This past Sunday after church we had a churchwide lunch and gave an update on the progress and direction of our church. Tom Breeden, Sean Smith, Sean Shanks and myself all presented about various aspects of our church life. I’m going to write briefly about some of that in here. Before I do that, here are some resources for further information.
Our church purpose and values are downloadable here.
The entire meeting audio is downloadable here.
Looking back
2017 was a remarkable year in a number of ways. First, it was one of the most generous years ever at Grace Community Church. Grace members supported our church in 2017, but also, in their giving and going, supported many important efforts to further the gospel of grace.
The church had an all-time record number of mission trips. Fleming Straughan went to Ireland for the Irish Prayer Summit, I went to Malawi to train pastors with Equipping Leaders International, and nine GCC members went to Japan to serve missionaries and pastors and their families at the 2017 Japan Church Planting Institute Conference. While there were outside donors, Grace members raised the lion’s share of the funds to support all three trips.
Upon returning from my trip to Malawi and alerting members and friends to the needs there, Grace members gave additional funds over and above other giving to purchase mattresses and bedding for 20 orphans, and Grace people fully funded a well project that will supply water to over 1000 people daily.
Grace members gave nearly $8000 to the Word and Table (Pantops) church plant as a part of the send off for the Tuck family on January 7, 2018.
So, Grace was remarkably and graciously generous to so many needs last year.
It was a year of great opportunities to share the gospel of grace with people who are exploring the Christian faith. Several visitors became regular attenders as they stuck around and continued to investigate the teachings of Jesus Christ. A key piece of that research was the Christianity Explored course led by Pastor Tom Breeden. Some of those attenders are seriously investigating taking the next steps in the journey, including baptism.
For me, one of these opportunities is memorable. I began going to the Albemarle County Regional Jail to assist with leading a Bible Study for participants in the Good News Jail Ministry’s programs. Grace member (and former GCC youth director) Joseph Varaksa and I both have found that the closed and locked doors of the jail have become an open door to preach, teach and disciple.
The addition of Tom Breeden (Assistant Pastor of Adult Discipleship) and Sean Smith (Director of Youth Ministries) was a much-needed shot in the arm to Grace’s vision to live out discipleship through relationship. Tom has been diligently working in revitalizing small group ministry, leading adult Foundations, and overseeing Christianity Explored. He started and leads our Community Engagement team. Sean Smith came as youth director after nearly a year of our ministry being led by volunteers. In addition to overseeing and leading youth Foundations, Sunday Night Crossroads and small groups, Sean added a Thursday night Bible Study for the senior high youth. Additionally, he is on a team of local youth directors fostering a larger youth movement in Greene County. Wow! These guys have been here only six months and have made a huge impact!
The staff and elder teams have seen a renewal of energy and unity toward the end of 2017. We are all enjoying working together and excited to see what is ahead.
As mentioned in the audio, we recognize the difficulties of some member departures over the last two years. The audio has some of the details. We seek to discern reasons why some members left us (usually to other churches). When they would allow us, we took notice of those reasons and have tried to learn from them the best we could. We feel the pain of loss when people decide to attend another church.
Looking ahead
2018 is looking up. With continued clarity for our efforts from the church’s renewed purpose statement, values, and goals, we forge ahead with vigor and focus. I will continue to devote time to assisting the revitalization of men’s ministry at Grace. We have a full calendar of men’s activities and are making progress towards our goal:
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.
I will be working with the elders to develop a more effective officer development plan. Our goal is to have a dedicated and called cadre of elders and deacons who will live their lives out in service to Christ and His church. If we have enough of these servants, men can take a year off regularly after three years of service.
God willing, I will return to Malawi to teach a marriage course for pastors and their spouses. I hope we can dig a few more wells, care for orphans, and address development issues as they arise.
So, we enter 2018 with hope in the love of God for his church, confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit at work among us, and thankful for the unified team that has been assembled by God’s grace.
In Him,
Don