Family Night Highlights

February 23, 2015 By revheff in Body Life Tags: annual meeting, body life, church membership, fellowship Leave a comment

If you couldn’t make it last night, here’s what you missed!

“Operation Beautification” Property Work Day and Pancake Breakfast – set for 8 AM, Saturday, March 21. Subdue the south wilderness beyond the playground and exercise dominion!

Financial Snapshot of 2014 – total income up 10% and $44,601 extra applied to mortgage debt. Praise God for His faithful provision for another year!

Capital Campaign Debt Snowball Plan – $500 per household per year given toward mortgage will turn, Lord willing, twenty years of debt into only thirteen and save a whopping $700,000 in interest!

Body Life – babies being saved at AWHC through compassionate signs, TLC Walk for Life set for 3/28, member’s sharing their faith and getting involved in ministries like Anchored Youth!

Submitting to One Another in the Church of Jesus Christ – devotional by elder Will Powell from the book of Ephesians finishing with this convicting notion from Church Membership:

Truth be told, people are not afraid to submit. They just want to submit to beauty, like the valiant hero who submits himself to rescuing the damsel in distress. What’s unexpected about Christianity is that its hero doesn’t risk all for a damsel but for what the Bible likens to a harlot. Then he calls everyone that he saves to submit themselves to this same harlot—the bride still being made ready, the church. Now, submitting to ugliness does scare people. And that’s what submitting to the local church can be. Churches are filled with other sinners whose visions of glory contradict our own. But this is how Christ loves us: ‘Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another’ (John 13:34). Christ’s love wonderfully transforms the ugly into the beautiful (see Ephesians 5:22-31). Our love for one another should do the same thing—help the ugly become beautiful. Who can love in this way? Only the ones whose eyes have been opened and whose hearts have been freed from the slavery of loving this world: ‘So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed’ (John 8:36).

Chili Cook-Off Champs – Chef Bob Travelstead (3rd place); Chef James Harvey (2nd place); and the Grand Prize Winner – Chef Mallory Gabriel (pictured right receiving his reward). Gentlemen, your recipes please!

Future Family Night Plans – aiming for once per quarter with additional ways to enhance our care for one another!

Thanks to everyone who worked so hard putting this together and pulling it off!

Family Meeting Summary

July 1, 2013 By revheff in Body Life Tags: budget, capital campaign, debt, finances, giving, staff transitions, worship music Leave a comment

I meant to do this post last week as a follow up to our our congregational meeting of 6/23/13. Best laid plans. Better late than never.

If you missed the meeting for whatever reason, here is a summary of what we covered:

Budget Update

Presently we are are roughly $35,000 down relative to what we had budgeted and forecasted for giving for the year-to-date. The good news is that we are mindful of these things and in terms of what we have spent year-to- date we are only $4,000 behind giving. That said, it is never our desire to be behind in giving relative to the budget and certainly not our desire to be behind relative to our actual expenses. Please remember our church in all your giving and be mindful of us during all your summer travel plans. I am pleased to report that yesterday’s giving met our weekly budget requirements, even with a special love offering for Greg and Christina. Thanks be to God. Still, we will continue to watch carefully the numbers . If necessary, we will take a hard look at where we can cut the budget. We will keep you posted.

Capital Campaign Update

Our three-year capital campaign, which came to an end in May, was a huge success! 94% of what was pledged was received ($224k received of $239k pledged). In addition, the efforts to receive outside funds and non-pledged monies was also fruitful, yielding $117k in additional monies to retire our debt. 63% of all pledged givers gave at least 75% of what they pledged and many gave 100% or more of their pledged gift. A huge thank you to all the people that gave sacrificially above and beyond their tithe to help in this fashion. Leadership plans to bring a proposal to us in the future for debt retirement, but we are waiting a bit on that so as not to be a church always in capital campaign mode that wears people out.

Worship Music Transition Update

As the elders faced the prospect of losing Greg from the mix, several considerations came into play. Given a variety of factors affecting the possible folks within the body who might have assumed responsibility for this important ministry and the budget constraints, it became clear to us that Susan Woods was God’s provision for the role. For this we remain very grateful. That being said, we recognize that change brings challenges. We ask that we all be patient with the process. Also, we have built into the transition feedback loops so as to ensure regular evaluation about how things are going. Part of that includes an option for Susan to withdrawal at the three-month mark, if the fit proves unacceptable for her and her family. Furthermore we recognize that we have a need for more musicians to join the mix, particularly at guitar and in leading. We are working on trying to pull others into the team. Finally, we exhort all of us to embrace the opportunity for maintaining a peacemaking ethic in the way we navigate dealing with what arguably can prove pretty tricky for churches. Music preferences often vary greatly in any congregation. We have an opportunity to defer to one another. Let us speak the truth in love as we engage one another in conversation about things. Please refrain from jumping to conclusions about any matters pertaining to the transition. If you have a comment or question, please address them to your elder. We will be glad to help in any way we can. A meeting of the worship team itself has been called for July 13 where I and another elder will meet with the members to discuss the process and pray together for God’s favor. I made this statement in that meeting and I want to repeat it here. I am almost as interested in the success of this transition as I am in what will be revealed in our hearts by the way we deal with it. I constantly battle making my ministry an idol. I want things to go well. When we hit turbulence, my reactions sometimes reveal my demanding, sinful heart. I/we need to be vigilant over our hearts as we seek to come together as a church to see what God has in mind for our worship and music ministry in the days ahead.

So on all three counts – the operational budget, debt retirement, and our music transition, please join me in praying for God’s favor, wisdom, and direction. Many thanks.

Update on Our Brother Rick

February 19, 2012 By revheff in Body Life Tags: body life, cancer, death, life, Rick, update 1 Comment

After service today I traveled to Winter Park hospital to visit with Rick and Barb in ICU. Our brother remains on the respirator with his bride at his side.

The doctors have assured her that given his condition, they expect him to pass quite soon. Short of a miracle they see no hope of recovery. Certain complications have developed that make that prospect medically impossible in their opinion.

Barb remains firm in her trust on the solid rock, Jesus. Abby, Lord willing, will arrive from Singapore at 5 PM EST tomorrow night.

We spoke of things related to memorial services and the like. I assured her that OGC would supply everything she needs in the way of assistance as she walks with Rick through the valley of the shadow.

I suspect this week to make other updates as necessary from the office through email with Teddie’s help, but wanted to provide some outlet of information knowing that many have been praying. This seemed to be the most efficient way on a Sunday.

Please continue to pray for God’s grace to abound in every way in this hard providence in the lives of one of our covenant families.

Many thanks.