next UPDATE! (January 16, 2011)
It’s been awhile since I have updated you on our vision for the future of Alameda entitled NEXT, but that doesn’t mean we have stopped working on it. On the contrary, the ministry staff has been putting together a strategy for addressing several aspects of “church-life” at Alameda and has some exciting plans. Before I share those plans with you, let me remind you of where we have been on our journey to discover what’s NEXT for Alameda.
The NEXT vision process began as an effort to map out what we wanted to accomplish over the next 5-10 years. The first phase of that process was to assess our current state of affairs. We did that by taking the REVEAL spiritual life survey. The purpose of that survey was to measure the spiritual health and vitality of our congregation. The results of that survey strongly suggested that we needed to go deeper in our faith. In particular, the survey revealed that few of our members were actively and consistently engaged in spiritual habits that develop spiritual vitality. This finding was a red flag for us; as a result, the elders and ministers determined that we would not have the spiritual maturity and energy to tackle a big vision without addressing this issue.
So, what’s NEXT for Alameda is us! With the help of Dr. Nathan Mellor of Oklahoma Christian University and Strata Leadership, the ministry staff assessed the results of the REVEAL survey and put together a plan for helping our members develop vital spiritual habits. The first initiative was The New Testament Challenge. Through this effort, we challenged our congregation to read through the entire New Testament in nine weeks. This was a great success that resulted in many of our members reading the Bible on a daily basis for the very first time in their lives. Our next teaching initiative will be a sermon series called “Under Construction” that will empower our members to embrace the tools that God uses to construct our character. That sermon series will be one of many in 2011 that will encourage our members to fully surrender their lives to Christ.
In addition to our teaching initiatives, we will also be unveiling several new ministry resources in 2011 that will help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. We will also be making improvements to our ministry structure, our facilities, and our “front door” to guests. Here’s a partial list of what we’re working on:
• A new and easy pathway from being a guest to becoming a member
• A spiritual mentorship ministry (imagine it as a personal trainer for your spirituality)
• An improved ministry center in the lobby with new spiritual growth resources
• A new baptistery
• Improving the sound system in the auditorium
• More video of sermons
• Hiring a new Youth & Family Minister
I believe that God has blessed the Alameda Church of Christ with the people and resources necessary to greatly impact our community and world with the hope-filled gospel of Jesus Christ. Please continue to pray for and support our efforts to “develop fully committed followers of Jesus Christ.”
Rusty Tugman (Senior Minister)
Click here to read past NEXT updates from Rusty.
PURPOSE:
To discern, as a community of faith, what God wants us
to accomplish for Him in the next 5-10 years.
PROCESS:
Create a congregational conversation that asks…
What’s next? Who’s next? Why next?
PHASES:
Phase 1 – Where are we now?
Phase 2 – Where does God want us to go?
Phase 3 – How do we get there?
PERSONAL:
Ask the same things of yourself and your family.
“Nehemiah’s vision wasn’t so much about rebuilding a wall as it was about reestablishing a context for God to demonstrate his power and fulfill his promises to the nations. His vision went beyond simply coming to the aid of a nation in trouble. His vision intersected with the providential hand of God in history. Nehemiah’s challenge to the people that day was a challenge to embrace their destiny as a people, the people through whom God would eventually introduce the Savior of the world.”
CLICK HERE to listen to Rusty's sermon from January 17, 2010.
“Those who are called into the community of Jesus’ disciples are to be servants…”
CLICK HERE to listen to Rusty's sermon from January 24, 2010.
1. Because we want to leave a legacy of faith.
2. Because we want to accept the challenge of looking beyond ourselves that God has always given to his people.
3. Because we want others to experience the blessings of God.
CLICK HERE to listen to Rusty's sermon from January 31, 2010
