a VISION for youth ministry here? who has a desire to see our youth and young adults have a positive connection to God and the Gospel? Again, there are so many ways to be involved from speaking, to planning, to ‘fooding’— (that’s a word, isn’t it?! i.e. food always brings ‘em out!); to communication, and most of all, friendship. But it’s going to take a team approach whether it’s with our YOUTH or specifically the YOUNG ADULTS.
Please let me or any board member know if you have any interest or any ideas!
In His Joys,
Pastor John :)