Church Family!
Over the past 6 months, we have seen the Lord draw more and more people to our church family, and with that growth, we have been looking at ways to best serve and grow together in Christ. This means we, the elders, have been looking at how we program considering the changing makeup of people and families who call Redemption their home.
So, after looking at engagement and participation over the past semester, we believe we need to make some changes in order to give margin for better things and allow us to lean harder into how God has been building here.
The Changes
The Midweek: Beginning Now
Starting this month, we will reduce our Midweek programming to the once-a-month potluck. Why?
More third-space gatherings.
Our hope is that by reducing our “at church” programming, we will free families up to have more meals and get-togethers with each other in their homes. Even if you commit to a once-a-month meal with another family or a different family each month, we believe we will see beautiful fruit from the community.Relieve the Pressure on the Volunteers.
Currently, we need eight people every Wednesday to volunteer in our kid's rooms. Considering that we also do a fully staffed SS hour and three classes during the Worship hour, that’s a lot for a church our size to ask from its membership.More Energy toward our growing Students Area.
As you know, Justin has been given a double portion of responsibility! By removing the Midweek hour, he will now have the margin to build a more robust weekly student gathering, plan camps, and have fellowship events. He will be in contact with our parents about what that looks like, and he and I are excited about freeing him up to dream and invest in deeper ways.Potlucks!!!
This will make our once-a-month Potlucks even more special! Our fellowship meals have always been an exciting night, and we hope by reducing our weekly programming each month, our potlucks will be an even more special night of corporate fellowship!
Midweek Disclaimers:
We are not saying we will never do a midweek.
We may get to a size and have staffing and volunteerism that would support a weekly gathering, but we believe that we are in a season where we need to pivot.The building is available!
If you want to gather for a Bible study on Wednesday nights, then by all means! We just will not have kids ministry. If you would like to lead a study, let us know! We can get you resources and whatever you need. The building is available! This also means that the meetings that need to happen on a semi-regular routine can use the hour/space for that (finance, personnel, deacons…)We will have some special gatherings during that time as well.
Membership meetings, prayer meetings, special missionary visits… We can use the Midweek hour for those things when the time comes.
Sunday Mornings: Beginning Soon! We will let you know!
In light of removing our regular Midweek hour, we are going to lean further into our Sunday Mornings! What that means:
Soft Start Fellowship.
We will have our soft start at 8:30 am. We will be upping our breakfast game and adding more finger foods. We want to encourage you to plan to arrive early and have fellowship! We will have an open table, so if you get bored and want to make a quiche, breakfast jambalaya, or egg pizza, then bring it on!Starting Sharp.
We will start our Sunday Morning Group study at 8:59 am! Our teachers will begin the gathering on time, in order to have enough time!Another Class!
With all the growth, we believe it is good for class size to stay small in order to give more time for discussion and being known. To that end, we would like to add one more group on Sunday mornings! Currently, we are divided into two age group classes. We would like to multiply into one more OPEN group (all age ranges) for those who would like to be a part of a cross-generational class. We do not know what that interest is like, so if you are interested in jumping into the All Age Group, please click here.
Men’s and Women’s Ministry
While the women have been gathering for the past six months, we are also working on developing a schedule for men’s ministry. This will include a spring retreat! If you are interested in helping lead in this area, please let us know!