Sunday School Promotion
Sunday School Promotion will be September 13
starting at 9:30 am
All Children will meet with their teachers in the Social Hall and following the promotion ceremony they will go to their regular class rooms for the start of their new Sunday School Classes.
Everyone is invited to enjoy refreshments in the Social Hall and to participate in the ceremony.
Wednesday Night Children and Youth Activities
Night Activities resume September 9
• Mission Friends: Children ages 3-5
• Kids for Christ: Grades 1-5
• Children’s Choir: Grades 1-5
• Youth on Mission: Grades 6-12
SPECIAL NOTE FROM THE YOUTH: Thank you for all your support for the Community Fun Day and Craft Show. Due to the current economic situation the Youth did not wish to add extra work or expense for the congregation at this time. There will be no Craft Show or Fun Day this year (2009) and we hope to be able to continue this tradition at a later date.
Wednesday Evening Suppers Will also Resume on Sept. 9
Our first Wednesday night supper will be September 9. The prices will remain the same again this year.
• Children 6 and under – Free
• Children 7-12 – $2.00
• Youth and Adults – $5.00
• Family of four or more – $15.00
In order to have enough food to feed everyone who is signed up and also not to waste food and church resources, the Kitchen Committee asks that you PLEASE sign up or call to reserve supper if you plan to attend.
Also, it is just as important that you call before 5:00 pm Monday evenings if you plan to cancel your supper reservation. If you fail to cancel, we ask you to pay for your supper the following Wednesday night.
Sunday School Promotion
Promotion will be September 13
starting at 9:30 am
All Children will meet with their teachers in the Social Hall and following the promotion ceremony they will go to their regular class rooms for the start of their new Sunday School Classes.
Everyone is invited to enjoy refreshments in the Social Hall and to participate in the ceremony.
From the Pastor’s Heart
From the Pastor’s Heart;
80 Thousand Reasons for Here’s Hope Great Commission Cluster.
This summer, I invited anyone “who is interested in the future of Azalea Baptist Church” to come to a Wednesday night service with NABA Associational Minister Roy Smith. At that gathering, Roy outlined the Here’s Hope Great Commission Cluster Process. In this process, there are three major components:
1- Monthly cluster meetings for the pastor for one year; 2- Consultations for each congregation; and 3- Lay training events during the year.
Our Association is so convinced that a major investment (roughly 80,000 dollars) is funded so churches can realistically receive this kind of intense training that is needed, but could not be easily affordable. Roy Smith is convinced this will help churches in our association. As your Pastor, I believe that nothing is more crucial for the present and future of this church. So, what would this process look like?
* A Congregational Self-Study – We will need two to three months to gather data. Several groups will be needed for our History, Demographic, and Community Studies. This information is then given to the consultant who will lead us in our weekend process.
If completed by November we can enjoy the Christmas season.
* Consultation Weekend: January 15-17
January 15 Friday – interviews all staff; Friday evening – Focus group with a cross section of the congregation (20- 30 people). Pastor introduces Consultant and then leaves the discussion. The agenda is only three questions: 1) What do you like about your church? 2) What would you change to improve your church?
3) If finding enough money and the right people is not a problem, what do you want your church to be or look like in the next 5-10 years?
January 16 Saturday morning 9AM – 3PM – Pastor and Lay leaders meet – Agenda:
Answer the same 3 questions above; provide an analysis of the congregation; and offer an initial evaluation of strengths, concerns, and prescriptions. Saturday Evening: Consultant writes the report that will be given to the congregation on Sunday
January 17 Sunday morning – Worship followed with Meal and Congregational Meeting: Following the service, during a meal brought in, the report is presented to the congregation. Every person gets a copy. The report includes the key five strengths of the congregation, the five biggest concerns, and five prescriptions that are sure to address the concerns while building on the strengths. Then there is Question/Answer time.
The next step is to spend one month in significant prayer about the prescriptions (Jan 17- Feb 17). This is to get the word out to people who may not have heard and to fervently pray about the prescriptions.
Following the month of prayer, the congregation will vote to pursue or reject the prescriptions. It’s all or nothing. If a doctor says you have cancer, you can’t just take two aspirins because that is the most appealing prescription. (February)
When the congregation decides to implement the prescriptions, the pastor, lay leaders and consultant are committed to work for a minimum of one year. Every month there will be an on site visit for follow up on the progress of each goal.
This process has turned around an entire Baptist Association in California. Their story is told in the book Hit the Bullseye by Paul Borden. I joked that we had “80,000” reasons to consider pursuing this process. Really, there are only 2:
1) Its what Jesus wants us to do (I say that because of Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:18-20, the Great commission) and;
2) The needs of our congregational health demand it now more than ever.
See you at “the Sunday morning place to be”…for Here’s Hope! Pastor John