<![CDATA[Bethany Church - Eric's Emails]]>Sat, 19 May 2012 16:14:34 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Right Sizing]]>Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:03:57 -0800http://bethpc.org/2/post/2011/08/right-sizing.htmlDownsizing has been in the news for the last few years. Companies are letting people go because they don’t have enough work.  Unless jobs are lost, business will survive. Downsizing is about accepting a future with fewer  accomplishments and results. It is about survival. We at Bethany are not focused on downsizing. We are not here to survive. We are here to do great things for God. I believe that God has an incredible future planned for our church and that we will be a transforming presence in the lives of many people to come.

Last month, when I met with the Elders, Deacons and Trustees for our joint meeting, we talked about our future and God’s plans for Bethany. We also talked about the challenges we face. Have you ever noticed that in life we tend to be our own biggest impediment? In our efforts to do more, we at Bethany have recruited more. But as the profile of Bethany has naturally evolved over the years, our way of carrying out ministries has not and, as a result, we have become in some ways, an obstacle to ourselves.

At our joint meeting we agreed that we have too many people serving on boards based on the size of our congregation. In order to fill every seat and every position, we need to grow by over 20 people. Because of this environment, our energy tends to be more focused on filling “chairs” and less focused on filling the pews. We have made the decision to rightsize our church.

Rightsizing is the method of reducing a workforce to an optimal size. Trying to elect 24 officers* for a church of less than 100 people has been counterproductive. This year, our average attendance has been 79. It was time to examine ways to optimize our ministry force.

We have agreed that we will work toward a Deacon board of 10 people. This amount will enable the Deacons to carry out the ministries for which they have been ordained. Other hospitality services will be carried out in ways that don’t require as many people or take the focus off ordained ministries. The Elders and Trustees have reexamined their purposes. Our constitution has defined the work of the Trustees to be that of  administering to the financial needs of the church; ie; buying, selling, leasing property, insurance, etc. In other words, it is not necessary to elect people to carry out building maintenance. (We don’t elect people to serve on teams such as worship, mission, or Christian Ed., why are we electing people to oversee the upkeep of our building?) Because our Elders have already been doing the work of Trustees (as defined by our polity) the two committees have  determined to follow the steps that many other church have been doing for a while now. That is, they will become one board so that those who are elected to be Elders will simultaneously serve as Trustees. We will continue our building maintenance through a Building and Grounds team.

I want to be clear about some things. First, I have always been impressed by the people of Bethany. Your commitment and care to service is one of the attributes that inspired me during my interview process. Rightsizing the church has nothing to do with disappointment. It is about maximizing our resources. Second, nothing is being taken away from anyone. Those who have been elected to serve will have the opportunity to carry out their terms. We have entrusted you with certain privileges and I as your pastor and we as a congregation have faith in your leadership. Finally, I don’t want ministries to think that things are being taken away from them. I do want our ministries to understand that we have been ordained to carry out particular responsibilities based on the purposes of our committees. By focusing on our purpose we will be able to accomplish more. Ultimately, we know it’s about God and when we serve Him first, God always makes a way for everything else to come together.


Blessings,

Pastor Eric

* 9 Elders, 7 Trustees, and 18 Deacons
]]><![CDATA[WE HAVE A MISSION!]]>Wed, 20 Jul 2011 08:25:32 -0800http://bethpc.org/2/post/2011/07/we-have-a-mission.html On behalf of your session, I am very pleased to announce that Bethany has an official mission statement. Bethany’s mission is… “To equip people to be fully devoted to Jesus Christ through relevant and practical ministries.”

Having a mission statement is foundational to building our ministries. Therefore, doing it right was of the upmost important to us. It has taken us over two years of discussion and prayer to develop our mission. We have explored our past, our present, and looked forward in hope to our future. We’ve acknowledged how much society has changed and how much Bethany has changed (intentionally and in reaction to the changing world.) We’ve addressed our fears and protected the integrity of our church by creating a list of what’s negotiable and non-negotiable. These were crucial steps leading to our mission.

We believe our mission statement reflects the kinds of ministries God is calling us to develop at Bethany. In other words, all the ministries we will develop and grow should fall within our mission statement. I’d like to share what I mean through some of the key words of our mission:

Equip: We don’t just want to lead people to Jesus. We want to equip people to be his followers. This means we will continue our tradition of teaching people. We want to raise people to be disciples of Christ who can go into the world and share his transforming message.

Fully Devoted: Bethany is not a place for casual Christians. We don’t want you to worship Jesus just on Sunday mornings. We want you to follow him in all aspects of your life; with your family, at school, at work, with your finances and thought life.

Relevant:  Ministry needs to be relevant. What impact can the Church have in your life today? What does it mean in your day to day walk to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus? When we invite someone to church and they ask, “What does Jesus have to do with my life today?” will you be able to answer that question in a way that makes sense to him/her? 

A relevant church is not about changing with the changing times. But we must strive to keep the Truth of Jesus Christ relevant in people’s lives. Our Reformed tradition reminds us that we are ‘reformed and always reforming.” Being relevant means we regularly examine how we are accomplishing our goals of equipping people to be fully devoted to Jesus and adjusting our efforts along the way to ensure peak efficiency. Remember, it’s not about maintaining; it’s about transforming lives and growing.

Practical: Support ministries will tell you that you can’t teach a hungry person about Jesus until you feed him/her. It just doesn’t make sense to tell people that Jesus loves them and then walk away without acknowledging a real, unmet need. Practical ministries bring Christ’s love to people that will help them meet that need. Small groups provide friends and fellowship, Financial Peace University helps people get out of debt and find the freedom to live a life to glorify God and VBS lays a foundation for kids to build on while giving their parents a break from restless kids. What are some other practical ways we can bring God’s love to our community?

Our mission gives us direction and parameters. I hope you find our mission statement with as much excitement as we have sharing it with you. Our mission will be foundational to carrying out our vision as we explore with more specificity what we believe God is calling us to accomplish.
]]><![CDATA[Temple Tantrums]]>Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0800http://bethpc.org/2/post/2011/06/temple-tantrums.html During the last week of his ministry, before he was crucified, Jesus entered Jerusalem. According to Mark, after arriving in Jerusalem, Jesus went into the Temple to look around. It was late so he left. The next day, he entered the temple and cleared it out. He threw the tables over, knocked over people’s chairs, tossed their money into the air and drove everyone out of the Temple courtyard. (See Mark 11:11-17) This is often referred to as Jesus cleansing the temple. I like how one pastor described it... Jesus threw a temple tantrum.

Why did Jesus demonstrate such behavior? Was it because people were using the Temple as a place to sell doves for sacrifices and make money for their own selfish ambitions? That is a big part. But the biggest reason is the activity in God’s house wasn’t focused on worshipping God! Jesus got rid of everything that did not glorify the Father.

What is the best way to worship God in our everyday lives? We start by getting rid of all the things that distract us from him. What bad habits do we have that distract us from our relationship with Christ? What about our thought life? Now that spring is here, let’s do some spring cleaning and cleanse the temples that are our bodies. 

If you find it difficult to remove some things from your life, let Jesus throw a temple tantrum in your life! He will remove all things that separate you from Him.  But get ready, he will toss things around and your life will be changed!

It’s not always easy letting someone see our dirty laundry. Letting Christ in means letting him see all of us. But he wants to cleanse you. He’s a deep cleaner. There are some stains that only he can remove.

Cleaning is hard work isn’t it? Yet he is willing to do what it takes and cleanse our hearts for us. Are you willing to do what it takes and let him in?

]]><![CDATA[The Journey Continues]]>Wed, 02 Mar 2011 09:48:59 -0800http://bethpc.org/2/post/2011/03/first-post.htmlPicture
As we continue our journey together through the book of Acts we’ve come across some wonderful scenery. When the adventure began in chapter one, the church consisted of a few hundred people at best. But then Jesus sent the Holy Spirit and immediately lives were changed and the Church grew by thousands. No gimmicks, no t-shirts, no PowerPoint, just the message of Jesus Christ and the courage to speak it.
 
Some of the highlights from this series have been:
  • We continue the work that Jesus started
  • God’s encouragement changes so our faith can develop
  • People who seek understanding of God’s Word are transformed
  • In our world of options the Church has become an option
  • Tradition does not cause church growth, nor does change
  • When you are excited about something you look for opportunities to share it.
I am excited about this series at what it means in our individual walk with Christ, and our journey together as a community. I hope you’re excited too and want to share with others what God is doing new at Bethany.

In the Holy Spirit,

Pastor Eric
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