I hope you are enjoying your journey into this New Year. As a church, we will be looking into four keys to the meaningful life based on Psalm 90 for the first quarter of the year. This month we are looking at how “service” helps us to experience purpose in our lives as believers. We will also look at how love, joy, and compassion contribute to adding meaning to our journeys on earth.
Since I missed the Wiki Wiki last week, there are a lot of updates to pass on to you....
Middle School Parent Meeting:
This Sunday, our staff will be meeting with Middle School parents in order to hear from you what are your dreams and desires for how we can provide ministries that can help your children grow in their relationships with God. The meeting will be held at 11:45 downstairs in the 456 classroom. Lunch will be provided so please RSVP with Dalyce Young, my executive assistant dyoung@coloradocommunity.org.
Families Seeking Other Churches:
Three families have contacted me informing me that they are leaving CCC-Englewood and will be seeking another church. I want you to know how much I appreciated their honesty and courtesy in informing me about their decision. Though I am sad to see them go, I want you to know that I am very supportive of them and want to send them off with my prayers, love and appreciation for all their years of service at our campus.
If you are at a place that you feel within yourselves that this is a decision that you are struggling with, please let me know how I can be of assistance to you and your family. I firmly believe that what is important is to seek the confirmation of the Lord in key decisions like this. Furthermore, I believe as your pastor that it is crucial to welcome the new people God is bringing into our church with open arms as well as saying goodbyes to those who are leaving with love and blessing. There are seasons in our lives where God moves us to other local churches so that His work can continue in our lives. I also believe that at times, even when we have good reasons to leave a congregation, God has deeper reasons – that though unseen – leads us to remain. May God lead us all to the churches He has called us to call our faith communities.
Staffing Update:
Dr. Isidro Aybar is our new Worship Arts Coordinator. This is a part time – 12-hour position that includes mostly the preparation and conducting of our Worship Services on Sundays. As the Lord blesses, we will add more to Isidro’s job description in order to have a well-rounded Worship Arts Department at our Campus. If you are interested in volunteering for the Worship Arts Department, feel free to contact Isidro or you can also notify me. In addition, we will have Julie McClusky serving as our vocal coordinator.
Facilities:
Our staff and Board of Directors are continuously working on options to deal with the issue of our facilities. The main reason for exploring sale options or leasing options is to deal with the sad reality that for the past couple of years we have been unable as a congregation to afford the mortgage and operating costs of the building on our own. Thus, we need to prayerfully look into the best options that will allow us to eliminate our debt and give us something that is affordable. It is my intention in conjunction with our Executive Pastor, Doug Carlsen, to have a town hall meeting within the next six weeks or so in order to give you specific updates and give you an opportunity to dialogue with us around this matter. So far, we have not had any formal offers to purchase the property, but there are a couple of interested prospects for both leasing and purchasing. I will keep you posted.
Structure:
I have had a couple of meetings with a few of our members who remain concerned about the governing structure of CCC. I have also received emails from some of you expressing your concerns about this issue to me. I have passed on your concerns to the Board, our Excecutive Pastor and our Mission Leadership Team. I have been prayerfully seeking the Lord on this issue since I still have many questions myself that I need to understand regarding the issue. I will let you know when I will give my pastoral and theological position on the matter when the time is appropriate and when I get my own questions answered. But I want to assure you that this matter is on my mind and will be addressed by Easter. I like taking the time to process and think through issues before I give a response.
Connect Wednesdays:
I want to encourage you to be a part of our Connect Wednesdays. There is a great all-you-can-eat dinner starting at 5:00pm. Breaking bread together is a wonderful way to get to know other members of the church. At 6:30pm we have AWANA and Youth Ministry programs for kids, and Adult Bible study. Pastor Gary Brown is leading a study of the book of James. In addition, I am going to be hosting small group discussions, 2x a month starting January 27, to hear your thoughts, ideas, hopes, and aspirations for the ministry here at Englewood. Please contact Dalyce Young (dyoung@coloradocommunity.org
Service Station:
Carol Cole, one of our deacons, is heading up a pilot program called “The Service Station” to connect people who want to serve with areas of need in ministries within our church and around the city. Stay tuned for more info.
Haiti & Costa Rica:
Please be in prayer for the people in Haiti who were affected by the earthquake. Specifically, I ask for your prayers on behalf of Joaquin Vargas, one of our 5+5 missionaries, and his ministry partners there. Joaquin will be making his way to Haiti today to check in on the pastors and churches there. On Sunday we will have a second offering taken to help in the relief efforts in Haiti that will be managed by our own missionary.
This news reminds me of the disaster that happened in the Costa Rican village of Yorkin after a great flood in November of 2008. The people of CCC responded in a great way and have played a huge role in re-building that community. In the coming weeks I will be making a trip to Costa Rica to meet with the leaders of the village and to discuss how to continue to serve them and help meet their needs.
Finances:
We want you to know that though we are still behind on our budget, we have made significant reductions and with generous gifts during the moth of December we were able to come within $85,000 of our original budget. Though we are still not out of the woods, I want to thank you for the progress we have made lately. Please see the bulletin update for the exact numbers on our budget.
My First Deacons Meeting:
I had a wonderful meeting with our Englewood Deacons last night (Wed. Jan. 13th ). Though they expressed continuous frustration over issues of communication, trust and structure, they were very energized about beginning the process of trying to identify the ministries that God will want Englewood to champion for Him.
We have a Dream Discernment meeting scheduled for Wed. Feb. 17th from 6:30pm to 8:00pm. At this meeting, each Deacon will be bringing a list of ministry dreams that they discern is what God could be placing on our hearts as part of our campus DNA. We will then pray through the suggestions to try to discern what God wants for us to become and do as a congregation. The key issue of prayer is for God’s will to be revealed to the whole congregation so there is ownership. If you as a congregational member, have ideas on what you feel God my want to do at our campus, please sign up to attend one our connect diners with me so you can personally share what is on your heart for this congregation. The information on how to sign up is in the bulletin.
Thank you for your continued prayers for and support of this mission, and especially the ministry here at Englewood. I look forward to seeing you on Sunday!
Pastor Hugo
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