Tag Archives: leadership

Reasons to Attend Our Annual Meeting

March 7, 2013 By in Events Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Gotta love church marquees (and yes, I spelled it wrong in the e-news today!)  Truth be told, attending a church business meeting might seem to many an unpleasant duty at best, a beastly punishment at worst.

May I suggest some things to give you hope that such won’t be the case this Sunday evening at 6 PM when we have our annual congregational meeting?  Let’s begin by dropping the word “business.” I prefer the word “member.” Romans 12:5 says that in the body of Christ we are “individually members one of another.” While we permit visitors to observe our normal member meetings, especially those exploring the possibility of joining with us, these occasions, especially the first one of the year, give those of us in covenant community at OGC the opportunity once again to get on the same page about the priorities of our mission as a body of believers.

And we have some exciting things to report! Deacon Paul Hunt will review the state of our church finances. It will blow you away how good God has been to us!  Elder Chuck Mitchell will cast a vision for the retirement of our mortgage debt so we can do even more ministry in the future. By the way, another benefit of member meetings is keeping leaders accountable. What we do in stewarding the resources God has entrusted to us has a direct impact on the welfare of each of our households. Please shoulder your share of this responsibility by participating if at all possible.

Finally we will hear from various ministry leaders about what God did in 2012 and their vision for 2013. God did some great things for which we want to give thanks. We also want to believe Him for more this year. If you aren’t yet plugged into a ministry at OGC, this will be a terrific way to explore options for the use of your gifts for the sake of the body. I too will share a brief “state of the church” assessment that I hope will encourage you, especially as we wait on God for the changes in our staff situation and our ongoing rebuilding of the walls. Please be in prayer for this Sunday evening. And remember, an hour long prayer time will take place at 4:45 PM in the conference room in preparation for our time together.

Transition – Time for Pondering Anew

February 5, 2013 By in conferences Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Any time the Lord gifts me with the privilege of attending a pastor’s conference, especially the Desiring God one in Minneapolis each February, I always pray the same thing. Lord, speak. Let me hear your voice. Show me what you require.

Once again He has not failed me as I reach the end of day two of this particular event entitled, Brothers, We Are Still Not Professionals.

This morning Pastor John Piper introduced his replacement at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Pastor Jason Meyer. Ever since I heard about this young man having to step into such humongous ministerial shoes I have asked myself, who in the world would want to follow John Piper? I learned this morning as no surprise at all that this man has felt much the same thing. In fact, when first queried about the possibility of taking over Bethlehem’s reins by Piper himself, Meyer responded quite vulnerably, “Nothing scares me more than that.” To which the retiring mentor replied, “Well, that’s not a no.” The rest, as they say, is history.

In his talk entitled Pastoral Transition After a 32-Year Ministry: Strategy and the Supernatural, Meyer went on to do two things. He told the story of how the whole surprising and, in some ways, unlikely appointment to such an imposing post came about. And then he offered four lessons from the process for our edification. You can listen to the entire message here. Consider it a worthy use of your valuable time. You won’t be disappointed.

Bethlehem’s “Joshua” transitioning into her treasured “Moses” role as shepherd of this congregation, fashioned his talk around phrases from two great hymns of the faith – Praise to the Lord the Almighty and To God Be  the Glory. The phrase from the first was this: Ponder anew what the Almighty can do. There is where the Lord spoke to me in the way the man linked that timeless exhortation of the hymn writer to the challenge of change in any ministry. Transitions are not to be feared; they are opportunities  from God to ponder anew what He can do.

Truth be told I can get scared when I think of losing Greg & Christina this summer to his church planting apprenticeship. How will our rich music ministry continue? Where will help for pastoral demands come from? Who will take care of the seemingly endless number of administrative details Greg handles in a given week? These questions and more can keep any pastor awake at night.

God knows. I say it again. God knows.

So ponder anew with  me what the Almighty will do as we wait on Him for His provision. Pray with me and the elders that we will plan and execute a God-centered strategy that profits Orlando Grace nearly as much as the one these dear folks in Minnesota employed to arrive at a replacement for someone of Piper’s stature.

Let us not fear transitions, but God who unfailingly leads His people through one change after another.

Then we will sing once again, “To God be the glory, great things He has done.”

How to Question Officer Candidates

December 8, 2011 By in Ecclesiology Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

This Sunday evening at 6 PM at the SDA we will have a very important congregational meeting. Open to members and attendees alike, in this 90 minute gathering we will engage our three officer candidates in Q & A about their nomination for church leadership positions.

This is no small thing. Our bylaws require confirmation of all candidates by no-less than 75% vote of the assembled membership. That vote, Lord willing, will occur after the worship service on January 8, 2012. In order to be able to affirm or deny responsibly depends on having at least some knowledge of these men.

We have already sent out copies of their testimonies to everyone concerned, so unless you have some point of clarification on any of their stories, there is no need to question them about how they came to Christ. Where we must focus our attention in questioning each prayerfully, humbly, and respectfully is in terms of how God judges a man’s fitness for office, namely, character (including family life), doctrine, and philosophy of church ministry/leadership.

For those who find posing questions in a public forum in front of a microphone a bit intimidating but still would like to do so, feel free to email me your submission to me at revheff@gmail.com and the elders will do our best to take it into account. Child care will be provided for the little ones.

Hope to see you there!

The Grace of Clothing with Humility

October 23, 2011 By in Exposition Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Today’s message from 1 Peter 4:19-5:7 is now on the web. You can listen to the audio here.

John Calvin said this of the proverbial expression, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble:

We are to imagine that; God has two hands; the one, which like a hammer beats down and breaks in pieces those who raise up themselves; and the other, which raises up the humble who willingly let down themselves, and is like a firm prop to sustain them. Were we really convinced of this, and had it deeply fixed in our minds, who of us would dare by pride to urge war with God? But the hope of impunity now makes us fearlessly to raise up our horn to heaven. Let, then, this declaration of Peter be as a celestial thunderbolt to make men humble.

May God strike us with humility’s celestial thunderbolt! Then we will have sheep who submit to their shepherds. Then we will have people given wholeheartedly to lowly-mindedness toward one another.

What could be lovelier before our eyes and more glorifying to our God than a report like: Oh yes, I know OGC, a more lowly-minded, humble community you will rarely find!?

What We Need from OGC

October 6, 2011 By in Body of Christ Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

On Sunday I shared what I believe OGC needs from Nancy and me and the rest of our officers and their spouses. For the next two years, arguably among the most strenuous in our history, the church needs us to stay the course. OGC needs us to persevere through the hard work, the late hours, the difficult conversations, the tough decisions. The buck stops here in terms of leadership responsibility and we can’t afford to weenie out just because things get hard.

But now let me turn the tables and suggest a few things we need from our covenant members. First, and foremost, we need your prayers. Pray for our staying power over the long haul. Lord willing, we will get through this season of building a facility and all the challenges that come with it. A new normal will arrive in due season. Pray we hold on and excel in our duties.

Second, we need your participation. Paul called the Philippians partners in the gospel (Phil. 1:5). That’s what we are. We need to partner together in service. It’s every hand on deck. Find a need and fill it. Sacrifice when you must. Let’s pull the load together. We need to partner together in giving, BOTH to the capital campaign/Each One, Seek One and to the general fund budget. On the latter we have been slipping of late. Chuck Mitchell will bring a report this Sunday during the offertory.

Lastly, we need your perseverance and patience. I’ve said all along that we and we alone in the history of this church get to do this stewardship of building a facility. It’s an enormous privilege that will bring multiple rewards. But the endeavor is not for the faint of heart or weak in knee. So join Nancy and me when necessary in having that little talk over the kitchen table when things get dicey: What OGC needs from us right now is to keep the oars in the water and keep on rowing.

Officer Candidate Process Update

September 30, 2011 By in Ecclesiology Tags: , , , , 1 Comment

This Saturday is a big day. A number of our current elders and deacons will meet with our three candidates for office from 8 AM to 3 PM at the church office. Each of the three, two for elder and one for deacon, have completed their written exams. We will meet with them, one at a time, for 90 minutes each on Saturday to follow up with an oral exam.

The oral exam covers questions related to each candidate’s personal testimony, his fitness for office given the qualifications in First Timothy 3 and Titus 1, and his doctrine and philosophy of ministry particularly with respect to leadership. Following each interview and the dismissal of the candidate, we will debrief for thirty minutes to share our initial impressions from the interview and commit to any follow up communication or action steps we deem necessary.

As soon as we possibly can after this Saturday we will announce to the congregation who we intend to put forth as candidates for office. A date and time will be included for the congregational Q & A of each one. This is a rigorous process overall, for everyone concerned, especially this Saturday for those who will examine all three candidates. We would covet your prayers both for the candidates and us as officers as we continue to steward this most important aspect of our ministry.

Next Step for Potential Officers

July 13, 2011 By in Ecclesiology, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , 2 Comments

Check out this week’s enews for an update on the officer nomination process ongoing in 2011.

The three men remaining on this demanding journey will meet with representatives of our leadership this Saturday morning for a debrief from their near two month self-study process of officer training.

Here are the kinds of questions we will put before them:

  1. What issues, questions, key insights, and/or concerns surfaced as a result of your reading of your Strauch book?
  2. How would you assess your familiarity with the doctrines of grace and an overall Reformed view of theology? Where, if at all, might you take exception to our confession of faith?
  3. To what extent do you feel the gospel governs your own heart’s desires and how prepared do you feel to engage the people we serve and shepherd in “scuba diving” into the depths of their hearts?
  4. When you grapple with the biblical qualifications of church officers in terms of your own testimony, how do you feel you measure up by God’s grace?
  5. How would you imagine yourself reacting to participating in a church discipline case within OGC that resulted in excommunication? How equipped do you feel in the realm of biblical peacemaking for all levels of restorative discipline within the body of Christ?
  6. What questions do you have about the role of elder? If a candidate on this score, how prepared do you feel you are to step into the office and function in a God-glorifying way?
  7. What questions do you have about the role of deacon? If a candidate on this score, how prepared do you feel you are to step into the office and function in a God-glorifying way?
  8. Where, if at all, do you have concern that you lack preparation for office and how might we assist you in addressing that?
  9. What questions do you have about where you will proceed from here should God give you liberty to continue to pursue answering your nomination call?
  10. How would you suggest we might improve the overall process thus far in setting apart future leaders for OGC?

Please continue to pray for these men and their discernment about the will of God for their future with respect to service on the leadership team at OGC. And don’t forget to check out the update this Thursday!

Introducing Our Church Planting Pastor

July 5, 2011 By in Ecclesiology Tags: , , 3 Comments

As I announced on Sunday morning to our congregation, effective July 1, Greg Willson assumed a full-time pastoral staff position with the title of Church Planting Pastor. Recently God favored us with keeping Greg and Christina around for another year before they answer the call to help with a church plant in Columbia, South Carolina. We are grateful for the “reprieve” in his leaving as it works to our advantage in several ways.

Greg will continue his excellent work as our lead worshipper and shepherd of the young adult ministry. We don’t have to change horses in midstream during this critical year of getting into a building! In addition to those responsibilities, the remainder of his job description will revolve around executive pastor type functions as he oversees the coordination of all efforts related to transitioning into our new facility. We desperately need help on this front and Greg possesses the gifts and talents to help us immensely in this regard.

Another advantage to this arrangement is that we budgeted for the last half of 2011 for a new lead worshipper intern as well as a full-time associate staff person. By not needing to do the former and making Greg the latter through May of 2012, we came out ahead monetarily in terms of latitude in our budget. This too is a great blessing.

Greg and Christina still aim toward helping with the church plant in Columbia, but in the meantime we gain his services on our staff as he further prepares for that assignment on the job at OGC. Having him on board in this position also fits in with the “R” in our BRIDE acrostic – Reproducing Churches. We look forward to launching him out in the future, investing in him in the present, and tapping his gifts and ministry between now and next May, Lord willing. Pray for his fruitfulness in his work among us!

Man as Shepherd-Lord

April 28, 2011 By in men's ministry Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

This Saturday in our Oxford Club for Men meeting we turn to chapter five in Richard Phillips’ book The Masculine Mandate. This chapter lays the final section in the doctrinal section of the book before turning to practical application in chapters six and beyond.

In it Phillips makes an urgent plea for men to live out the image of God within them by exercising servant lordship or leadership in keeping with texts like Genesis 2:19-20.

19 Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.

Even as Adam exercised lordship dominion in the right to name all the animals in the garden, men are to assume responsibility for their roles of servant leadership in all the spheres of their lives. He argues from the shepherd model of leadership plastered all over the word of God, especially in the ministry of Jesus (John 10:11), in his appeal for men to act as leaders who make the well-being of those entrusted to their care their ultimate concern.

He writes:

The way for Christian men to leave a lasting legacy is for us to embrace the Bible’s model of servant-leadership. Our goal must be not just to carve out success for ourselves but to leave a blessed imprint on the lives of those who are under our care. This can happen only when we as shepherds are ready to give our lives for the sheep, as did Jesus, our Good Shepherd. . . . Christian leaders must learn to measure our success in the security and inspiration of those who follow us, in their growing confidence and ability, and in the achievements of others rather than our own (p. 47).

Brothers, join us on Saturday morning at 7 AM at the church office as we consider how to embrace our roles as shepherd-lords that we might leave a blessed imprint on the lives of those who are under our care.