Post-Conference Thoughts

Last Sunday we had a CREST meeting after each Gathering. In the past CREST meetings have been held in the evenings on a regular quarterly basis. But after a couple years of declining attendance at the meetings, the elders realized that the important communications (that's the C in CREST) weren't being heard by the majority of the church.

Each quarter we publish a financial statement, available for any and all partners to look over. At those regular, quarterly CREST meetings it was reviewed and explained. So, for those who participated in the past at CREST, the news that our giving has been down and our budget had been cut was not "news". Unfortunately, for whatever reasons, they have been the minority.

Changing the meeting to Sunday this quarter was done so that more of us could hear and be aware. One of our goals this year is to do things more simply at NHC, and one way of doing that is to take advantage of the times we regularly meet, whether on Sunday mornings or in our Connection Groups and "kill more birds" with fewer stones.

By the way, If you missed Sunday's conference we're working on getting the audio available online so you can hear the elders' report.

One group that I know struggles with giving are the wives who attend church without believing husbands. It's difficult to convince a non-believer of the need to be a generous giver to the Lord. And frankly, they shouldn't be expected to "get it". Always I've instructed and encouraged those wives to be sensitive to their husbands' wishes. He is the head of your home. Don't let financial giving to the Lord become a wedge in your relationship. Rather, let him see your Christ-like spirit in everything you do. Peter wrote to that very group of wives in the 1st Century. Check out 1 Peter 3:1-6.

I was encouraged by several partners who were challenged Sunday to be more generous in their giving. All any of us can do our part and that's all that is needed and expected. Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:16, "From [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." We're all "supporting ligaments" in the body. But the body is built up only as each of us does our part.

I also hope that those who are committed to faithfully doing their part don't get frustrated because others may not be. God's not going to hold you accountable for what someone else does or doesn't do. We'll each stand before Christ at his judgment seat alone to answer for ourselves (2 Corinthians 5:10). As far as I know in Scripture, the only ones who will give account to Christ for others will be pastors (Hebrews 13:17). Instead of being frustrated or discouraged, pray that all of us will learn the grace of giving and have a better understanding of being part of the body of Christ.

Finally, I hope you are in prayer about the coming months. No one has asked me yet, "What will you do if the giving doesn't increase to meet the need?", but I'm sure many are wondering. I'm not sure of the specifics other than to say I'll be trusting the Lord. It's His church and I'm His servant. He's yet to fail me in any way. And I know He's going to provide our needs.

As you saw in the videos and photo slide show Sunday (they're also posted on this FB group), God is very active in doing His work at Nags Head Church. He's still got more to do, and I'm glad to be a part of the team of believers He has assembled!

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.

CREST

Tonight. 7PM.

CREST Follow Up

If you missed CREST, you missed lots of news and communication about what's up at NHC.
Sooooo....

Here's the gist of the Elders Report from CREST that Rick gives ('cause we don't want anyone to be in darkness!)

Since our last meeting we’ve made it through another summer! Summer was full of ministry and outreach, with Surf Camps, Operation Back Pack, and of course, lots of guests. In a resort area like ours, summer is a different beast for churches than in most areas. And we survived!

Can you believe that sometimes folks serving in ministry receive critical remarks – usually from guests. We don’t expect everyone who walks through the doors to understand, agree with or appreciate the ministry and vision God has given us. But we also don’t want those of you serving who hear or see those criticisms to let them get you down. You work hard at what you do, and you get it. So we came up with a memo on how to handle criticism. All our Ministry Team leaders were sent a copy and asked to distribute them to their teams. So if you didn’t get one, ask your leader why not?

All totaled 18 people publicly professed Christ by being baptized during the summer. That’s amazing. We’ve also had a large number of folks commit and covenant with us as partners in the last few months. Seven came in since our last DNHCU class in September. That’s encouraging.

We’ve also had a lot of people move away this year, more than I can remember in any other year. Mostly they moved for financial reasons. So it seems that as we take a step forward in growing with new folks, we take a step back at the same time with people moving. We’re also missing people who perhaps were extra busy in the summer and haven’t found their way back yet. But Sunday’s attendance indicated they are coming back.

You might remember that after the last CREST meeting we asked those interested in Disaster Response to meet together. Twelve of us met and we’ve taken some positive steps, esp. with the NC Baptist Men’s Disaster Relief team, to partner with them in case of a catastrophic storm. Good ideas were shared.

In August we had a workshop as elders about systems. As we mature as a church and grow larger we keep finding it necessary to tweak our systems to make sure no one falls through the cracks. We have a great data base program that Jim Bailey has run with, and will be getting on line with some better ways of tracking ministry teams, connection groups, new partners, NHCU, building use needs, etc. Most of all we plan to form an assimilation team to help attenders take the steps needed to become committed partners.

One thing we’ve noticed lately is a bit of a paradox. Our attendance in everything is down. Sundays are down from last year. First Wednesdays are about half of what they were a year ago. As you can see, CREST isn’t bringing in too many. So we’re thinking of what to do about it. Part of it can be attributed to people moving. What is paradoxical to us is that we’ve seen a greater number of baptisms this year; a greater number of new partners and our offerings have been stronger than the last two years. So we’re seeing some positive growth in essentials that indicate strength as a church, just without as many people.

Burnie took a break from his elders responsibilities in the summer and now Steve is taking a break.

We said goodbye to Jay and Alicia, sending them out to India as missionaries. John and Cindy Peterson with Campus Crusade visited us. We were able to help Janessa Long get to China and we heard a report from Taylor Edmonds who is serving another two year term in Rome. And right after our last meeting Tammy Stump left for Nepal. Let me encourage all of us to keep up with all our missionaries. As we receive updates we post them on our blog. Most of them also send out fairly regular emails that you can receive if you ask. Larry and Sheila Benson will be here the end of November and the first of December. And next summer Stan and Sandy Anonby will finally be back for another visit with us from Brazil.

In the summer months we took a look at the great doctrines of grace and salvation from the heart of Romans. Then we spent 4 weeks talking about what it means to be a part of the body of Christ. Now we’re in 40 Days of Love through mid-November. Then we’ll be in the Christmas season. There’s a lot of excitement right now about the 40 Days and our groups are going strong. When it’s over we’ll see that God has taught us some of the deepest life-changing truths in the Scripture about loving Him and others.

Right now we’re working on next year’s budget. Would you pray with us that our collective ministry purposes and vision will guide us through this process. It’s not just about putting numbers on a paper that we think will “work”. It’s about seeking God’s will and plans for us and exercising faith. At the end of November we’ll be meeting again as a church to see the new budget proposal. I hope it’s scary.

We’ve heard of one family in our church going through a really tough financial time, and we know there must be others. Please: we have funds to help. Not unlimited funds, but we can help. We just have to know how to help. So if you know someone in the church with a pressing burden, encourage them to talk to one of us and let us know. It’s sad when folks don’t ask and we could have helped.

Guess what’s coming soon? Operation Christmas Child. November 14 is when we’ll collect all the boxes, so start getting ready. That follows Trunk or Treat pretty quickly. We’re also observing Organ Donation Sunday on Nov. 7, which gives everyone an opportunity to register as an organ donor.

Part of being a good Christian is being a good citizen. That means we should exercise

our right to vote. I hope you will prayerfully consider how you will vote.

Burnie’s working on some ideas to help us raise awareness and giving toward paying off our building. At the same time we really need to get busy finishing the upstairs for our youth. They’ve been patient. I want to promise them that they’ll be in their own space next year and early. But I can’t make that promise on my own.

Let me switch gears now and give you a bit of what the Bible calls a warning. One of the things that all this technology revolution has produced in our culture is an overload of information. In a couple clicks you can open up all kinds of blogs, articles, videos and you have more knowledge at your fingertips than ever before. But keep in mind that knowledge and wisdom are two different things. The thing that separates wisdom from knowledge is what the Bible calls “discernment” – being able to distinguish from what is true and right, and what may appear to be true and right, but has bits and pieces of things that are not.

How do I keep from being deceived?

1. Know the Word. It’s is truth.
2. Pray for wisdom. James said if we ask, God loves to give it.
3. Trust those God has placed in your lives to guard you from wolves . In Acts 20 that’s what elders are instructed to do.
4. Surround yourselves with people with true wisdom. Walk with the wise.

This Wednesday Night: CREST

There's an amazing praise to give God this Wednesday night. Don't miss the opportunity for the jaw dropping news. 7PM.

Energizing the Church: Don't get swallowed up in gossip

One of the things that has given our church the witness we have in the community and has strengthened us as a body is our commitment to work with partners who are having personal struggles and a refusal to tolerate gossip. If you’ve taken my DNHC class you’ve heard me talk about our attitude toward gossip because it can destroy a church’s unity faster than anything.

Often as pastors we’re called into situations involving partners and their relationships that need our attention. When that’s the case we do our best to protect the confidentiality of those involved and we also do our best to be patient and gracious. Life change doesn't always happen overnight. That means that we choose to be slow in pulling the discipline trigger unless it’s a situation that needs quick action.

I’m not inclined to believe that gossip is a problem here. If it is, I'm always to the last to hear any of it, and there's a reason for that.

Listen to the wisdom of James 3:3-6.
Now when we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we also guide the whole animal. 4 And consider ships: though very large and driven by fierce winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So too, though the tongue is a small part [of the body], it boasts great things. Consider how large a forest a small fire ignites. 6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among the parts of our [bodies]; it pollutes the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is set on fire by hell.

Here are some facts we need to remember:
1. When I listen to gossip I’m part of the problem.

2. When I listen to gossip it does nothing to bring me closer to Christ.

3. There are 2 sides to every story and usually somewhere in between is the truth. Perceived truth is not always real truth.

4. People who are having problems at home or at work will quickly make the assumption that people are talking about them when they aren’t. But that’s one of the negative byproducts of being entrapped in sin.

5. If we become known as a church that allows gossip our witness to the community as a body of Christ is damaged. And that kind of damaged reputation is difficult to overcome.

6. If someone who feels wronged by another approaches you with his/her story follow Christ’s instructions: tell him/her to go to the one who has offended him/her and work it out. If they have done that and want you to go with them to that person, then be spiritually ready to do that. But go with great humility and be full of the Spirit.

7. If I feel I'm the subject of gossip I shouldn't spread it by telling someone else that there's gossip going on about me. That's just another form of gossip. But I should follow point 6 above.

Having said all that, being in a church with multiple worship gatherings poses a special challenge. Have you ever missed someone at church and assumed that he/she/they are attending the other gathering? Maybe they are. But don’t assume that. Maybe they’re going through a struggle and could use someone to check in on them.

But again, be prepared. They may want to dump on you. But don’t let them. Rather encourage them to go to whoever they feel has wronged them, whether it’s a spouse or another church partner or a pastor and deal with it properly.

CREST Elders Report

Not sure why, but our CREST attendance grows smaller as the church grows larger! For those who missed it, here is the text of our quarterly Elders Report. (It was, btw, a most excellent meeting with lots of good news!)

Elders Crest Report
July 28, 2010

Sunday Series. One of our responsibilities as pastors is to seek God’s direction as to what is taught here in our gatherings. That means being sensitive not only to the Holy Spirit, but to what is happening in the life of the church. In the last quarter we ended one series that had our pastors telling their stories. I hope that challenged your own life as you heard them tell how God had used His Word and their own unique life experiences to grow them. Then we did a series on family. It was obvious to us that it has been in this area that the devil has worked his hardest among the church. Now we’re in a series that I hope is helping us understand the salvation we possess through faith in Christ.

When this series wraps up we’ll do a short series on how we all fit together as a church. We’ll call it “Body Parts” after what Paul says about the church in 1 Cor. 12.

40 Days of Love. Every two years or so for the last 6 years we’ve pulled together in all our ministries on Sundays, in our daily devotions and in our Connection Groups to do six week series over 40 days. This year we’re doing a new one to us that focuses on the thing Paul said was most important to us as Christians: love. We’ll be studying together 1 Cor. 13. All of our Connection Groups will be doing a six week study taught on DVD by Rick Warren reinforcing what we’ve heard in church on Sunday. If you have never been through one of these 40 Days with us, you’re in for a treat. They always result in a great time of growing for us. I’m building a 40 Days team to work on all the details. We’ve learned some things in the past, and already have our study guides and DVDs on hand. If you would like to serve on the team as we get ready, please let me know by Sunday.

June Baptisms. Six were baptized in June. Then this month we’ve seen 12 more baptized. We have one more baptism scheduled this summer on Aug. 15. It should be the most baptisms we’ve had in a summer that I can remember.

Systems. We are looking a better ways of coupling technology and good management principles to help us accomplish our purposes as a church. We possess a great data base system to help us track groups, teams, events, etc. But we haven’t used it’s potential. So one of our goals this year is to be better organized and see less frustration. For example, we have a system to track those who take “Discovering NHC” and follow them from the class through their commitment to partnership. But the system has some flaws, and sometimes we don’t get the information in a timely fashion to our church clerk. We want to do better with that. One of the things we’ve learned is that usually it’s not the person who is broken, it’s the system.

Finances. Burnie is working on a plan for us to really work at paying our mortgage down. He’ll be sharing that at our next CREST meeting. Our staff are continuing to work part time as we can, and returning our wages to the church. We’ll keep doing that until the economy changes and we’re seeing our giving meet our budgeted needs.

Assimilation Team. We’re still learning how to grow up as a church. We have some ideas as to how to do a better job moving people from “the crowd” to “the committed”, and one of those things we want to do is to establish a team of partners who will help do just that. It will involve things like calling local guests to thank them for attending; helping to plug new attenders into connection groups; and moving partners into ministry.

Building Usage is up. Right now, for example we have 2 AA groups that meet here; a foster parent training class; the Monday night Beth Moore study. Operation Impact met here in June every day. This is the Lord’s building and part of our vision was to make it available to the community for non-profit groups. It’s also available for you for birthday parties, weddings, etc. Because it is being used a lot we have a buildings use request form to fill out if you need it. Sometimes we’re asked by church family if they can borrow chairs and tables. As long as they’re not needed here at that time you’re welcome to borrow them, but we do have a form to fill out so we know where they are and when they’ll be returned.

Although it is the Lord’s building, He’s given us the responsibility to take care of it. So please treat everything like it is the Lord’s. That means if you see something that needs to be picked up or fixed, it’s OK if you go ahead and do it. Thanks to Beth Nelson for coming out on some hot days and pulling weeds in our beds out front!

Wake Up Rally Sept. 18. Across the Chowan Association special rally services are being held to encourage spiritual renewal. We’re having one in our area for Dare and lower Currituck churches here at NHC on Saturday, Sept. 18. You can be involved right now by beginning to pray for God to use the rally to give our local churches a greater passion for being God’s people.

Do you visit our web site, blog, Facebook group or use the pod cast? There’s a calendar on the web site. The blog includes a place to post prayer requests and give updates during the week. The NHC Facebook group also posts info for you who use Facebook. And we’ve seen weekly emails continuing to come into our mailboxes highlighting upcoming events.

We’ve had some requests to put the FAMILY series on disk, so we’re going to do that and will make it available for purchase.

NHCU. Our next NHCU is scheduled for September. If you have not gone all the way around the bases yet, please make it a priority to take your next class. If you have questions about which one to take next, please just talk to one of us.

Your pastors have a monthly meeting that makes time available to you if you need to speak to all of us at once. To get put on a meeting agenda, give Tom Lee a call or email him.