"I Am Calvary" Emphasis

The "I Am Calvary" emphasis has arrived.  We are in the second week of our 40 days of prayer that were leading up to it and we will begin the "I Am Calvary" sermon series this Sunday, Lord willing.  By way of our bulletin and our weekly prayer guides, we are providing demographic information about our congregation and community as well as information about ministries and mission endeavors that Calvary supports.

For this process, we have contracted Dr. Milfred Minatrea as a consultant.  Dr. Minatrea is the director of the missional church center and supplied the pulpit on numerous occasions during the lead pastor interim time.  He is the author of the book "Shaped by God's Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches."  I am also glad to count Milfred as a friend.  I believe his knowledge and experience will help us go through an assessment process that will be beneficial as we move to the next level of being a missional church.

The process will include a congregational survey prepared by Milfred and which will be distributed to the congregation over the next week online.  Hard copies will be made available for those who prefer not to do it online.

Additionally, there will be an "I Am Calvary" weekend on October 22-24.  This weekend will consist of an "I Am Calvary" dinner to which the entire church is invited.  This dinner will take place in the gym and it will consist of a beef or chicken barbecue plate.  The children and preschool will have their activity in the children's building while the youth and adults have their dinner in the gym.  During this dinner we will hear information and inspiration about what God is doing through Calvary and the opportunities which are before us.  On Saturday morning, we will invite a representative group of Calvary leaders for a workshop where we will talk about the process of becoming strategic as a missional church.  Although I would like to invite everyone who is a leader, it will be important to keep this group representative in order to facilitate the workshop format.  We will seek representation from all four worship services, from the various age groups and from the different ministries of the church.  Sunday, we will conclude with a worship celebration.  The Monday and Tuesday following, the pastoral staff will go on retreat with Milfred Minatrea to discuss the "what's next."

I hope that you, as a Calvary leader, will be in prayer and will encourage others to participate in the survey and in the "I Am Calvary" dinner.

We are looking forward to what God will show us during this process.