December 2, 2005
Dear Resurrection Family,
In today's e-mail I will bring you up to speed on our youth director search, sharing with you information about our new cafe, giving the latest scoop on our annual stewardship drive, and offering bits of information you won't find anywhere else. Here's what I'll cover today...
Youth Director Search Update
Resurrection on the Radio - Interview and Christmas Spots
Resurrection's Cafe
This Weekend
Pocket Testaments
Church Churn - When Members Leave
Youth Director Search Update
Here is a quick update on the status of our youth director search. This week we are in conversation with two potential candidates for our lead youth director position. Each has led tremendous youth ministries - ministries of both breadth and depth. Our aim is to find a leader who is committed to Christ, loves teenagers, and who can help us capitalize on the opportunities we have before us in youth ministry - opportunities to reach students and help them become deeply committed Christians.
In addition to our lead youth director position, we are conducting final interviews for a Youth Special Events Coordinator and an Administrative Coordinator for Student Ministries - these positions will be filled within the next four weeks. We will also be hiring five part-time student ministries interns after we have filled our full time positions - these will be college or seminary students who will be assigned to work with the various grade levels in developing programs and ministries and building relationships with our youth.
I'm grateful for our current youth staff, Terrie, Taylor, Kenny, Diana, Ann, Haley and our youth music staff for the great job they continue to do in ministry with our kids - as well as for our awesome volunteers and student leaders. As we begin filling the open positions over the next few weeks and then open our new Student Center I am convinced God has tremendous things in store for our youth.
Watch for additional updates in the coming weeks. . .
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Resurrection on the Radio - Interview and Christmas Spots
This Sunday morning if you're an early riser you might be interested to tune into WDAF 106.5 at 6:00 am - I'll be on Dave Morton's radio program. We recorded the interview this week and he asked me questions ranging from terrorism to why bad things happen to good people.
In addition, Monday through Friday tune in to KUDL 98.1 during drive time in the mornings or evenings for the ";Resurrection Minute." This 60-second spot includes a Christmas story or tradition and an invitation for persons to consider worshiping with us this season.
Resurrection's Cafe - The Spring - Opens this Weekend
Come sneak a peek at our new coffee cafe, The Spring. This weekend the cafe will offer core menu items at special pricing. The grand opening will be next weekend. The cafe will feature a full menu including, fresh homemade pastries, gourmet specialty coffee drinks and more. The cafe will not only be a place of fellowship but also a great comfortable place to invite an unchurched friend. The Spring will be open Monday-Thursday from 8:30 am - 1:00 pm and 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm; Fridays from 8:30 am- 1:00 pm and Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 am - 8:00 pm. The cafe is looking for volunteers to share their time and talents. If you're interested, contact Callie Hanson at callie.hanson@cor.org.
This Weekend in Worship
This weekend is the Second Sunday of Advent. We'll look at the themes of repentance and peace. We'll sing Advent hymns and Christmas Carols and we'll celebrate Holy Communion. It will be a terrific and inspiring weekend of worship.
Pocket Testaments
Last year members of our church made donations to help fulfill a vision I had of giving every Resurrection worshiper a pocket New Testament. We made these available not only for you, but for you to give away to others as you shared Christ with them. To date we have given away more than 10,000 Testaments. At this time our funding has run out for purchasing the Pocket Bibles. My hope would be to continue to give away Pocket New Testaments to any who want or need them - the Testaments are about $1.25 each plus shipping. We'll need at least 5,000 for the coming year. If you would like to underwrite part of the cost of this project, which is not funded by our regular operating budget, please e-mail my assistant, Sue Thompson, at sue.thompson@cor.org.
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Church Churn - When Members Leave
I was reading an interesting article this week on church member "churn" - that is, the number of church members that become inactive, either leaving one church for another or dropping out, in a given year. The article indicated that between 8 and 18% of a church's membership drops out - becomes either inactive or leaves for another church - in any given year. This number seems high to me. But it got me thinking. At Church of the Resurrection our experience has been from 3 to 6% of our members drop out in a given year. In a church with more than 10,000 members that is 300 to 600 people a year who drop out or leave. This number is hidden somewhat because we receive 1,000 new members a year, so we still grow despite this phenomenon. But each of us likely knows people who "used to go" to Resurrection.
As a pastor I grieve this - my desire is every person who joins this church "sticks." My hope is every member has a great experience, they grow in their faith, they find meaningful Christian friendships, and places to serve God. When someone drops out, or decides another church better meets their needs, I have always felt we failed them.
Why do people drop out of churches? There are a variety of reasons. Sometimes they fall out of the habit of going to worship - and fall away from the Lord. Others feel hurt by someone - their Sunday School class teacher, a pastor, someone they sit by in church. Some are disappointed in something that happens in the church, or in their church experience. Some have different spiritual needs that one particular church can meet better than another. And some leave over a disagreement with the pastor on some point of doctrine or some matter of Biblical interpretation. Some feel called to help start new churches or strengthen other churches. There are no doubt a host of other reasons I've not even listed here. Jesus addresses some in his Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:1-9 Read this passage.
I understand how people can leave churches - to be honest, there have been moments when I thought about leaving the church - and I'm the Senior Pastor! One thing I've found in my own life is I can very easily focus on all the things I see I don't like or which disappoint me - whether in my family, in some other organization or in the church. In a given week I can find two to three things I think we can do better at the church, some of which drive me nuts; however I've learned this - if I choose to look for things to criticize, I become negative, hyper-critical, and unhappy, I miss out on all the really cool things God is doing in our church. I have to shake myself out of this mindset from time to time and look around at all the terrific things in our church family.
That's not to say there is not room for constructive criticism and for noticing ways we can improve. I think this is very important - that we're constantly trying to improve; I also think it is important that we as members of the body of Christ - look for the positive more than the negative.
If you're reading this and you haven't been to church for a while, I want to encourage you to be in worship this weekend. Following Christ is the most important thing you can do with your life. Failing to be involved in worship affects your spiritual life in so many ways. If you regularly attend church, but you've found yourself focusing on the negative - try this - list all the positive things about the church; look for the good and give thanks for the church. There are no perfect churches, because churches are led by, and filled with, imperfect people. Here's what I see at Church of the Resurrection: I see a church focused on a great purpose, with an awesome vision that is compelling. I see worship that is Spirit-filled, meaningful and aimed at honoring God. I see people growing in their faith through small groups, Sunday School, Bible Studies and a host of other opportunities. I see people, by the thousands, serving God in mission and ministry in the world. I see great staff, terrific lay leadership, and a great facility. I see lives being changed. This is what I focus on and it makes me grateful to be the senior pastor of such a church.
In Christ's Love,
Adam