An Update from the Elders: Hard work, Patience, Prayer, and Love
An Update from the Elders: Hard work, Patience, Prayer, and Love
Hello Church Family,
As God continues to work His will and purposes here at Northpoint, it’s a good time to thank Him for providing for us and to pray for His continued guidance and direction. That’s something we can be so thankful for here; God’s people are praying and seeking Him, which is so important right now.
God has promised to give us His wisdom. As James says so clearly: we should ask God, and He will give generously to all without finding fault—and we are certainly seeking that now.
In this light, we, your elders, want to share with you where we’re heading as a church; while much is still to be discovered, a plan for the weeks and months ahead is coming together.
First, we need to restore and rebuild our trust and relationships, and that’s where we are going to focus our attention right now. Nothing is more important than our love and fellowship based on trust, and changes in ministry can put some strains on those bonds. So for the next month to six weeks, we’ll be working diligently, meeting with leaders, staff, and members of our congregation on this. You won’t see many dramatic changes during this time; we need to renew our strength that comes from unity.
Next, we’ll start to expand our conversations and rediscover who we are and who God wants us to be, what defines us as a church, what are our strengths, and where do we need to do better. Again, we’ll be listening, praying, talking, and perhaps a little dreaming about what God might lead us to be and to do.
During this phase, you will see some gradual changes as we bring in an interim pastor to minister on Sundays and during the week, and we will gradually make small adjustments, especially to improve areas that need shoring up.
The third phase—and this might go through the summer—will be to rebuild. Guided by what we have learned, and prayerfully seeking God, we’ll start to move forward together in clearly defining what we want to be, and begin looking for a new lead pastor.
All of this will take a great deal of hard work, patience, prayer, and love for one another, but every day we see these very qualities being displayed. All around our church the works of the ministry continue: caring for one another, bearing each other’s burdens, forgiving, loving, and encouraging. We are God’s church, we are a loving church, and God has promised us that we will fulfill the good works that he called us to before the foundations of the earth—to His glory and our joy.
In Him,
Tim East
Elder