Scott's Thoughts: Sun, May 1, 2022
Total Reading Time: Smidge more than 3 min. (So, maybe, realistically 3-and-a-half?!)
A Few Quick Friendly Reminders
Overdue for a Thank You – We are a church whose growth depends (way more heavily than most recognize) on the “everyday boring faithfulness” of so many FCCers who open doors with a smile, high five kiddos on their way into church, clean bathrooms, sweep floors, tow trailers, hand out literature, make coffee, prepare lessons, pray for their small group, stand ready to protect our children and doors, park away from the doors so guests have open spaces, etc., etc., etc. When I think of all the many ways our people faithfully embody humble service week after week, I often make the connection to passages like Ephesians 2:19-22; 4:1-16; Romans 12:3-8; or 1 Corinthians 12 that teaches, in verse 27, that each “individual member” of the body is “indispensable” (cf. v 22)! I am grateful to the Lord for the privilege of being part of a church that humbly serves with the gusto the cross deserves, no matter the role! Thank you for your everyday boring faithfulness. Be encouraged—for God is using it for our mission of Helping People Find and Follow Jesus!
Multisite Campaign Update (Somewhat of a Repeat. New Parts and Updates in Italics.) – I’ll continue to update numbers and tell more with time, but I wanna leave some of it this week as we live in a time when saying/publishing/posting 7 times in 7 different ways means only 50% notice it and this Multisite Campaign Info is of crucial importance for us.
We are a church that doesn’t like to make extended asks for money, but rather, we preach the habit of Pursue(ing) generosity. (H5) and we spend frugally so we are continually building up a surplus that enables us to finance our ministries, pay our 16 staff, have needed emergency funds, and launch a new campus when the time is right. (See this blog post re our “7 Factors in Launching Campuses”). But, (<-- You knew this was coming.) as the recent Elders Letter indicates, we are shooting for 125 committed to Worship & Serve at each of our 3 campuses as well as $100k to help replenish the estimated $300k we are spending to launch our new South Greene Campus. (FYI, as we mentioned at the Multisite Vision Night (MVN), as a result of the basic ‘financial vision’ mentioned above, we already have this $300k on-hand. But the $100k helps us launch strong and ensure our general fund and savings needn’t be used.) Btw, you can watch MVN on the app.
So… The Latest Info (through Apr 30):
Though we’ve obviously got a ways to go, this is a great start considering we formally and publicly launched our 3 Campus Campaign (<— Just shorthand. Not official FCC lingo.) just one month ago at MVN and I know many are still waiting to see how much we end up needing. (If you wanna give some now, before knowing our eventual need, and then some more later, after you know better our eventual need, that’s perfectly acceptable. Just saying.) ;o) Please be praying for us and asking the Lord to show you how to be involved!
Bigtime thank you to everyone who has already committed to Worship & Serve and/or to help us launch with financial strength that retains savings/reserves and helps set a course for future campus expansion. If you haven’t yet decided, please pick up a Multisite Response Card (or go to the "carousel" at the top of the Home page on the app) to begin thinking and praying about how God has called you to be involved. And don’t worry, we’ll tell you plenty soon about further needed details like outreach opportunities, timeline, and Launch Team Mtgs (which involves all 3 campuses) starting this Summer. We’ll letcha know here in ST, upcoming Elders Letters, and in Campus Pastor spiels at the end of every service. If you’ve got any questions, hunt down me, a Campus Pastor, an Elder, a Staff Member, or someone you know who is in the know.
A Few Quick Friendly Reminders
- Youngsters Serving Faithfully – If you didn’t see it, make sure to check out this post. So. Good. And if you haven’t been seeing such H7 stories, we have regular blurbs on “Latest News” (on the “Stay Informed” and “Pulse” pages on the app) that are quick 3-5 minutes stories of how God is using FCCers in cool ways.
- Multisite Response Cards/Form – If you haven’t yet decided, please pick up a Multisite Response Card (or go to fccgreene.org/mrf or to the “carousel” at the top of the Home page on the app) to begin thinking and praying about how God has called you to be involved. Instructions are on the card/form.
- Watermark Church Leaders Conference – A buncha Paid Staff, Residents, and a number of key volunteer leaders had a great time at the Watermark CLC (churchleadersconference.com) this past week being refreshed in God’s Word, learning best practices, and spending some bonding time together. I say all this again because it’s important to say thanks, to you, FCC, for helping us find the important task of creating leaders. This is so important for the long-term health of our community.
- Recent Elders Letter – Go to the app and look at the top of the “Home” page. (Also, you can always see all our Elders Letters on the “Pulse” page of the app or at fccgreene.org/eldersletters.)
Overdue for a Thank You – We are a church whose growth depends (way more heavily than most recognize) on the “everyday boring faithfulness” of so many FCCers who open doors with a smile, high five kiddos on their way into church, clean bathrooms, sweep floors, tow trailers, hand out literature, make coffee, prepare lessons, pray for their small group, stand ready to protect our children and doors, park away from the doors so guests have open spaces, etc., etc., etc. When I think of all the many ways our people faithfully embody humble service week after week, I often make the connection to passages like Ephesians 2:19-22; 4:1-16; Romans 12:3-8; or 1 Corinthians 12 that teaches, in verse 27, that each “individual member” of the body is “indispensable” (cf. v 22)! I am grateful to the Lord for the privilege of being part of a church that humbly serves with the gusto the cross deserves, no matter the role! Thank you for your everyday boring faithfulness. Be encouraged—for God is using it for our mission of Helping People Find and Follow Jesus!
Multisite Campaign Update (Somewhat of a Repeat. New Parts and Updates in Italics.) – I’ll continue to update numbers and tell more with time, but I wanna leave some of it this week as we live in a time when saying/publishing/posting 7 times in 7 different ways means only 50% notice it and this Multisite Campaign Info is of crucial importance for us.
We are a church that doesn’t like to make extended asks for money, but rather, we preach the habit of Pursue(ing) generosity. (H5) and we spend frugally so we are continually building up a surplus that enables us to finance our ministries, pay our 16 staff, have needed emergency funds, and launch a new campus when the time is right. (See this blog post re our “7 Factors in Launching Campuses”). But, (<-- You knew this was coming.) as the recent Elders Letter indicates, we are shooting for 125 committed to Worship & Serve at each of our 3 campuses as well as $100k to help replenish the estimated $300k we are spending to launch our new South Greene Campus. (FYI, as we mentioned at the Multisite Vision Night (MVN), as a result of the basic ‘financial vision’ mentioned above, we already have this $300k on-hand. But the $100k helps us launch strong and ensure our general fund and savings needn’t be used.) Btw, you can watch MVN on the app.
So… The Latest Info (through Apr 30):
- Worship & Serve Commitments (of 125 per campus)
- Afton: 59 (up from 52 one week ago, 31 two wks ago)
- Greeneville: 47 (up from 37 one week ago, 18 two wks ago)
- South Greene: 59 (same as one week ago, up from 47 two wks ago)
- Financial Commitments (of $100,000)
- Today: $29,500 given, $38,350 pledged
- A Week Ago: $25,500 given, $31,850 pledged
- (And yes, I’m rounding up/down just a smidge, to make it easier to quickly mentally track.)
Though we’ve obviously got a ways to go, this is a great start considering we formally and publicly launched our 3 Campus Campaign (<— Just shorthand. Not official FCC lingo.) just one month ago at MVN and I know many are still waiting to see how much we end up needing. (If you wanna give some now, before knowing our eventual need, and then some more later, after you know better our eventual need, that’s perfectly acceptable. Just saying.) ;o) Please be praying for us and asking the Lord to show you how to be involved!
Bigtime thank you to everyone who has already committed to Worship & Serve and/or to help us launch with financial strength that retains savings/reserves and helps set a course for future campus expansion. If you haven’t yet decided, please pick up a Multisite Response Card (or go to the "carousel" at the top of the Home page on the app) to begin thinking and praying about how God has called you to be involved. And don’t worry, we’ll tell you plenty soon about further needed details like outreach opportunities, timeline, and Launch Team Mtgs (which involves all 3 campuses) starting this Summer. We’ll letcha know here in ST, upcoming Elders Letters, and in Campus Pastor spiels at the end of every service. If you’ve got any questions, hunt down me, a Campus Pastor, an Elder, a Staff Member, or someone you know who is in the know.
Posted in Scotts Thoughts