At the leadership community meeting on Thursday, Paige French gave a presentation on the background and future of our relationship with the A. Quinn Jones Center. She mentioned this letter from the principal:
(To get involved with this exciting ministry, contact Paige French (pbemfrench @ gmail.com).
Dear Christ Community Church,
The value our partnership with your church gives to us is incalculable. You provide support to many classrooms and students with your troop of volunteers, which is a tremendous help to the classroom teachers and the students. Our kids love the extra attention, and someone consistently being there for them, showing them that they care, not matter how they behave. The presence of the volunteers for the teachers is equally impactful, as we can not give as much individual attention to kids as we would like to, but with the volunteers present, that relieves that burden somewhat.
In addition to the volunteers in the classroom supporting the teachers, the teacher appreciation for our staff is awesome. Your folks always think of ways to pamper the staff, and make them feel appreciated. This is more valuable than you can imagine, because we have a population of students who don’t show much gratitude, and neither do their families. The thought and time you all put in to making the teachers feel special is amazing and so obviously full of heart, that we can’t help but walk away feeling special.
Each and every month your church family provides a meal for our SAC meetings. This helps get more families into our building to participate in their child’s education, which is a very difficult feat.
Historically, we have had very low parent turn out for any function at our school. With the support of the church, we have been able to grab a few families off of their couches, and into the school on a more regular basis, and for positive interactions. They always make more food than we could ever eat, with the purposeful intention of sending food home with our families, many of which are impoverished.
Involving the children of your church has been incredible too. They have collected money and items to provide food for our Backpack Program, and school supplies for the kids, who would otherwise not have anything new for the start of the school year. Additionally, the children often write thoughtful notes to both the children and staff, with words of encouragement and gratitude, which warm the heart with their thoughtfulness.
Your church seems to enrich every special function we have at the school, as I sit here and reflect. You participate in, and support us with our Family Days, Holiday Programs, Teacher Appreciation, SAC, classroom volunteering, Backpack Program, Campus Beautification, and I’m sure I am missing something. Your church family has become a huge part of our family, and we truly value and appreciate each and every thing you do for us and our students.  We would greatly miss your partnership with our school if you were not present, as we have all come to truly think of you guys as part of the A.Quinn Jones family.
Warmest Regards,
 Sue Keller
Principal, A. Quinn Jones Center
 

Sunday, August 17th, a quorum of the congregation’s members voted to release Rob Pendley to his call in Alabama.

At the meeting, the session also distributed a handout detailing the options set before the congregation in seeking a new pastor. That information is provided below. Please feel free to bring any questions or concerns to our attention. You can easily find contact information for our elders and the staff on our website. Our next congregational meeting is this Sunday, August 24th, immediately following the worship service.

THE BOOK OF CHURCH ORDER (BCO) OF THE

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA

20-2. Every church should be under the pastoral oversight of a minister, and when a church has no pastor it should seek to secure one without delay.

A church shall proceed to elect a pastor in the following manner:  The Session shall call a congregational meeting to elect a pulpit committee which may be composed of members from the congregation at large or the Session, as designated by the congregation (see BCO 25). The pulpit committee shall, after consultation and deliberation, recommend to the congregation a pastoral candidate who, in its judgment, fulfills the Constitutional requirements of that office (e.g., BCO 8, 13-6 and 21) and is most suited to be profitable to the spiritual interests of the congregation (cf. BCO 20-6).

The Session shall order a congregational meeting to convene at the regular place of worship. Public notice of the time, place, and purpose of this meeting shall be given at least one week prior to the time of the meeting.

In following the BCO, the congregation has two clear options for composition of a pulpit committee:

  • Members of the Congregation at Large

OR

  • The Session

We will vote as a congregation on one of the above options next week on 8/24 in a congregational meeting immediately after the worship service.

If the congregation votes for Members of the Congregation at Large to compose the pulpit committee, the session would propose a committee of 7 members that would include 2 elders, 1 deacon and 4 members.  This structure would be voted on by the congregation. If the congregation votes for the Session to compose the pulpit committee, the session would seek input from members to ensure a minister is found that is most suited to the spiritual interest of the congregation.

Next Steps

  • 8/24 / Congregational meeting to vote on composition of the pulpit committee.
  • 8/24-9/7 / Nominations for members of the congregation at large (if that option is selected)
  • 9/14 / Election of the pulpit committee (if that option is selected)

The session has been researching and planning for the upcoming pastor search over the past month.  Based on the experiences of others who have gone through this, we expect this process to take anywhere from 9-12 months.  It could be shorter and could be longer.  Our highest goal is to find the man God has planned to lead CCC.  We intend to do this in a prayerful and faithful way that depends on the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us.

We trust that God is going to use this time together as a church family to build our sense of mission and community.  We know it is tempting to view this period in the life of our church as a trial but we truly believe God has great things planned for us in the next year in community together.

Please don’t hesitate to talk with Charlie, Larry, Mike or Nate about any questions you have. Contact info available here.

 

The Women’s team of CCC is excited to announce our fall Tuesday Bible Study! Both morning and evening groups will be working through Peacemaking Women by Tara Barthel and Judy Dabler. Details below. please RSVP!

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit though the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3)

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” But it often seems like conflict and disagreement are unavoidable. Friends let you down. A romance turns sour. Children rebel. You feel like you don’t measure up. Is there really hope for living at peace? Peacemaking Women offers a meaningful, lasting message to lead you out of conflict and into a state of peace where you can live as a representative of Jesus to other women…as well as to unbelievers. We need this study!

  • It contains a wealth of wisdom and encouragement for women who want to learn how to turn any conflict into an opportunity to build deeper and closer relationships.
  • The authors write out of rich personal experience and failure. God has and is refining them in the furnace of their own personal, family, and professional conflicts.
  • The greatest strength of this study is that it is consistently Christ -centered. The gospel–the good news that Jesus has saved us from all our sins –is woven into every aspect of the peacemaking model.
  • It’s utterly practical. Tara and Judy address a wide array of conflict scenarios that women face in today’s complex world and provide detailed and realistic steps of resolving all kinds of personal issues.
  • Prepare to be challenged and encouraged, convicted and inspired. I know I have been…

Tuesday AM information:

When? Tuesdays 9-11AM
Start date? August 26th
Where? CCC –adult SS room
How Much $$? $15 covers book
Childcare? Yes! free with registration pbemfrench@gmail.com
RSVP! sstankunas@gmail.com

Tuesday PM information:

When? Tuesdays
Start date? September 2nd
Location and times? TBD
RSVP! lauracsmoot@gmail.com

Books are being ordered. Please let us know that you are coming! and feel free to forward to friends that I have missed!

In Jesus!

Paige, Lauren, Susan, Laura, and Sharon

 

If you made it out to the adult ed class yesterday, you might have heard Rob mention our summer reading plan. This is a simple suggestion of how to spend deliberate time in the Bible this summer. Quarter sheets with the the suggested readings are available in the foyer. If it’s part of your daily routine already, the suggested readings are divided up into morning and evening Psalms. If it isn’t a part of your day, then the readings are an excellent way to start. Pick one from each day and read it before bed, or get up five minutes early and read the morning Psalm. Give it a try and let me know how it goes. If the plan is helpful to you, or if it could be better, we would love to hear from you.

The plan started yesterday and will continue through August 10. We pulled the readings from the ESV “Daily Office Lectionary”. You can access the daily office online as well by heading over to Crossway’s site. They even have an iCal option that will push to your calendar. Check it out here. Note that if you use the online tool, you’ll be presented with the full readings for the day. We are just working through the Psalms together.

We will also be using the lectionary in our corporate worship this summer, drawing from the Psalm designated for each Sunday and exploring it somewhere in our liturgy. Yesterday, we sang “The King of Love My Shepherd Is”, based on Psalm 23.

 

If your office is anything like mine, a few weeks of work will render your desk almost completely useless – cluttered with stacks of books, paper, abandoned coffee mugs, etc. Every now and then, I have to take a step back and think about the purpose of my work space and ultimately consider how it’s condition reflects and affects part of who I am. In this case, that’s a bitter pill to swallow, and I usually end up cleaning it and vowing to keep it that way. This time I’ll keep up with it! I think we all know how that usually goes. Thus the cycle continues; but the cycle itself can be helpful in that it causes me to reevaluate from time to time, and to optimize my space periodically.

Much of my attention and energy has been drawn to our space lately. Consider the sanctuary – a room designated for corporate renewal through worship, the sacraments, teaching, events, and ceremonies. If I dwell on it for a minute, what are the features of that room that help characterize our gatherings? Does it in any way reflect who we are? Maybe a more basic question is: Does the state and condition of that space matter?

I argue that, just as our worship should bring order and beauty to bear on the Christian story through liturgy, so should the space we share. That concept is implicit in the architecture and craftsmanship of our building. Even down to the finishes, it’s hard to deny that those involved in its design and construction understood how important a building is to our congregation (consider the flooring, the quality of our kitchen, or the sanctuary ceiling as a few examples). The way we use the space, even down to the arrangement of the furniture, has meaning as well, and it is shaping and forming us as we gather there (just like my messy desk). Over the past few weeks, we have been working in our worship space, modifying it in subtle but intentional ways, and I want to share our intentions with you.

Seating: If you’ve been there this month, you’ve no doubt noticed the new chair layout. We elected to remove the “curve”, which was originally designed to orient everyone directly toward the pulpit and communion table (symbolizing the centrality of the word and the importance of the sacrament), while also orienting the congregation in on itself (encouraging community). It actually gave us more seating than before, but we lost a sense of order and symmetry in the process. It was almost impossible to maintain, and every time we moved the chairs for an event, we had too much difficulty setting them up correctly. Our most recent setup is similar to our original arrangement, with a strategic change. A “center” aisle now runs from south to north, directly from the entry doors. This aisle makes the entire room more accessible, and it results in quicker and easier seating, especially later in the service. We also opened up space for ushers to direct and guide the congregation, and we are seeking to make communion, the family meal of Christians, more fluid. A critique of the arrangement has been that it feels more fragmented, and even back heavy. Down the road, we might look for opportunities to foster community within subsections. I’d encourage you to use the subsections as opportunity to be hospitable, both to the newcomer and to the person whose face you recognize but name you can’t recall. It’s also worth noting that the design should create pathways within the sanctuary to make movement easier, and we are also seeking to preserve the rear, southernmost section for newcomers and those who arrive late for one reason or another. The new table that’s set up in the entry way should help divert us around the nearest seats, leaving them for those who might need them (new parents with a nursing child, those who need to leave early, etc.).

Reducing Clutter: It’s a constant struggle for me to keep my personal areas clutter free; and it’s one that I often lose when I’m fighting it alone. A communal area like our sanctuary is compounded in that it has so many people using it. But the worship and tech ministry are working together to remove clutter from the stage and even the sound booth. Special thanks to Justin Richardson for his tireless efforts there. The sanctuary is also cleaned twice a week, rather than once. With the diligence and help of all who gather here, we can work together to remove distracting microphone cables, abandoned coffee mugs, old bulletins, etc. Hopefully, if you’ve read this far, you are getting a sense of how I hope we can learn to value that space and steward it well, just as we seek to see it used more frequently as a gathering place. Thank you for reading! See you Sunday.