This past Sunday in spite of the snow and ice, we had  a meeting to talk about the refreshed purpose statements of GCC and the five year goals of the church. The recording of that will soon be available under the resources tab @ cvillegrace.org. In this blog post, I want to put out the five year goals and make a few comments of my own about them. I will also include the elders names on the goals. Feel free to email me directly if you want to volunteer to help with any of them (dward@cvillegrace.org). Jim Morton is freshly back off sabbatical, so we don’t know which group he will assist. Tag Tuck will be a resource as needed for several goals.

1-3 year goals

• 80% of members in transforming relationships with other members.
  • Don Ward (lead), Jimmy Wood

My research for my Doctor of Ministry program was in the area of discipleship. That research identified a key component of growth for all Christians - life in close community with other believers. Content of discipleship matters, but so does the context of discipleship. We rarely grow without others involved in our transformation. This has been a focus here at Grace since the beginning, but we are getting a laser sharp eye for it now.

Those key relationships often come from small group ministries, but we want to involve a lot more of you in those relationships, so we will look at many options to get that going. Yes, we must figure out who needs relationships now, and who has those connections already.

By the way, here are some definitions that might help

Follower of Jesus Christ: A follower of Jesus is a disciple - a person who believes in Jesus and loves Him. Discipleship is following Jesus and trusting and valuing him. This means that we become people who regularly read his word, develop a life of prayer, live in loving relationship with other Christians, and seek to make disciples of those who haven’t followed Jesus.

Transforming relationship:  This is a purposeful relationship with another Christian (or a group of Christians) that intentionally encourages our following of Jesus. It leads us to deeper intimacy with Christ, greater faithfulness to spiritual practices, healthy relationships with others marked by the grace of Christ, and concern for those outside of the faith.

• Develop a comprehensive strategy and provide leadership to raise youth to love Christ for a lifetime, incorporating the youth into the broader body of Christ.
  • Win Wood (lead), Sean Shanks, Peter Edwards

We have had youth ministry since nearly the inception of our church. Joe Varaksa, Dave Saville and Stacey Powdrell served as the prime ministry leaders over the past years. Each of them had gifts that moved the ministry along. We now are searching for our next director. It appears a new director will be in place by summer, if not sooner.

There have always been some strengths in various seasons of ministry over the years. It’s time to look at a comprehensive strategy that allows us to provide the greatest support possible to parents in the discipleship of their youth. Most of the pieces are already in place, but the addition of a few key strategies may make a significant difference in the influence we have on these students.

It seems like the middle and high school years go by fast (having seen it in my home twice). Grades 6-12 take seven years to finish. It is a seven-year opportunity for discipleship in our church. We have a seven-year window to shape a lifetime. In these next five years we want to have the greatest impact ever.

• Develop a comprehensive strategy and provide leadership to produce a men's ministry that forges bonds of brotherhood and trains men to be effective leaders in the home, church and community
  • Jonathan Velasquez (lead), Don Ward, Chris Kidd

First, an obvious question - Why not improve that sentence by saying “men’s and women’s ministry” and “bonds of sisterhood and brotherhood?” The main reason is that women’s ministry at Grace has most often been stronger than men’s ministry. Now is certainly a season where that is true.  Of course, both men and women will be positively influenced by the 80% goal in transforming relationship. And, men’s and women’s ministry will help our church achieve the first goal.

Having said that, men in our day and time struggle to develop the deep relational bonds with other men that influence their lives and leadership. Gary Yagel states that 19 out of 20 Christian men have no best friend.  If that’s true, how many of them have another brother to help them follow Christ?

I’m a pastor, I believe in good preaching and teaching. What takes that to the next level is to have someone to help with the application and the “how to” of following Jesus. A sermon or lesson can’t do that the way a good brother can.

• Identify and lead our church to one or two key local ministry opportunities that become a high priority and are accessible to all members.
  • Jeff Deal, lead

This was directly influenced by member surveys. Many of you encouraged us down this path, and the elders themselves voiced a concern for this. We want some local service ministries that we hang on to over time. If possible, we’d like to involve many different members in these ministries. Think of teens serving alongside seniors. Think about single moms bringing their children to serve next to other members.

This goal will help us live out the value we identified: “We don’t exist for ourselves.” Perhaps God in his mercy will allow us to bless and serve our community in ways that causes them to give thanks to God for our community.

3-5 year goals

• Facility Expansion with a youth and children’s ministry focus
  • Win Wood, lead

We didn’t say much about this goal in the meeting, because we didn’t make it a 1-3 year goal. The trailers aren’t getting any younger, and simply replacing them may not be wise. We developed a facility master plan that can guide an expansion that replaces the trailers, and provides ministry space as determined at the time for all ages, but especially for the children and youth who now use those spaces.

Again, if you have questions or comments, or would like to help with any of these goals, feel free to email me.

In Him,

Don