Catch the Vision: 2010

"Maximum effectiveness with minimal change" is an oxymoron and a goal usually unattainable, but we believe that God has shown us a way to reach both of these objectives at the same time.

For the past two years our church has been completely full in most of our Sunday morning Bible study classes and our second morning worship service has consistently been over 80% full. Whenever a church's facilities reach this percentage of saturation, it is inevitable that attendance will soon become stagnant or even begin to decline. In an effort to avoid this outcome, our leadership team and I have been on a mission the last few months to find the best way to create additional space in our facilities without "upsetting the apple cart."

One piece of the puzzle necessary for us to reach our goals has already been implemented and your response to it has been phenomenal. On Wednesday nights we now have Bible studies going on all across our campus and on other days of the week, as well. When we began decentralizing the Wednesday night service a little over a year ago, we were overwhelmed with the receptivity of our people to the idea. Our goal now is to continue multiplying these studies on Wednesday evenings and on other nights of the week. We'd even like to eventually offer a few studies in local neighborhood homes. This is something revolutionary for an independent Baptist church to try, but it is something that God is using in our fellowship in spectacular ways. It is also something I firmly believe we must do if we are going to reach our community with the Gospel of Christ.

Now comes the implementation of the second part of the plan involving Sunday morning Bible studies and our Sunday worship services. Let me first alleviate any fears that we are canceling Sunday morning Sunday school classes. This is not part of the plan and there are several reasons we cannot do this:

1. There are senior adults who cannot attend on Wednesday nights because it is difficult for them to see after dark to drive to church.
   
2. Some of our people who are involved in other ministries on Wednesday nights cannot attend one of these Bible studies and need to attend a Sunday morning Bible study.
3. Many church guests will not know our Wednesday night Bible study schedule and will need a class for their children and themselves to attend on Sunday morning.
4. This has been the traditional time for Sunday school classes and some people just need to maintain this tradition.
   

The only real changes to these Sunday morning Bible studies will concern the times they meet and potentially their room assignments. Beyond that, if you want to attend a Sunday morning study it is still available for you.

To accomplish the overall changes to Sunday school classes, we need to alter the times of our services on Sunday morning to 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. We believe that this slightly later service of 9 a.m. will result in some people attending the early service who had normally been attending the later service. It is also possible that some guests will opt for the early service simply because it is slightly later. In addition, the second service congregation will also benefit because they will be out earlier than in previous years.

While each of these services are going on in the Worship Center, there will be Sunday morning Bible study classes happening downstairs at the same time. What are the benefits of this adjustment? Well consider these:

1. It opens up seats in Sunday school classes and worship services for guests to attend.
   
2. It gives us the potential of using our classroom space twice allowing new classes to be added.
3. It gives our Sunday morning Bible study teachers a greater amount of time to teach his/her lesson.
4. It gives each teacher and class participant time for discussion and interaction.
   
5. It provides opportunities for fellowship in each class, something that is virtually non-existent because of the limited class time.
6. It provides more than one time slot for people to get involved in small group Bible studies making it easier for more/new people to participate.
   
7. It opens up parking spaces for guests when those attending Wednesday Bible studies (instead of Sunday morning studies) leave the campus after a worship service.
8. It facilitates a more equal division between the two morning worship services opening seats for new attenders.
9. It potentially allows the choir to sing in both of our morning worship services.
   
10. It eliminates one full nursery block that has to be staffed each Sunday, thus easing the burden on these wonderful servants of God who care for the littlest among us.

Here are the most important things to ask ourselves. Did God leave us here to reach people? Do we stop reaching people simply because we have run out of room? Does this mean we must be willing to make adjustments to continue our mission? You know the answers to these questions!

If our mission is to make our church members comfortable and provide for their convenience, then we don't need to change anything. But, if our mission is to reach new people with Christ's love, then we have to be willing to do what is necessary to make that happen. None of these changes will come until early next year (2010), but I'm asking you to begin praying that God will give us clarity of explanation and unity of hearts as we prepare for the future God wants to give our church.