January 2018 Update
Thank you to all who served alongside us to finish strong in 2017! We are grateful to God for a fruitful year, filled with many opportunities to grow as a church body, both personally and corporately. We praise God that He is leading us toward maturity, joy and dependence upon Him. Thank you for faithfully seeking and serving God in the church!
BUILDING TEAM:
The elders and building team welcomed Fred Adams, a consultant from Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago, as he provided insight into possible buildings to purchase for our church home in Rochester, MN. Thanks to Fred and his experience, we now have a much clearer direction and have refined the roles of all involved. The building team continues to work toward finding a location. We are in the process of forming a Financial Campaign Team who will help take our church on the spiritual journey of stewarding our money in preparation for a new church home. We are overwhelmed by the generosity of our church as we received over $95,000 in the December offering for the building fund. Thank you!
10-YEAR VISION SURVEY:
In preparation for the member’s meeting in January, we created a survey to get feedback from the church body regarding our 10-year vision. We are still reviewing the results of the survey and plan to use our findings to help us cast vision for year three. The Staff has been tasked with the publication of the 2018 version of the 10-year vision.
PASTORAL QUALIFICATIONS:
Each elder met with Brent Thomas and Matt DeCola to discern their qualifications to become pastors. We are still considering whether Brent should assume the responsibilities of the Worship Pastor and Matt should assume the responsibilities of the Assimilation Pastor. We are excited about the possibility of installing these men as pastors in 2018.
MADISON UPDATE:
Many of our small groups visited Harvest Bible Chapel Madison this fall to support their recent church plant. We are so excited to serve alongside them as they further the mission in Wisconsin. Please continue to pray for the believers in Madison, Wisconsin.
2018 BUDGET:
We continued the process of creating our budget for 2018 based on projected spending for the church. Together with staff and Jared Kidder, we set financial goals for this next year in a way that practices what we’ve been learning in our series “Thinking Clearly About Money.”
PRAYER REQUESTS:
Join us in asking the Lord for the right building opportunity, at the right time, for our church. We will faithfully seek His provision and wisdom through our building and campaign teams as we pray for a new church home.
Pray for wisdom as we hire staff in 2018.
Pray for the member’s meeting in January, that it will bring a fresh desire to commit to serving God through time, talents & treasures. Pray that the 10-year vision would help us grow in our faith, as we long to be and make quality disciples.
*This is an update for September-December 2017