VISION FOR THE ROAD AHEAD
REPORT TO THE ELDERS
COLLEGE CHURCH OF CHRIST
May 14, 2006
Introduction
The Vision for the Road Ahead Committee was appointed in January 2006, and nine subcommittees were selected in February 2006 to look at all areas of ministry at the College Church of Christ. Members of the Steering Committee included David Burks, chair; Larry Long, vice-chair; Harold Alexander; Mike Justus; Mike James; Steve Baber; Ben Berry; Bob Reely; Richard Duke; Dan Newsom; Jay Barber; David Lawyer; Bryan Burks; Donny Lee; Glen Metheny; Don Diffine; Scott Finley; Bryan Phillips; and Al Frazier. Ex-officio members included Sam Billingsley, staff liaison; Curtis McMurtry, Jim Nichols, Dwight Smith, Steve Edelhuber, Donovan Fox, Rick Watson, and Howard Norton.
The various subcommittees met in February 2006, with more than 400 people involved in different meetings. Follow up included input from the Steering Committee, an open forum, solicited comments from the congregation, as well as comments from our elders.
The purpose of this planning process has been to use a broad-based effort to establish a mission statement and a strategic vision for the College Church. We have tried to use an active, not passive approach, which looks outward, concentrates on decisions, not documented plans, and considers the purpose of the church above everything else. It has not been a process to produce a blueprint which cannot be changed. Rather, it is a collection of a few concepts to guide the general direction of the church. It is not intended to be the personal vision of the elders.
We thank you for your involvement in this process and invite your further involvement in its implementation phase. Please know that changes are anticipated. The report is divided in two sections. The first part includes the proposed mission statement, core values, and vision statement for nine categories of ministry. The second part of the report includes prioritized, specific recommendations for consideration.
Part I
Mission Statement for College Church
“Guided by the Spirit and God’s holy word in the Bible, to glorify God and engage the world for Jesus Christ by speaking truth in love, doing good works, loving one another, and equipping every member for service.”
Our Core Values
• We desire to be like the church that God desires.
• We pray to be the body of Christ with the Lord Jesus as our head.
• We accept the Bible as our final authority in spiritual and moral matters.
• We aim to evangelize our local community, our region, the United States and the world at large.
• We desire to worship God in spirit and in truth.
• We desire to be a spiritual family that both rejoices and weeps together.
• We seek to help widows and orphans, the sick and grieving, the poor and downtrodden, the lonely and the disenfranchised.
• We desire to equip and empower all members for ministry according to their God-given talents to the end that the church will attain “to the fullness of Christ.”
• We promote Christian education at all levels.
The following vision statements guide the direction of our various ministries.
Administration
The administration services for the College Church should serve the needs of all programs for the congregation, including funding programs and providing organization for ministries, staffing, and facilities.
Body Life
The College Church should be a church that energetically promotes relationships through a mentoring, nurturing fellowship where there is genuine involvement in each other’s lives. The body should be intentionally aware of our church families and their needs, meeting them in a loving and caring way. The church should be open and friendly and be committed to prayer and Bible study. The College Church should be a close-knit community where every person is welcome and members are enthusiastically utilizing their gifts. We should love the lost and be a family committed to a rich body life by intentionally involving our members in community and family care.
College-Age Ministry
The College Church should support a ministry to college-age students with the intention of fully integrating them into the worship and service of the congregation. Resident members and college-age students should be encouraged to establish relationships that both focus on evangelistic encouragement and nurture faith-building. College Church should provide college students with a unique experience off-campus and underwrite complete financial support for dynamic leadership in this ministry. At College Church, college-age ministry should be about sharing every aspect of congregational life WITH college-age members.
Communication
The College Church should consistently and systematically inform, challenge, and encourage the body of believers who assemble as the College Church.
Education
The College Church should seek to provide excellent teachers for all age groups, increase involvement for all members of the congregation in the edification process, use the education program as an outreach to the community, and provide for necessary and adequate space and staff needs.
Senior Ministry
The College Church should serve as an extended family to senior members, seek to engage these members in outreach programs, and provide for spiritual and emotional needs, personal services, visitation, and fellowship opportunities.
Local Outreach
Local or community outreach at the College Church should provide opportunities for all members to be meaningfully involved in evangelism at the local level.
Missions
In five years the College Church will be a congregation where every member is actively involved in fulfilling the Great Commission and a majority of our budget is allocated to Great Commission activities.
Worship
Worship at the College Church should be well planned, positive, encouraging, uplifting, God-centered, Christ-focused, and friendly.
Part II
Specific Recommendations for Consideration
Specific recommendations for future consideration are included below for all areas of ministry. These suggestions, which came from the members of the congregation to the steering committee, are only examples of many others. Those printed in this working document were given priority by the subcommittees and the steering committee, but have not yet been approved for implementation by the elders. The various ministries may study these recommendations and support them for consideration or approval by the elders.
Administration
• Create an effective organizational structure for the College Church making certain there is accountability and responsibility for all ministries, committees, and staff members.
• Purchase or lease additional property adjacent to or nearby the building for parking and other uses.
• Build a facility for His House with a Worship Center and a classroom. Raze existing facility to allow more parking.
• Select interns to assist with the work of the College Church.
• Add a Welcome Center with a directory in a prominent spot in the lobby which would serve as the main entrance for the building.
• Conduct a long-range facility planning needs assessment.
• Improve lighting on parking lots and add a covered drive for the east entrance of the building.
• Add more offices as needed for the professional staff.
Body Life
• Encourage every member (not just new members) to actively seek opportunities to serve through use of “PLUG ME IN” forms.
• Implement a system to better identify and minister to those who are hurting: dysfunctional families, those who’ve had death or illness in the family, and families where parent-child relationships are severed
• Project new member pictures for 3-4 weeks to “imprint.” Plug new members in quickly with immediate follow-up by ministry leader. Systematically arrange to have new members eat in a variety of homes
• Explore more opportunities for mentoring: relationships targeting multiple generations, particularly college students and young families, promoting a safe environment for sharing “real issues.”
• Create opportunities for elder/member interaction during and immediately following services.
• Provide an elder as a member of each adult class, fostering elder/member relationship
• Consider using Sunday class groupings to complement care groups (family groups), encouraging participation where commitment is emphasized and everyone is nurtured.
College-Age Ministry
• Invite and strongly encourage students to study with us, teach with us, serve with us, intern with us, travel with us, worship with us, and go home with us.
• Employ a dynamic ministry team. Married couples, energetic and able to engage students, equipped to network students with the congregation, and dedicated to relationships with students that lead to evangelistic outreach and support faith-building.
• Establish a distinct congregational identity for outreach to college-age students. Rename “campus ministry” as “college-age ministry” focused on all men and women ages 18-25, and locate a ministry house adjacent to the Harding campus or on the College Church campus.
Communication
• Upgrade and integrate all electronic data, media, and communication systems.
• Redesign the format and use of print materials such as the bulletin. (For example, a “weekly bulletin” and a “monthly bulletin.”)
• Use appropriate signage, banners and displays in the building to remind us of God’s message to us through scriptures
• A “Get-to-know Our Shepherds” program should be developed.
Education
• Provide adequate support and resources for existing and new teachers.
• Develop a more centralized organizational structure for all education programs with one person overseeing the entire educational program to ensure more consistency and accountability.
• Build new classroom facilities as needed for children’s classes, adult classes, Carpenter Kids, etc.
• Develop a curriculum plan for all age groups.
• Revitalize the use of the computer database to identify teachers and assistant teachers.
• Institute an after-school tutoring program in community.
• Select a second youth minister.
• Consider an additional minister for young families and singles.
Senior Ministry
• Select and hire a part-time minister to work with seniors to not only provide for their needs but to involve them fully in the work of the College Church.
Local Outreach
• Hire a full-time local outreach minister and consider a new church plant.
• Provide opportunities for organized evangelism efforts through personal evangelism training.
• Interface jail ministry with “Project Recovery” program.
• Conduct local Searcy and White County evangelistic efforts.
• Develop local visitation program.
Missions
• Increase mission awareness of church members by using current technologies like Sunday morning PowerPoint announcements and by developing the image of College Church as mission-minded.
• Increase the participation of church members by praying more for missions and providing more encouragement to missionaries.
• Train church members for mission work and develop a mentoring program for young missionaries.
• Teach local International students who come to Searcy, and use the Internet to teach worldwide using the Internet.
• Send missionaries to “open door,” receptive areas of the world, and send a family or team to a site pro-actively selected by College Church.
• Place a full-time missionary family on each continent.
Worship
• Have a worship committee which meets monthly to meet the needs of the congregation
• Have the pulpit minister assist with the coordination of the worship service.
• Use blended worship style which offers both traditional and contemporary music.
• Involve a wide range of members in the worship service.
• Begin every service with songs of praise and then a “Call to Worship.”
• Have a children’s focus Sunday monthly or bi-monthly.
• Have formal training for those in leadership.