Dare Hospice Needs a Few Good Men

I will pass through this world but once. Any good thing therefore I can do, or kindness that I can show to any human being, Let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.
Etienne de Grellet

Imagine that you are a man at the end of your life.

You are dependent on others for your needs. Your life has changed dramatically, and you are no longer in control. Dignity and modesty are hard to maintain as your spouse and family have become your care providers. Like many facing end of life challenges, you have things you would
like to talk about without further burdening your family.

You are receiving Dare Hospice Services to keep you pain free, comfortable and to help you meet your end of life goals. You have been offered Volunteer Services but the volunteers are all women.

You want your spouse to have a break; to have some time for herself. If the volunteer was a man, he would be able to connect with you and understand your journey differently than a woman would. Modesty would be less of a concern.

That’s why Hospice Needs a Few Good Men! Volunteer opportunities are available for women as well.

For more information, call Tracy Bell, The Dare County Department of Public Health’s Volunteer Coordinator for Dare Home Health and Dare Hospice at (252) 475-5057.

Sunday Feedback November 27

Today we wrapped up the "Freedom from Religion" series with teaching that with freedom comes responsible boundaries.

Share something you saw or heard today that God used to grow you.

Annual Church Conference Items

Next Friday night, Dec. 2, is our Annual Church Conference. This is the time when as a body we come together to set our annual budget and to address any other significant changes that we need to consider.

The Budget Proposal for 2012 is being posted on our web site for your review. (Click on the "About" tab, then "2012 Budget Proposal". Then click on the link to the PDF file.) You'll notice we have cut the budget, reflecting the giving for this year, but also trusting that we will grow and with that growth see giving increased.

The elders will also ask the church to consider a change in our bylaws regarding church conferences, which we have called CREST over the past few years. CREST meetings are a time of hearing reports from our various ministries, our quarterly financial report and an opportunity for questions and for vision casting.

Attendance the past few years at CREST has shown us that the majority of our church - sometimes as high as 80%, for whatever reason, don't find attendance at CREST to be an important part of their church relationship. While we believe church conferences like CREST play a valuable role in praising God and open communications, we also believe that having it on a regular quarterly basis appears to be unnecessary. We will continue to communicate as we are now through announcements at church gatherings and via emails, our blog, church Facebook groups and NHC web sites. In fact, those methods of communication will likely expand.

So, our proposal is to hold church conferences, similar to the last one, when the elders held a conversation and Q and A with the church about church dynamics, on an as needed basis. Our bylaws require us to publish any changes a week in advance of the meeting.

You'll note that anything requiring a church affirmation will still be handled by a vote in a church conference. This change is also reflective of the coming transition in 2012 that Rick spoke about at the last CREST meeting to seek to simplify everything at Nags Head Church.

Below is the proposed change. Current wording in our Bylaws is in black text. The new wording is in blue.

Article IV

Section 3- Church Conference

A. Meeting times and place- Regular Church Conferences shall be held at the church in the months of January, April, July and October. Church Conferences may be called by the Elders periodically throughout the year as they feel necessary for the good of the church and to share vision and communications vital to the church’s health. Regular financial reports from the treasurer will be made available to the church within thirty days of the close of each quarter.

An annual Church Conference shall be held in November in the last quarter of the year at a date no later than the second Sunday of December and announced two weeks in advance to approve the annual church budget and affirm annually elected stewards. The church fiscal year shall begin January 1 and end December 31. All conferences, barring unforeseen reasons (ie. the building being unusable), will be held at the church’s facility.

Thanksgiving Gathering

Worship: Getting Back to the Basics

“I love the music at NHC!”

As your worship leader, I hear this statement all the time. To be honest, I really enjoy knowing that people love the music and the musicians who play and sing each week. I love that people invite others to church by telling them how great the music is. Part of my responsibility to our church is to lead a team of musicians and technicians who can consistently produce quality music on Sunday mornings, and a good thermometer for success in this area is hearing our partners at NHC talking about their love for our music.

But, producing quality music is not the highest calling for my life or for my church. My personal mission statement is, as it has been for several years, “To help people experience genuine encounters with Christ by leading, teaching, facilitating and exemplifying authentic, Biblical worship.” Our church mission statement is “To reach people to discover life in Christ.” Music is a great tool to use to accomplish these things, but ultimately, music is only a means to an end, not the end itself. Bottom line, if our church is not collectively moving closer to becoming a church that is passionate about worshipping God (understanding that “worship” is so much more than “music”), as a worship leader, I am falling short. As a church, we are falling short.

People are creatures of habit. We feel the most comfortable and safe when we know what to expect, when we are presented with things that are familiar to us. And, to some degree, church should be a place where we feel comfortable and know what to expect. But, when tradition and ritual take over, going through the motions takes priority, true worship of God cannot thrive.

So, beginning this Sunday and continuing through the end of November, you will be experiencing some different things on Sunday mornings at NHC. The first thing you’ll notice this Sunday is that the stage will be nearly empty of all musical instruments, equipment and people. Normally I wouldn’t give you advanced warning, but I want to make sure that nobody misinterprets what is going on. Nobody from the band has been “fired” or asked to step down…the band has been offered the opportunity to take a short, collective break so that they can experience the next month with you from off stage, and they have been more than happy to accept.

I have always told those who ask, that the most promising thing a worship leader can experience is to witness those he’s leading lay down their lives in an act of worship to God. The most encouraging words I can hear are, “I love the worship of Nags Head Church.” The greatest compliment I could receive is to have somebody say to me, “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to worship God today.”

Nags Head Church is an amazing group of people, and I am proud to be a partner with each of you. But even for a church that loves God and is serving her community well, there are times and seasons when we need to slow down, refocus and return to the basics of what God has called us to do and who He has called us to be.

I hope that you’ll join your pastors, your band and I in spending this next month seeking after the heart of worship.

Nathan Lawrenson

Sunday Feedback November 6

Childish or childlike?
Growing and maturing?

We were taught a great new song by the MP 13 Band.

And we heard a story of childlike generosity, not childishness.

Share your take on today's Gatherings.

Reaching Rome

A few weeks ago we received a love offering to help with the outfitting and remodeling of a building in Rome, Italy that is a place of outreach to the university student population of the city.

Our church partners with the International Mission Board of the SBC to place missionaries there, including Taylor Edmonds. Taylor's mom, Carol, is part of our church.

Thanks for giving! We sent just a tad under $900 to help them. Pray that many who need Christ meet him there.

College Profs Openly Sharing Their Faith

WHAT I CAN’T SAY IN THE CLASSROOM

Oh me of little faith. I confess that I did not really know what to expect. Would anybody show up? Would the content be good?

Four professors involved with Faculty Commons (Campus Crusade’s ministry to faculty) at Stephen F. Austin University wanted to do an outreach to professors and students. (They got the idea from professors at another university who did a similar event.) I (Cindy) flew to Dallas and drove to Nacogdoches, Texas. The idea was to capture the event on film so we could show it to other professors and replicate it across the country.

As I walked into the room I saw a professor-ish looking man – a bit older and wearing a tie. I introduced myself wondering if he was one of the speakers, but he quickly set me straight saying he wasn’t with ‘those people’. His boss was speaking and he wanted to hear what she had to say. Hmmm. That is the way it’s supposed to work, but I still wasn’t convinced.

By 7:00pm the room had filled with about 100 students and 15 professors. Four profs shared their spiritual journey, and did an excellent job explaining what their faith in Christ means to them – both in and out of the classroom. The audience was spellbound, but what the professors did next was even better. They sat down on the edge of the stage and took questions from the audience.

Picture these professors – the power brokers of the classroom – physically taking a lower seat to put them at eye level with the audience. It was very moving.

They’ve already decided to do this same event again next semester.

God granted many of our requests concerning this outreach, and we’d really appreciate your prayers for the professors and students who came. I cannot wait to see what God does through this strategy on other campuses!

Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel. Sometimes this job is more fun than it should be. (The Texas State Fair was okay too.)

Helping Leaders Reach Leaders,

John and Cindy Peterson

Coming This Weekend

ELEVATE! Our monthly Friday night worship and communion gathering for believers. 7-8PM. Nursery and a children's lesson for pre-school - 1st grade. Bring a dessert and we'll stick around and enjoy some fellowship!

Fall Back! The time changes back to EST, so be sure to set your clocks Saturday night before sleeping. Or if you don't you can help the Hospitality Team get the coffee ready for the rest of us! And as you "fall back" it's a great time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors!

Colony Ridge Ministry. Saturday @ 2PM.


Freedom From Religion. Rick's series on how to be free from empty religiosity continues this Sunday at 9 and 11.