Letter to MFC - November 2010

Letter to the Members of

MISSION FOURSQUARE CHURCH 

November 1, 2010

Dear Church Family,

Exactly one year ago I was installed as the Pastor of our Church family.  I was humbled and excited and I find that I am even more so one year later.  I have to admit that I was very nervous at the thought of leading our Church family.  However, my nerves were quickly consumed by God’s goodness and power.  His presence gave me hope, courage, and direction.  In addition to God’s faithfulness, I was overwhelmed by the way in which you extended (and continue to extend) patience and humility towards me.

Thank you for letting me follow Jesus in the leading of His Church.  We have had an incredible year filled with growth, miracles, provision, and hope…

• Highlights from the last twelve months… fundraised for kid’s and youth camp; sent Francesca T. on a missions trip to Turkey; started a continental breakfast program; began pre-service prayer; integrated some personal testimonies into services; said “see you soon” to Big Bee, Gracie, and Kaethe Toews; fundraised for Haiti; taught on prayer; challenged us to grow-up; organized a sock hop; hosted CMA’s conference; had a family hockey night; participated in a work bee; had a Spring bazaar; competed in a road rally; walked through Ephesians; planted some apple trees; started a weekly “to do” list; had some fun summer Sundays like a chili cook-off, water fight, and talent show; raised money for a local missionary (Calvin Williams); sent Nicole Raible to Thailand; dedicated three babies ; sent some youth and young adults to Skatin reserve; sent Isaac to Mexico; prayed for Bernie & Lynda in Mexico; replaced our roof; experienced a gross sewage back-up; baptized 10 youth; launched five more small groups; and a whole lot more that I forgot to mention… can I hear a, “praise the Lord!”?

• Family building… the events listed above served as great environments for our Church family to grow closer to one another and allow others to see the goodness of God!  My observation is that we have become more like a family and less like a religious organization.

• The next twelve months… I’m already excited for what’s in store for our Church family.  You’ll hear more on January 9th at our Vision Sunday, but know that we will continue to follow Jesus as the unique body He has called together here at MFC.

• Increasing our hospitality…  over the next couple months our Church will be making plans to increase our hospitality from an organizational and relational level.  We want to people to be drawn to the grace and generosity of our God through the way in which we welcome them.

• Church finances… while we aren’t the place where I hoped we’d be twelve months in, we are headed in the right direction.  Council was able to trim our expenses so that we look to break even this year and then work towards getting ahead in the year to come.  An extra bit of good news is that in addition to breaking even we were able to replace our roof ($36,000 expense).

• Working in the background… on weeks that I’m not scheduled to preach, I am able to work on other needed projects.  I’ve been working on a facility maintenance program (so that we can avoid things like a sewage back-up), facility rental system, ministry planning and scheduling, discipleship/leadership program, personnel program, outreach planning, and a few other fun things.

• Church flooring… our carpet in the foyer, offices, and auditorium is need of replacing.  The good news is the expensive part (about $20,000 worth of carpet) has been donated to us.  However, to dispose of the old carpet and install the new stuff will cost about $3,000.  Council has also decided that replacing the foyer carpet with new carpet would not be very functional.  Instead Council would like to install vinyl flooring (looks like hardwood) as it is more practical.  This foyer flooring will cost $3,000 to purchase.  This means that we’ll need an extra $6,000 to replace the auditorium, office, and foyer flooring.  Council will only move forward on this flooring plan if we finish the 2010 year at least $6,000 over our expenses.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.  I hope you will take all of this to heart by thanking God for His goodness and then asking Him how you can be a part of extending His love and life through our church family!

“For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”  Eph. 1:15-19a NIV.

Love,

Clint.