Month: July 2012

Give Us a Name!

How often do you get to have the chance to name a new church? For a long time now we have been referring to this new faith community in many different ways: Mountain View’s daughter Church, Mountain View’s sister church, Stanwood New Church Development, etc. Now we have arrived at that point where we need to find a name. Our discernment team has begun brainstorming, but we would love to hear your ideas as well. Below is a word picture from the documents that we have created so far with the most often used words in bigger type (as a way to spark ideas). What do you think?

Who do we need? The Missionary Plan

Our team worked hard to put together a detailed plan for who we think we will need in various leadership positions to get the new church off the ground. I’ll share the timeline with you soon in a separate post and save the position descriptions for another time as well. We are excited to begin searching for the people that God is leading to be a part of this new church!

MISSIONARY PLAN
STANWOOD/CAMANO ISLAND NEW CHURCH DEVELOPMENT

 PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Jesus is already present and working in the Stanwood/Camano Island, Washington area. God has initiated a church planting process through Mountain View Presbyterian Church and the Presbytery of North Puget Sound in this community. Our task is to try and connect with where the Spirit is moving and leading us to be involved.  The purpose of starting this new church community is to share the love of Jesus and his good news by living our lives on mission: pouring ourselves out in service and love, building relationships, and providing an environment where all followers of Jesus can grow and live out their faith. The founding members believe a church community built on missional communities and regular worship gatherings is the best way to achieve these goals.

KEY LEADERSHIP POSITIONS NEEDED:

The following leadership positions have been identified in our mission plan as necessary to launch this new church (full position descriptions are available). They are listed in order by priority of which positions should be filled first.

Organizing Pastor

The primary focus of the Missional Community is to make disciples that make disciples. With this focus, the organizing pastor is called to teach and equip the missional community leaders and members. The organizing pastor will help lead the church to fulfill its vision in Christ Jesus. During regular worship services the organizing pastor will preach and teach the Word, administer the sacraments, and baptize believers. This will be a paid full-time position.

Brandon Bailey, a certified candidate under care of Mountain View Presbyterian Church has been the point person for our discernment process and has been identified as a good candidate to fill the role of organizing pastor. He is currently on staff of Mountain View Presbyterian Church and is a resident of Camano Island.

Missional Community Leaders

The primary focus of the Missional Community is to make disciples that make disciples. With this focus, the missional community leaders are called to be missionaries within their neighborhood and community, leading a group of disciples to share the good news of Jesus Christ and serve others. The missional community leaders will be responsible for organizing the missional communities and leading them in their calling in the community. They will also be responsible for training leaders to lead additional missional communities.

These will be volunteer positions that will require ongoing training in group settings with the organizing pastor. The initial leaders will likely need to attend training offered at other churches with existing missional community models in place. The organizing pastor may be a missional community leader in the beginning.

Worship Team Leader

To draw, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the gathered body of Christ into true wholehearted worship of the one true God. This will include leading a team of musicians and other leaders, in cooperation with the organizing pastor, to plan and lead the worship gatherings. This position will begin on a volunteer basis. As the position develops and the church grows appropriate compensations will be established.

Administrative Team Leader

To be responsible for the ongoing management and operations of the missional communities and church gatherings and to assist the Pastor and missional community leaders as needed. This position will begin on a volunteer basis. As the position develops and the church grows appropriate compensations will be established.