A Vision Forward
A Vision Forward
We honor God by helping people find and follow Jesus Christ.
Authentic Worship: Trusting God for 800 people gathered
weekly in worship here and in other church plants.
Life Changing Evangelistic Small Groups: Trusting God for
80% church participation; impacting neighborhoods and
communities for Christ.
Aggressive Mission Outreach: Trusting God for 50% of the
church involved in community and cross cultural missions
yearly. Also, committing 20% of our annual budget to foreign
and local missions.
Children and Youth Development: Trusting God for 400
children and youth gathered weekly in activities that reveal
Christ’s love and encourages them to grow in their relationship
with Him.
Vision Update: December 19, 2011
Dear Church Family,
As we enter into this Christmas Season, may I first wish you and your family a joyous and peaceful Christmas through Jesus Christ. I encourage you to take time this coming week to find an hour or two alone, to rest from all the activity and to focus upon God’s grace gift of His Son Jesus Christ and to thank Him.
As we reflect upon 2011, we must respond with gratitude at what God continues to do through us at Swan Lake. We have seen people come to Christ and we have seen families restored. Many have taken bold steps of spiritual significance. At a time when many ministries are struggling, the Lord has allowed us to grow. We have been able to offer additional support to our missionaries twice in the past year, above and beyond their monthly support because of your continued generosity. While many ministries have had to lay off staff, we have been able to bring Mike and Joy on to expand our ministry to youth. Even as the Lord has led some dear friends away, He has continued to bring more and more new faces before us each week.
Our continued growth has brought about some significant challenges through the past year, the least of which is simply space. How do we continue to grow given the limited capacity of our current facility? While we continue to be creative and flexible during the week, Sunday morning is proving more difficult. It is not just a question of comfort, preferences or space….the real question is: How are we going to open up room for the people God continues to bring? How are we going to accommodate more people that need to hear the saving message of Christ and to grow in Him?
This past Fall, we launch a Saturday evening service which we had hoped would prove unique enough to reach some new people but also take some of the seating pressure off Sunday morning. The service has developed and is meeting the need of some but not to the degree that we had hoped or currently need. At the same time, our Sunday morning attendance continues to grow. Bottomline there simply is not room for new people on our heavier Sunday mornings.
With this in mind, we plan to discontinue the Saturday evening service and move toward two Sunday morning services beginning February 5th. Our first service will meet from 9:00 to 10:15 am, a thirty minute fellowship and transition period and then a 10:45 to 12:00 service.
The ability to fully utilize our current sanctuary is the most cost effective and least disruptive answer to our growth. Our long range goal is not to become a really large church, but rather to be a healthy growing church that can continue to plant new churches in the area. As we have seen in our study of Acts the church is designed, gifted and commissioned to be healthy, alive and growing in Christ.
I have heard several people say: “ we are our happiest when we are all together and it is just easier with one service ”, I would agree, however current circumstances simply do not offer us that luxury. If we are serious about helping people find and follow Jesus Christ we must be willing to try new endeavors, to be flexible and to be willing to sacrifice some of our own preferences.
Please consider these thoughts and let us know if you have any additional insights. We are truly seeking the best solution to a very practical and actually wonderful problem. In closing, a special word of thanks to the many of you who have been so flexible through these transitions. A special word of appreciation is due the praise team members, children workers, sound, projection and others, thank you for your service to our Lord and your willingness to work with us.
In His Name,
Pastor Ray & The Elders of Swan Lake
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
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