NEW & EXCITING POSSIBILITIES FOR MY STAFF ROLE!


In the June church newsletter, I gave a brief summary of some new staffing ideas that came to me as a result of Janelle’s resignation from children’s and youth ministry. One idea of mine is to combine a new youth ministry position with worship/music ministry (the scope and specific responsibilities of both roles to be determined). I said that I believed a new, younger worship leader would be beneficial as we strategize for the future; someone “up front” on Sundays with a different skill set than mine and a fresh approach to worship. This would clearly demonstrate to everyone - young people, visitors, community, and our “committed core” - that we are serious as a congregation about change, new approaches, and engaging today’s culture.

With weekly worship responsibilities off of my plate, I briefly outlined the areas of ministry that I would like to expand, or move into. At the congregational meeting on July 10, I explained more fully what I would like to do, why I feel these areas are important and strategic for us at this time, and shared rather passionately why I am so excited about being able to oversee these aspects of congregational life and ministry.

But many people missed my June summary and others missed the congregational meeting.

Because I feel that communication, awareness, and understanding are critically important to us here at Hilmar Covenant during this transition time, especially as the pastoral search team begins its work and as the council and staff continue to offer vision and new considerations to the congregation, I want to make sure everyone is clear about my proposal, what it entails, and how I believe it can help propel us forward into that “preferred future” that we all desire for our church.

Let me share the excitement I feel about these new possibilities for my ministry at Hilmar Covenant!


•CONGREGATIONAL CARE: This is a ministry area of vital importance to us right now. I want to reach into our congregation to learn why so many people are uninvolved, uncommitted, and disengaged, especially those who once were more actively involved in the life of Hilmar Covenant. Our membership is 410 - but only about 130 people attend worship, and an extremely small percentage of us participate in any other spiritual growth opportunities during the week. As a congregation, we have not followed up well - or at all - with people who have disappeared from our church. These people are a rich resource of insight and information, especially about the “how's” and “why's” and “what's” that brought them to this point of disengagement. My sense is that we have a large number of “church-damaged” people in our midst, and we don't even know it - or how and why this came to be. These people are also a source for teaching us what changes would help us become a more healthy church once again. I foresee this area taking a great deal of my time and focus in the coming year.

•SPIRITUAL DISCIPLESHIP: Encouraging, modeling, and strategizing for deeper spiritual growth, apart from Sunday worship. This involves a variety of things to help awaken people in today's culture to what a “Christian life” and “relationship with Jesus” is all about, including people who are members of Hilmar Covenant. I want to create opportunities for spiritual discussions, questioning, and learning for different groups of people in various venues, and to help organize specific small groups around biblical, topical, theological, and spiritual themes and interests, with varying degrees of commitment and length. Of course, I will be making prayer an even bigger emphasis in this area of my ministry.


•MULTIETHNIC MINISTRY: I am excited to help us strengthen our commitment and movement into being a more diverse congregation. We have taken tiny, informal steps in this direction already, so we are in a very good, positive, healthy place in this regard! Our Covenant denomination is committed to this aspect of building God's Kingdom too, and predictions of the future only underscore the reality of increasing multiethnic diversity in every part of American life. As we become more multicultural and multiethnic in our communities, strong churches must reflect--and embrace--this priority and reality. To ignore the signs and the warnings will put us in a precarious position as a congregation in the years ahead. We must be intentional in order to move in this direction, and embrace the struggles and discomfort that multicultural ministry entails. The end result, though, will be a huge blessing, to us within the church and to the Kingdom of God - for we will truly reflect His Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven!”


•MISSION: This is outreach ministry - both global and local - which dovetails beautifully into our congregation's commitment to serve our world and our community in tangible, practical, meaningful ways. Again, strong churches in the future will live much more of their “life” outside the four walls of their buildings. A workshop leader at this year's Midwinter Conference put it this way: “There is a world that is crying out for more embodied Christ following on the streets than bodies of Christ followers in church buildings.” This also affirms the full gospel of Jesus, which is always about one's faith and one's actions. The Persecuted Church, human trafficking, Feed My Starving Children, school chaplaincy, Celebrate Recovery, volunteering at the Children’s Center, service through Turlock Gospel Mission, Hilmar Helping Hands, Merced County Rescue Mission--these connections and commitments can be developed and expanded to offer our congregation more ways of fulfilling another of the Covenant's affirmations: Compassion, Mercy, and Justice.


•RELEVANCE: Our congregation has said it is committed to “relevance;” to thinking and acting and reaching out in ways that are meaningful and engaging to those around us who have no background or interest in Christianity, the Church, Scripture, and so forth. We cannot be afraid to change our methodologies and approaches in order to reach those who are not or may never be drawn to traditional “church;” to the forms, routines, activities, patterns, and familiar things that are meaningful, enjoyable, and comfortable to us inside the Church but are irrelevant and of no interest to those in our increasingly post-Christian culture. To be unleashed into relevant ministry in all of these areas of our congregational life is absolutely thrilling to me!

•MUSIC??? It will, of course, be impossible for someone to come in and continue all of the music and worship responsibilities I currently lead and cover children’s, youth, college and young adult ministries. I am very happy and willing to continue in music ministry in various capacities as needed, depending on the musical skills, priorities, and interests of the person who comes as our youth/worship leader and the span of youth ministry responsibilities that this person is called to lead. Certainly youth ministry will be the major emphasis of the final job description. Choir, bells, special instrumental musical offerings, and seasonal concerts and/or presentations are parts of the wider worship/music ministry area that I would love to continue to be involved in.

Some of you may be asking, “Why is Dan interested in changing his ministry roles? What’s happened to make him want to move out of leading worship?” Most of you know how I have grown more passionate about spiritual discipleship, prayer, congregational health, multiethnic ministry, mission (both global and local) and service since my first mission trip to Mexico in 1999. That was one of the most transforming experiences of my life. A step was made in the direction of having me strengthen these areas of Christian life and ministry in 2006 when my job description was altered. I believe that by capitalizing on these areas of ministry at this time that God will help us move toward that healthier “preferred future” that I mentioned above. All of these are areas that the Covenant is also currently pursuing for effective ministry in today’s culture. Finally, giving attention to these areas of ministry will help us address four of the five Veritas challenges identified for our congregation in 2009.

Transition times open up opportunities to re-think, re-prioritize, and re-structure many aspects of church life and ministry. One of the purposes of this time is to deal with past issues and concerns that need to be addressed and resolved so the congregation is in a better, healthier place when the new pastor comes. Then he or she does not have to confront these things and deal with resistance and conflict. Instead, the new pastor can dig in and help us continue to move toward being a “healthy missional church,” unfettered by old baggage that would otherwise weigh us down. Transition times are also opportunities for people to be challenged with new approaches and understandings; to think “out of the box” and lean into fresh approaches and priorities for ministry in order to be a church that is fulfilling its purpose and mission in today's world. This is tough to do, but a “must” if we want our church to be around in the future.

One way to shake things up and show that we are serious about being a church that is responding to the needs of today (both inside our body and outside in our wider community and world) is to re-align staff and leadership responsibilities to respond to the realities facing us.

This is what I am suggesting with my proposal. As I have developed this vision of ministry for myself in recent weeks, prayed about it daily, consulted with others, and visualized a million scenarios of what could transpire through these ministry roles, my energy and excitement have gone through the roof! I believe that by making these areas of ministry a high priority at this time, God will enable us to experience a fresh, energizing movement of His Holy Spirit, renewing us as a congregation, enriching our spiritual “soil,” making Hilmar Covenant an attractive church to people, drawing them to Christ and enabling them to put down deep spiritual roots that will transform their lives.

What do you think? Let me know! Text me, e-mail me, call me up, stop by the office and chat with me, send me your suggestions, questions, and concerns. Everything is fluid right now; ripe with potential and possibility! I want to be responsive to your considerations as a congregation too. Together, let’s explore new emphases for effective ministry in the Name of Jesus, our Savior.

Pastor Dan

CHALLENGES FROM THIS YEAR'S MEXICO MISSION TRIP


Our Mexico mission team returned from Tijuana again last Saturday, after another incredible week serving the Lord together with our sister church, Iglesia Bautista-Bethel, in the colonia of Francisco Villa. Five of us from Hilmar Covenant, two from Turlock Covenant, and ten from Iglesia del Pacto made up this year’s team. Most of us had been on this YUGO Ministries mission trip before, but we did add a few new people, and once again we grew into a strong close-knit team--especially because once again we were the ONLY mission team at the YUGO site, ready to serve for the week! Sadly, churches or youth groups or church leadership bodies are buying into the media’s overblown and extreme reports of violence in Mexico and are not sending mission teams to help Mexican churches and to give their youth the opportunity to experience cross cultural ministry.


They also missed out on the challenging teaching of this year’s YUGO speaker, Bill Drake. Bill serves with Operation Mobilization, and travels the world as the OM music/arts coordinator of teams that share the gospel of Jesus in dozens of countries through music and the arts. His passionate commitment to evangelism, his keen biblical understanding, and his sharp, pointed criticism of American Christianity challenged all of us once again to consider our relationship with Christ, how we live out our faith at home, and to recommit ourselves to a bolder, uncompromising Christian life.


Let me share Bill’s inspiring quotes, highlights of his insightful thinking, and some of his pointed challenges:

Monday’s focus was “Serving God”
•Are my purposes wrapped up in God’s purposes for the world? Don’t miss out on the reason I am alive.
•Don’t be afraid of failure; be afraid of things that don’t matter!
•”A person doesn’t know why he is alive until he knows what he is willing to die for.” (Martin Luther King Jr.)

Tuesday we were inspired with “Freedom From Fear”
•Many people have a “grasshopper” mentality (from Numbers 13 - the spies’ frightening report of walled cities, giants, and a land that devours its inhabitants)...NO! We are not created to abide in fear.
•”When Christ calls a man, He bids him to come and die.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
•We are free to be who Jesus made us to be; free of the world’s standards and values.
•He has no fear who has nothing to lose.
•”We’re already dead.” (quote from a Turkish Christian pastor to Bill, who had a death threat against him and his family from local Muslims - but he refused to hide, run, soften his convictions or compromise his faith. This pastor even had his son on his shoulders as he was organizing the event where Bill and his team were to perform, knowing full well that at any moment his life could be taken.)

Wednesday was about “Our Identity In Christ”
•Scriptural words for who we are in Christ: His child, His workmanship, a chosen people, witnesses (Greek word: martyros - this is where we get our word for martyr!).
•What do terrorists, Navy seals, and Buddhist monks all have in common? They are highly trained, committed, focused, and motivated. What about us? What is our motivation in life? As Christians, are we as trained, committed, focused, and motivated as these groups are? We have a higher calling - but the Enemy distracts us!
•The biggest sin of the USA: our individualism/focus on self/what I want!
•The biggest reason fewer American young people are going to the mission field: Christian parents discouraging their kids from doing so! They are telling them: “stay home/be safe/get a good job/stay close to family.”
•Bill’s words to our mission team: “WE WENT!”


Thursday began with a look at the meaning of Jesus’ temptations from the devil, and then the question posed to us was: “Who/What Do You Serve/Worship?”
•Temptation #1 - You have the power/ability/opportunity, so DO IT! Satisfy yourself.
•Temptation #2 - Avoid being rejected - be popular and loved - Compromise yourself! (“I am defined by nobody! Not by Nike, Budweiser, Ford - nobody!”)
•Temptation #3 - Worship me - get creation back without going to the cross!
•”What you worship, you will serve.” What do we serve?
•There is no worship without obedience. (“To obey is better than sacrifice.” I Sam. 15)
•There is no obedience without seeking first the Kingdom of God (top priority!).
•There is no seeking first the Kingdom of God without being involved in God’s mission. And what is God’s mission? To reconcile all humans to Himself!
•And THE CHURCH is God’s program to accomplish His mission!
•”Missions is not a program of the Church - the Church is God’s program to accomplish His mission!
•If you aren’t involved in God’s mission, you are not worshiping God!
•MISSION = WORSHIP If we love God, we must love what God loves.

Finally, on Friday we were simply given the word, GO!
•”Missions exist because worship doesn’t.” God wants everyone to worship Him, but we (humanity) worship and obey other things than God.
•Matthew 28:19 is known as the Great Commission, but Bill calls it the Grand Assumption. It is best translated “As you’re going, make disciples...” The active verb is “make,” not “go!” Jesus assumes we are going! Sending is in the DNA of God - God is a missional God - being a witness (martyros!) is not optional!
•”Are you preparing to go, but willing to stay; or are you willing to go, but preparing to stay?” The strategy of the Evil One is to de-rail GO.”


Bill ended his final teaching by reiterating what he began the week with: "If the purpose of my life is not wrapped up in God’s purposes for the world, I will miss the reason I am alive.” What a challenge! What a warning. What a wake-up call!

Ponder these important, insightful, clarifying points regarding our Christian lives and commitments. What might change if we who say we love Jesus actually lived out these principles that Bill put forth? I found it refreshing and bracing to be challenged by these pointed, no-holds-barred words from Bill, and appreciated his strong words directed at us who too often compromise and settle for comfortable, self-centered interests. I had to ask myself: what is, indeed, my motivation and commitment to Christ? Is it as focused as the motivation and commitment of terrorists and Navy seals? Am I truly willing to be a witness - a MARTYR - for the sake of Christ?

What say you???