Jerry on Our Vision

Pastor Jerry Mitchell has a brief, basic, overview of our vision and strategy which he’s posted on our church home page:

We believe that the church is the pillar and ground of truth for this age. It exists for the glory of God to fulfill Jesus Christ’s great commission to make disciples throughout the world. The Elders and Pastors of Crossroads Bible Church have adopted “Building a Community to Change the World,” as our simple vision statement to capture our distinctive strategy to achieve our part in the great commission.

We will focus our energy in four areas of the Christian life to achieve mature discipleship in the lives of believers who fellowship with Crossroads Bible Church. We will Connect every member in vital community as we assemble together in large and small group settings. We will Equip every member through the preaching and teaching of sound doctrine which leads to an ever-maturing obedience. We will train every member to Serve one another in ways appropriate to their own spiritual maturity. Finally, we expect every member to engage in some way in the Mission of the gospel both locally and globally.

These concepts are vital to our strategy and philosophy of ministry which I’ve begun (slowly) unpacking on this blog. One of our highest priorities for the next few years is to revitalize ministry programs so that every member of CBC will be encouraged, and have opportunity for, connecting, equipping, serving, and doing the mission as an outworking of our worship.

I’m excited about what is coming together. It means a bit more re-structuring for our staff (we’ve already done some to accomodate growth), adding some additional staff, and a lot of communication to come.

 

Looking for Staff - Children’s Ministries

As I mentioned in the last post, we are in the midst of a significant season of staff hiring. Children’s Ministries is one of the positions we are seeking to staff.

 

Since October of 2007, Children’s Ministries at Crossroads have been in a transition. Children’s Pastor Jim Welles and his wife Sharon will be leaving Crossroads’ staff this Spring. Since October, Jim has focused on finishing up the Team 3 curriculum and materials (Team 3 is a unique children’s mid-week club program created by Pastor Jim and friends).  This great ministry fills our building with laughter, learning and happy kids on Wednesday evenings. This past year has had the greatest participation. What a great legacy Jim will be leaving!  In order to maintain the quality of the Team 3 programs we have hired Elisabeth Tasche part-time as Team 3 Director.

 

I’ve been told by many other church leaders that the most difficult position in a church to fill well is that of Children’s ministry leader. So, … while we are currently searching for a Children’s ministry leader, it may take some time - probably into the Summer - until the position is filled.

 

With Jim focusing on Team 3 ministries, Charla Mills has been serving as Lead Coordinator for Sunday Children’s Ministries.  She’s actually fulfilling the role of a Director (no matter what title we give her), and she has been doing it with grace, skill, and a wonderful servant spirit. The ministry has not wavered one bit in this time of transition. It is always amazing to see how God puts His team together.

 

Charla will be the first to say that having a great staff of coordinators and volunteers makes it possible to have such excellence. I have to agree - what a wonderful team of workers we have at Crossroads! Dian Williamson currently handles training and staffing for infants and toddlers, Anita Fossum is our Elementary Coordinator. Mindy Rowe covers so many broad administrative tasks, and Faith Sodeifi provides backup for all - including Team 3. Melissa Dideriksen has done a great job with the mid-week Children of the Word (COW) ministry in support of Women’s Bible studies. Saturday evening children’s ministries have been covered by Patricia Sessions (along with Joanne Dingman who has brought her expertise to overseeing the unique One Way children’s programs at the Saturday service). Our goal is to once again bring all of these diverse children’s programs under the oversight of a single overseeing leader.

 

 

A Season of Staffing

Since Crossroads is facing a staffing challenge this Spring I thought that I’d summarize some important principles regarding staffing that guide our leadership beyond the mere financial considerations.

• Volunteers. A basic philosophical principle for staffing at Crossroads is the development and use of volunteer leaders and workers within ministries as much as possible, in both shepherding and administrative roles.
• The need for compensated staff. Paid staff is considered when a ministry develops beyond the ability  of its volunteer workers to continue its vitality and growth (due to lack of specialized skills and/or time); and if the Elders determine that the ministry is essential to carrying on the goals and priorities of the church. As a rule, staff is not be hired to start ministries that do not currently exist in some form.
• Goals of the Church. A ministry position (and staff category) is evaluated in light of intentional commitments to ministry and goals as developed by the staff and elders.
• Goals of current staff. The goals and direction (both ministry and personal) of current pastoral staff is normally taken into account, evaluated, and prioritized as part of any long-term staffing decisions. Not only does  this help staff stay aggressive and creative, it also helps them to strategize and plan better, and chart a course for personal development.
• Source of Staff. As a rule, leadership should be developed from within the congregation before searching outside the congregation.

We are currently seeking to fill four ministry staff positions — Children’s Ministries, Adult Ministries, Junior High Director, and College Director. More about these in the next few posts.