The District Transformation Project is moving full steam ahead. Morley voted to accept their DTP prescription 37 to 4. CrossPointe (formerly Catskill) completed their DTP consultation this past weekend and you will find the report, including the prescriptions, below. And, next weekend, the team is headed for Heuvelton, NY to the Cornerstone Wesleyan Church. Your continued prayers for the process would be much appreciated.
CROSSPOINTE WESLEYAN CHURCH CONSULTATION
APRIL
27 –
29, 2012
Strengths
1. This congregation has a long term
dedicated pastor and family who are deeply loved and appreciated. Everyone with whom we spoke mentioned the
awesome pulpit ministry of their man of God.
Truly Pastor Keith and Lisa are a blessing to the CrossPointe Wesleyan
Church and the larger Catskill community!
2. The recent building and grounds
upgrade have been done with excellence.
Over the past two years the pastor has led the church in a beautiful
remodeling of the worship center and adjoining office areas, as well as the
newly paved parking lot. When one enters this space a quiet worshipful
atmosphere makes one feel that he/she is standing on holy ground.
3. There is adequate space for
expansion. While not yet completed the
basement area has more than enough square footage for growth. The possibilities for ministries in this
space are mind boggling.
4. The weekly worship experience brings
the body of believers into the presence of God.
Continual expansion in this area will bring joy to the congregants and a
smile to God.
5. The yearly Halloween event has brought
high visibility to the church. The whole
community recognizes the church for this event as well as for the baccalaureate
service hosted yearly.
Concerns
1. An
unclear vision and mission: Lack of
clarity in the vital areas of vision and mission has led to uncertain
communication and failure to mobilize the entire body to assault the gates of
hell and depopulate the zip code of Satan.
2. Lack
of emphasis on the three growth engines:
Worship Ministry, Children's Ministry and Assimilation are the three
driving forces in bringing a church this size to health. Two of these three
need immediate and extensive attention.
3. Leadership:
Inadequate leadership development and personal empowerment has led to a
congregation of spectators rather than players.
Often the church is described as a "one man show".
4. The
basement area needs additional work to make it usable for the expected growth
in children's and youth ministries.
5. Big
events, while attracting large crowds, are not translating into a stream of
guests and new believers.
Prescriptions
1. Unclear vision and mission. The mission of the CrossPointe Wesleyan
Church is to make disciples. This mission
statement in some form will be adopted by July 1, 2012. All measures of effectiveness will be run
through the grid of; are we making disciples?
The pastor will lead the congregation in identifying the target area for
the church and the number of souls residing therein. He will lead in setting a numerical goal of
salvations for the next five years. In
addition, a goal will be set for the number of individuals to be touched by the
church through acts of kindness over the next five years. These numbers will be in place by September
1, 2012.
2. Three growth engines. The children's ministry will receive an
unusual amount of attention and resources.
First, the large central room in the basement will be upgraded to house
the children's church and the children's midweek program. This means that
paint, murals, worship area, learning centers and a large screen TV are a
must. The day that this area is
completed the district will deliver a big screen TV to be mounted for the
children's enjoyment. A part time children's
director will be employed as soon as possible to lead the charge in this vital
area. A stipend of $100.00 per month
will be a start in staffing this crucial area.
The nursery areas will be staffed by regular workers and administered by
a nursery director so that children will become used to the same faces each
week. It is expected that by Easter 2013
twenty five children (birth through sixth grade) will be the norm.
Assimilation will also become a priority. At least fifteen individuals from CPWC will
attend the training day provided by the district this summer (Unleash 2012 will
be held on June 16th at Hadley Luzerne WC).
After this training day, a director of assimilation will be
recruited. Expectations will be clearly
articulated and evaluations will take
place every 30 days. The end goal is to
take first time guests and turn them into regular attenders of CPWC. This person will be in place by Sept. 1,
2012. A monthly stipend of $100.00 per
month will accentuate the importance of this role on the team.
The
pastor will end his involvement in the weekly Monday night Bible study. He will institute a weekly practice session
for the worship team. Not only will the
team focus on the next Sunday, they will also plan several weeks ahead. Recruiting additional voices and instruments
to add variety in the worship plans should open ministry opportunities for
others to serve. These practices will begin by July 10, 2012. Failure to make the worship team practice means one has forfeited the right to
participate on Sunday.
3. Leadership development and personal
empowerment. Understanding that the
changes necessary to become a church of 150-200 will begin with the pastor
training, delegating and empowering others.
The following changes need to happen for such to occur. The pastor will be seen as the leader of the
congregation. His job description will
include spiritual leader (preaching and teaching the word of God), the caster
of the vision, the leader of the LBA and Ministry Team, the recruiter and
trainer of leaders and the church's representative in the community. The church office will be staffed with part
time volunteers at least five hours a day.
Attention will be given to keeping the pastor from interruptions so that
he can concentrate on prayer, sermons, planning and training. The congregation will understand that in most
cases an appointment will be necessary to see the pastor. He is a professional! You don't just wander
in to see your doctor or banker without an appointment. The phones will be
answered by the volunteers and weekly clerical duties will be defined and
delegated to the volunteers as well.
Three volunteers will be trained and deployed by August 1.
The
church will operate with a ministry team that meets twice a month for training,
planning and accountability. It will be
comprised of ministry leaders such as children, assimilation, worship, nursery,
youth, young adult, pastoral care, etc.
Those placed in these positions must understand the commitment necessary
to build an effective disciple-making organization. Responsibilities and authority will be given
to these team members and accountability will be demanded. This team will begin
meeting in July and must continue uninterrupted from now on! It is expected that the current assistant
pastor will continue to grow in his role as congregational care director. Also his split schedule will make it possible
for him to participate as one of the office volunteers.
Instead
of spending his time as the church contractor the pastor will serve as chief
recruiter, trainer, motivator and planner.
He will spend at least thirty per cent of his time in the community,
meeting and rubbing shoulders with community leaders. (breakfast and lunches
with those in schools, medicine, government and civic organizations) This renewed thrust into the community is
symbolic of the fresh commitment to focus efforts on those outside the walls of
the church. It is not about us! Whenever conflict arises regarding taking
care of those already in the church or those who are outside the church, those
who are still not believers will get the energy and attention. The church will
provide a fund so that the pastor can pick up the check at the lunches. A list
of leaders to engage and the necessary entertainment fund will be in place by
October 15.
Potential
ministry leaders will be targeted. Twice
a month this band of warriors will meet for leadership training. Everything does rise and fall on leadership. Therefore, more and better leaders is a
must. This group of at least eight
individuals will be identified by Aug. 30 and training will begin by October
1. Commitment is the key!!!
In
order to help the pastor to adapt to this new lifestyle, Dean Brown will be
employed as a time management/lifestyle coach for one hundred days beginning
with the day that this report is adopted.
In addition a year long coach from a larger church outside our circles
will be employed for one year.
The
pastor will lead the LBA and finance committee to a financial plan that will fund
the measures called for in this prescription.
It is expected that each church family will prayerfully consider
stepping up their weekly giving to help build this "disciple-making"
team.
4. Basement
usage and other miscellaneous building/land issues. The old sign out front must be renovated or
destroyed by Aug. 30. The children's
church area will be completed by the time school starts. Attention will be given to providing the same
quality and warmth that is evident in the worship center to the basement area. We must see this area through the eyes of new
mothers.
The
pastor must not do the work on the remaining renovations. He must be about the other ministries given
him in this document. The attenders of
the church must step forward contributing time, talent and money. An additional $10,000.00 will be raised to
pay for materials and contractors! This
must not be a one man show. Every one
must sacrifice to see the dream come to fruition. Moving forward, all must realize that our
pastor/shepherd must become our pastor/rancher.
He must oversee the many shepherds (leaders) as they minister to the
flocks (small groups) in the body!
5. Big
events/guest flow. During the next
twelve months the pastor shall lead the church in at least five bridge events
designed to reach into the community and bring guests into the church. Vacation Bible School (with a goal of 50 kids
registered), Halloween (with the goal of getting 20 families to visit the
church in the days after the huge event), a children's Christmas program which
should be one of the largest days of the year and a large community focused
Easter Egg Hunt (designed to get 20 families to return for services on Easter)
will account for four of these bridge events.
"Next date events" will be in place to follow up on these
outreach endeavors. Fifty signs for advertising throughout the community will
be purchased by the district to aid in advertising. Attention to planning these events must begin
immediately. Preparation for a steady
flow of guests must also begin as soon as this report is adopted. Getting ready for company is the rallying
cry! September 9th will be a kick off
Sunday for living out the new vision.
This day will be one of prayer for God’s blessing and for God’s people
to seek his face in reaching many lost people for Jesus. After the service, people will be encouraged
to take prayer walks and drives through out the community.
THE CONGREGATION
(INCLUDING THOSE WHO ATTEND CPWC REGULARLY BUT MAY NOT YET BE MEMBERS) WILL
VOTE ON THIS REPORT SUNDAY MAY 20TH, 2012.
IF ACCEPTED THE DISTRICT WILL DO ALL WITHIN ITS POWER TO PROVIDE HELP
AND RESOURCES TO IMPLEMENT THE REPORT.
IF THE REPORT IS REJECTED THEN THE DTP PROCESS IS OVER AND THE DISTRICT
WILL NOT ATTEMPT TO ENCOURAGE THE CHANGES SINCE THE CONGREGATION HAS SPOKEN.
Respectfully
submitted,
Dr. Paul D.
Borden
Rev. W. Paul
James
Rev. Dean Brown
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