By Brad King , Chairman, Leadership Board 

With fall comes the start of a new season of ministry.  Many changes are in the air: new programs, a remodeled facility and the third service to name a few.  These changes are due in large part to input given in 2005 from the Charting a Higher Course (CAHC) congregational survey.  CAHC proved to be a very effective way to get direction from our church family.  As your Leadership Board, we continue to refer to it in our decision making.  Recently we reviewed all the recommendations from CAHC and we were encouraged to see how many of our decisions supported and furthered the directives of CAHC.  As leaders we recognize that Calvary is first of all a church under the headship of Christ, but secondly a congregational form of government.  As such, we value your ideas and input as together we seek to be a church that follows and pleases our Lord.

In First Chronicles 12:32 we read about the men of Issachar.  They were known as men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.  As a church, we desire to be like the men of Issachar, to understand the times and to know what we should do to please God and fulfill His purpose(s) for us as a church.  God’s Word gives us clear directions about His design and desire for a healthy church, but it doesn’t always give us specific steps to get there.  For example, we are instructed to gather together for fellowship and corporate worship, yet the Scriptures don’t tell us where to meet, how many services to have, or the style/form of worship music.  Instead we rely on His Spirit to work through prayer and His people to answer these specific questions.

There are several issues we are discussing amongst the leadership and we would like to get your input.  We would like to hold a forum where you could hear each topic, ask questions, and make comments.  To couch this meeting in biblical terms, we might call it a meeting of the men (and women) of Issachar.  We see this as another way to communicate and to get your input in these decisions.

What are some of the topics that we would discuss?  They include how we continue to grow in the future.  Do we grow through more services, relocation to a new and larger facility and/or through church planting?  How do we most effectively reach out to our community?  What sorts of ongoing community ministries do we provide and which local ministries do we partner with?  As a believing community, how do we develop all to maturity and some to leadership?

We recognize that the Sunday morning service just isn’t the time or place to have an interactive discussion.  Instead we would likely meet on an evening, perhaps serving a light meal before the meeting and enjoying a time of fellowship together.  The format for the meeting would be to introduce the topic and then have a time for questions and comments.  We will record your thoughts and ideas and use them as we work on these issues.  Once the time and date of the meeting are set, we will announce it.  We will also offer an option for people to electronically submit their ideas should they not be able to attend the meeting or choose this method to have input.  We believe that we make better decisions as a church when we partner and pray together and this is one way to do that.

As a review, I have included a summary of the recommendations from CAHC at the bottom of this article.