Pastor Talk ...
Embracing changes in the name of love
By Pastor Randy Upgren
Some changes are afoot here at Charity for this fall. Now before anyone panics, please know that they are all relatively minor. Nonetheless, they are really needed for a lot of reasons. Most of the changes are in WOW, Kingdom Builders Sunday School and Wednesday King’s Camp. In short, we are adding a second Sunday School session and shifting some times around on Wednesday.
The new schedules are listed below, as well as being available to peruse in our worship bulletins and website. I strongly encourage you to look at it and get a feel for how your family schedule will look as a result of the changes. Let me say a few things about each change, including WHY they are needed:
Sundays: Adding a second 10:40 Sunday School session to our current 9:10 option
Currently our 9:10 Sunday School session (along with the parallel 9:15 worship service) is maxing out. Not only is the Sunday School session full, but an imbalance between our worship services has resulted. 9:15 is so full there is no room for new visiting families, both downstairs in Sunday School, or upstairs in worship. Thus, one of our greatest ministries is no longer accessible to new people. Meanwhile, plenty of room exists during the 10:45 worship hour upstairs, while the basement is unused. It is during this hour that we have room to grow.
By adding a second Sunday School session during the 10:45 worship, we are hoping to facilitate balance between the 9:15 and 10:45 worship services in the hopes that some of our current families (and some of our new ones) will choose the latter option. In fact, we are hoping to get about 40 families to consider changing their session in order to create a smoother transition and quicker balance. This change on the families’ part would be considered an act of love and outreach for the sake of making space for new families - a sacrifice in order to accomplish the Great Commission better here at Charity.
Changes such as these have been embraced by families in Charity’s past for the same reasons – and many of you who have since found a home at Charity (over the past 10 years for example), have benefited as a result. We are now asking current families to do the same. Our willingness to change and sacrifice comfortable patterns is an appropriate response to the sacrifice of worship to a Savior who sacrificed himself for us. I think we can all agree that the potential salvation, shelter, and growth of new people is worth it – right! ☺
Currently, there a lot of disenfranchised, confused, hurting, and searching ELCA families in our community in need of a home and shelter. (I know, I get the calls all the time.) How we respond to this need (or don’t respond) will be our testimony for some time to come. Let’s embrace change in the name of love and make room! ☺
Also keep in mind that these changes have the full knowledge and support of Charity’s Vision Council – these changes were not made in a vacuum or without accountability.
Sundays: Creating a separate identity for each worship service to reach a broader range of worshippers.
Starting Rally Day this Fall (September 12) each worship service will have its own name and identity:
2010 SUNDAY SCHEDULE
| Time | Worship Style | Sunday School | Adult Ed |
| 8:00 a.m. | "Traditions" | Nursery only | "Early Risers" classes/small groups |
| Traditional, liturgical worship with robes, high liturgy and shorter sermons | |||
| 9:15 a.m. | "The Shelter" | Session I | "Life Now" classes/small groups |
| Contemporary worship format with a blend of traditional music, similar to current format. "Life Now" is a variety of classes ranging from traditional Bible study to family support classes and groups. Specifics are TBA and will be in the 2010 Charity Preaching and Teaching Catalog available Rally Sunday (Sept. 12). | |||
| 10:45 a.m. | "NOVA" | Session II | "Life Now 2"classes/small groups |
| Nova (Latin for 'new') will be a mellower, less loud version of our Wednesday W.O.W. service. Based on our past experiences with W.O.W., Nova worship should run less than an hour each Sunday. Format is creative, free-flowing with doses of drama, object lessons and exciting elements to reach people in non-traditional ways. This format has already been tested at previous services, such as 2010 Easter and the January 2010 "Join the Band" sermon series). "Life Now 2" is a duplication of Adult Ed. A second Sunday School session is offered during worship. | |||
2010 WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE
| Time | Adults | Youth | Children |
| 5:30 p.m. | Dinner | ||
| 5:45 p.m. | Dinner | Bingo, movies, nursery | |
| 6:00 p.m. | Bible Studies/Small grps I | Confirmation large group | |
| Dinner continues until 6:30 p.m.; worship teams rehearse during this time | |||
| 6:30 p.m. | King's Camp begins | ||
| 7:00 p.m. | Bible studies/small grps II | ||
| 7:00- 7:55 p.m.. | W.O.W. Worship | W.O.W. worship | King's Camp over |
| Bible studies/small groups finish | Youth dismissed | ||
Why the change in schedule?
- Longer dinner period helps spread out participants – allows us to serve more people.
- Given space limitations last year, this will help.
- Confirmation Large group gives more time for quality ministry and relationship building.
- Adults no longer (as before) have to choose between W.O.W. worship and Bible study,
- Bingo gives younger kids a place to be between dinner and the start of King’s Camp.
- Adult Bible studies and small groups have more time and flexibility of schedule (i.e., some groups may want to go over the full two hours, while others can finish in an hour.).
- Confirmation Large groups allow easier ministry for adult volunteers, better supervision by staff, and better overall accountability.
Total time commitment, and actual start and end times remains the same for families.
Bingo, movies and nursery are three separate, simultaneous options for kids of various age groups to stay busy until King’s Camp. This allows parents the option to attend a small group or Bible study or help with Confirmation while having somewhere for their younger children to safely be occupied.
These three areas will be supervised, and these supervisors will take children to King’s Camp at 6:30 so as not to inconvenience parents who are participating in Bible studies, small groups, or Confirmation.
The staff and leadership of Charity ultimately feel these changes are going to make us a better church, more pleasing to the Lord. We must embrace change in the name of love. Its not about preserving what we have; its about sharing what we have been given.
We are Charity – A shelter in Christ transforming lives.
May this not just be a slogan, but a reality that continues to affect the lives of people for Christ now and in the future!
~ Pastor Randy
