I've been pretty swamped at work lately so I haven't had a chance to blog as much as I would like. I wanted to give a quick informational update on the goings on.
The church has called me to be a singles intern under Randy Beggs and Joe Patton. My duties will be to basically function as the interim singles minister, under Randy and Joe's supervision. Randy will still be the singles minister but since he is the interim high school minister, the majority of the singles duties will fall on me.
The duties basically include making sure events are planned and communicated to the group, contacting visitors during the week, teaching the ABF, taking roll in class and being the go to guy when people have questions. Randy and Joe want to make sure that there is strong leadership in place while Randy is working with the high school ministry.
I have to say that I'm very excited about the opportunity. It feels like Christmas eve. For those who have eyes to see, God is doing some awesome things at Cottonwood Creek.
I think the biggest challenge that I observe, from my admittedly limited viewpoint, are subtle areas where the "church" gets in the way of the gospel. Luckily, God is the one who is working, our challenge is to stay out of the way!
I have also been in contact with Jon Wood and we are planning to have a Bible Basics/Faith 101 class starting in the fall that I will teach. This class would be during the 11:00 ABF time slot. I'm really excited about this class and I feel that there is a great need for this in the church. It will NOT be "Christianity for dummies".
The fundamentals of the faith will be taught, with the assumption that the class members are intelligent - competent people, even though they may or may not have a lot of biblical knowledge or background. The class will be for ANYONE but will be especially focused on new Christians/new church members, or people who have been in church a long time but want to get a grounded understanding of what the Gospel is - so they can better understand and appreciate their time in church and their study in the future.
The content emphasis will be on teaching the story of God in the bible, what the Gospel is, as well as how we can feed ourselves with God's word.
The class will probably run 10 - 12 weeks and be repeated each semester. Those who go through the class would then move on to find an ABF. I also think it's a great way to channel newcomers to the church into a place where they can be welcomed and taught while they get comfortable and aware of all the church has to offer.
I am also tentatively planning to teach the LDS Truth & Recovery class again in the fall (still working out the details on this). This would be an extended version of the spring class and would probably go somewhere between 8 - 10 weeks. Based on the turnout to the previous class, I think the focus of the class will change a little bit. The primary focus of the actual class will be teaching/awareness with an emphasis on evangelism - as opposed to fellowship/support. Hopefully, the class will also help those in transition come out of the woodwork and provide opportunities for fellowship/support which would take place in a separate (though related) home group.
It's all alot to think about, but the beauty of the LDS group is that once the lessons are planned and the powerpoints are done (hopefully I'll get them all done before the class starts), the actual class requires very little time outside of actually teaching it.
The same goes for the Faith 101 class. This semester will be tough, but once the lessons are prepared, repeat teaching the course will be alot easier.
Please note also that these are not official announcements. Except for the singles ministry, the other two classes are "in the works". Though they are likely, they are not official - yet.
That's all I got!
CMP
PS. If you know singles 1 type people (unmarried/18-early 30s), send them to Merge on Thursday night at 7:30 in the atrium at Cottonwood Creek. It's legit.
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