Scott's Thoughts: Sun, Jun 13, 2021

Team Bash – If you are one of the last 25, then “Yes! You can still sign-up for this evening’s Team Bash!” The Staff and Elders, who sponsor and help run the evening, are excited to say, “We love you, FCC, and are grateful that you faithfully serve on the team!” While we’ve never had more folks register, we’ve still got a few spots left! Friendly Reminder, Team Bash is for anyone who has served, in any capacity, with any frequency, ever, and it’s for anyone who has never served or who might be brand-new to FCC or who may simply like Bluegrass and BBQ and want to check us out! For more information (like make sure to bring a chair), and to sign-up, go to fccgreene.org/tbinfo.

Sandy Nienaber Resigns as Catalyst Coffee Company Gen’l Mgr, FCC Officially “Takes Over” with Nathan Dickerson as At-Least-Interim GM, and Other Accompanying Staff Changes (Wes Ford, Samuel Schubert) – Oy. So much to say, so little space/time. So here’s the best way I can communicate what has been a complex year long process of discussion… About summer 2021, during the pandemic, (right after we ran a small church campaign to raise $40,000 to renovate, which was frustrating), it became clear to the Catalyst Board, (which has always been entirely separate from FCC though it was comprised of FCC members), that we needed to consider some serious strategy changes in order to survive. Covid came close to killing us, as it did for many such small businesses, but thanks to Sandy’s leadership, that aforementioned survival became possibility-to-thrive-and-carry-forward-our-mission, but with some remaining strategy changes. So, as the Catalyst Board had already been considering for some time, it has formally dissolved and turned over operations to First Christian Church. In the process, Sandy decided it was best, after 8 years of doing a great job giving us a rock-solid foundation, to let someone else take the helm. So, Nathan Dickerson, who was employed at Catalyst for 2 years, is becoming the GM, (for at least the interim. He may be our permanent GM. He may not be. We’re monitoring as we go.) That means we are adjusting/gerrymandering FCC Staff to accommodate: Wes Ford is picking up some of Nathan’s Communications responsibilities and we’ve brought Samuel Schubert on part-time to take on some of Wes’s Tech responsibilities. We are so thankful for Sandy’s faithful leadership and will miss her in this important role. She has put Catalyst on a proper footing that we can build on and integrate with our #ForGreene vision of Helping people find and follow Jesus! She ends June 30 and Nathan officially begins July 1. As I’m sure some of you may have other questions, (as do I still!), lemme preemptively answer a few:

1. Yes, we are having Nathan transition by training with Sandy, starting last week! Sandy’s truly done a fantastic job putting together all needed info and it looks like it’s gonna to be a really smooth transition.
2. Yes, technically, all Catalyst employees are going to be “under” FCC, but all the bookkeeping will be kept separate, using the same wonderful bookkeeping service Catalyst/Sandy has been using all these years. Our working policy for now is that the GM must be an FCC Member and treated as full-time staff, coming to Staff Mtgs, receiving regular one-on-one personal and ministry mentoring, directly reporting to us, etc.
3. With regard to the rest of the employees other than Nathan, while we don’t have all the details figured out, we’d like to at least look into some sort of similar regular one-on-one personal/ministry mentoring meeting with all the employees, perhaps pairing up FCC staff or members with Catalyst employees to do biweekly 15-min sitdowns to chat through: (A) What’s working well and what kind of “wins” have you been seeing? (B) Where are you stuck? (C) How can we help? (<-- These questions are part of our regular FCC internal reporting structure from staff/ministries to Elders.) Something like this would go a long way, over time, to help ensure Catalyst employees are doing great work that fits well with our mission to use the coffee shop to create community gathering space and make money to give away money.
4. Friendly Reminder: We started Catalyst to achieve those two goals just mentioned, creating community gathering space and making money to give away 100% of profits to already-existing nonprofits and ministries in our community. Sandy’s done that and we simply want to ensure that we build on that for the future. Those goals remain firm.
5. As far as the customer’s viewpoint, it will likely change very little in terms of seeing and experiencing the same Catalyst they’ve experienced. Employees are currently turning over (a LOT, esp since it’s the summer), so there will be almost entirely new faces leading Catalyst, but we aren’t changing the name, calling it “First Christian Coffee” or "Jesus Java", or making noticeable changes.

If you’ve got questions, track me down. I’ll be at both campuses both hours this Sun and the next. Btw, we will definitely soon be needing at least 4-5 new volunteers to learn how to roast coffee ASAP and put in an hour or two a week helping us roast our awesome beans. Please see me or talk to Nathan, nathan@fccgreeneville.org. Also, please join us in thanking God for Sandy, praying for her future, (esp as a grandmother!), and for Nathan, Catalyst, (and my sanity.)

Ben Weaver Resigns as Student Ministry Director – As Ben said in his email to parents this past Wednesday, “it has been a long and complex conversation”, but our friends Ben and Anna Weaver have decided it is best for him to step down as Student Ministry Director. They plan to keep serving as volunteers in a church closer in the Tri-Cities area, which is closer to family. We are sad to lose Ben as he has quickly become an important part of our ministry and was so well liked by our students. His joyful heart for sharing life and truth with them came through often. Please pray with us as we search for how to best proceed and for the Weavers as they continue to search out God’s plans, that He will continue to care for them through a local body of believers that will love on them and help them grow. We will miss you, Ben. His last day will be Fri, Jun 25.

Couple Thoughts re Bob Radank as Next Steps/Missions – The Radanks have already jumped whole hog into FCC life, hanging out with staff, soaking up our culture, learning how things work, and even coming to Life Group week one! Though Bob’s got lots of FCC culture and systems to imbibe, and I don’t wanna overwhelm him, (“Too late!”), if you’ve got questions about membership, baptism, connecting to the 7 Habits, please do not hesitate to indicate so on the Connect Card, talk to someone with a lanyard on Sun morning, or track down a Staffer or Bob personally, if you can. The more we inundate Bob with a sense of the need to connect people, the more he will learn about how best to proceed. So yeah, “Inundate Bob!” is the basic message here! :o) Also, if you see Bob & Kelly in the next couple/few weeks, please don’t hesitate to introduce yourself. (See last week’s ST for a few biographical details.)

Update re 3rd Campus Launch, South Greene High School, (My Personal Sanity?) – Sheesh. As if the above things aren’t enough wholesale organizational change (to force us/me to pray more!), we have had great meetings with Greene County Schools leaders and administrators who are excited about the prospect of launching at SGHS this Fall/Winter! The past 2+ years of investment by our Campus Pastors Tommy and Tyson, who have laid an awesome foundation of trust in our multisite outreach strategy, means that we are well positioned to move forward in faith! Please pray for us as we meet this week with the same Portable Church Industries consultant to walk around SGHS and engineer actual plans for doing portable “setup-cleanup.” Also pray for SGHS faculty and staff, our ministry to them, the potential for open-handedly loving on their students and the surrounding community, and that God would use this vision to reach lost souls for the Kingdom. (And pray that we FCCers and staffers continue to respond with boldness to this crazy vision we have of becoming a “campus launching strategy” (see ST from Jun 6, May 30, and May 9) and that I don’t start looking for jobs in ice cream.)) There’s much more to say about emerging 3rd campus issues, but I’ll just keep peppering them in each week, as we go.

Update re College/Young Adults/20something “Vision and Preview Night” – This past Tue evening, we had a good 2 dozen or so interested young adults (and not-so-young FCC adults/leaders) at the Student Center on our Greeneville campus to get a sneak peek at some of what we’ve got planned, at least in terms of the weekly offering of a service with worship, study, and (some version of) age-based Life Groups. David Bowlin did a great job of planning, communicating with CYA20s, and running the night. (FYI, David, if we continue to have such good snacks, that’s gonna be problematic for me. How ‘bout just kale chips and water next time?) Make sure your CYA20s kids and friends know. See fccgreene.org/cya20s for more info.