Important

Important Dates:

1. We will have a spaghetti dinner on Sunday for thanksgiving - if you can make a dessert, let Linda Emmanuel know. 
2. Offices will be closed next week on Thursday and Friday .
3. We will have a service on Christmas Eve @ 430  (Nursery/Toddler provided as of right now).
4. No Christmas Day services .
5. The office is closed from December 26th- Jan 1st.
6. There will be another informational meeting for those interested in leading a small group on December 6th. I'm not sure of the time, but Pastor Alex is heading that up.
7. NextSteps 201 is this Sunday from 3-5pm, and the following Sunday is the 301 class from 3-5pm. 
8. To work in the children's department, I think maybe nursery/toddler is under this umbrella, there will be an informational meeting for anyone who wants to participate in any way on December 6th in the sanctuary. 

Important Information:

Over the coming weeks, transformation will continue on the facilities and our congregation. 

The launch team/leadership is currently working to find people to partner with on some of the new teams and positions that will be put in place for the launch. There is a First Impressions team that heads up the Cafe and Ushers and Welcome Center - see Jerry Cooper if you're interested in this. To work in the children's department, I think maybe nursery/toddler is under this umbrella, there will be an informational meeting for anyone who wants to participate in any way on December 6th in the sanctuary. Kim Mauney is heading all of that up; I think they're going to even watch some videos of the curriculum and hear some songs, so that's the fun place to be! 

My favorite thing about our new direction is all of the structure and processes that will be in place. Those who will be counting the offerings will have training, one way to do things and there will always be two people involved (not spouses together) and accountability measures set up. The drop off for kids will REALLY be awesome: background checks for workers, name tags for kids (on their back of course because what kid wouldn't play with that...) and some better/safer equipment and toys for the kiddos. 

A huge part of the current goals is increased/improved communication which will help us all in the long run to be more equipped to serve/lead/jump in!

The NextSteps program will be the way to get involved as well - membership, serving and small groups - all will be run through the NextSteps classes. And truly, until you're plugged into a small group, it will sort of be like you're just an attender. A change to small groups will be that they will run on a semester schedule. SO, as I wished for previously, there will be start and stop times. You will be able to check out other small groups if you want. This will allow people to find a group that will work with their life stage, schedule or location. Additionally, this will prevent anyone from feeling like they're stuck or like they can't join because they're too far behind - eventually, the can start fresh!

I hope my excitement is coming through in this informational post. Wes and I are excited about church, about serving and about seeing new people coming to know the Lord. What God did and does for us IS exciting and hopefully we'll be able to SHOW people that moving forward. Outwardly, the auditorium will see more transformation - the lighting will be installed and ready to go I think by the second week in December. We will move our current screen into the children's area and 3 screens will be installed. Some other items will move/leave/be installed - I don't know what exactly. But from what we've seen, it'll be awesome! Gene Moberly literally worked like 17 hours in one day building and installing items. Others volunteered their time/days off to stay into the wee hours of the night/morning on more than one occasion. People have been at church for various meetings/training several nights a week. Josh and Alex have been scruffier than normal as well. 

All this to say that the excitement is catching and people are diving in to push things along and get us ready. We're preparing for the 1000 people that will come. We're going digital on things that should be been digital a long time ago. We're improving, tweaking, re-evaluating, learning, and most of all praying as we move towards the launch in February. I'm sorry, did I mention that I'm excited? 

If you were at church last Sunday, you might have gotten the taste of it that we did. It's coming. He was there. The Holy Spirit we keep talking about, that's a person, (A He, not an It, we learned) was there. Where will you be? What will you do? How will you participate? 

If you have any questions about anything at all, just ask. Facebook us, send an email, give us a call - we'll try to help. As things are moving at such a rapid pace and the excitement increases, sometimes we get ahead of ourselves. I HATE not knowing stuff or being out of the loop. I think that will be less of a problem going forward. But let us know.

Amen.