Sunday Evening Gathering March 14th, 2010


By: Jeff Trimark
Date: 3/14/2010 Series: Sunday Evening Gatherings
Elder update to the congregation

Sunday Evening Gathering
January 24, 2010
Sunday Evening - 2010-01 Initiatives.doc 1.

Initiatives for 2010

1. Diaconate Ministry – We are just entering a lengthy discussion about recommending a diaconate ministry at CrossWay. The timeline for this discussion has us working towards the implementation of deacons this fall. At a minimum, we believe deacons will help us care for the church body.

2. Counseling Ministry – Over the past several months we have begun to think about counseling at CrossWay. When we think about counseling we are not thinking about counseling traditionally understood, but counseling believer to believer. We believe that to a certain extent, counseling belongs to the church. So, in one sense we are all called to be counselors, faithful friends, people who help others carry their burdens. The elders, and the small group leaders in the youth group, have all been reading Paul Tripp’s, Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands. This is an outstanding book for CG leaders, CG members, husbands and wives, parents, anyone who needs to help others grow in their walk with God. You can get Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands at our bookstore on Sunday.

3. Evangelism and Mercy Ministries – At our next meeting we will start a discussion about the priority of evangelism and mercy ministries at CrossWay and how we can move this initiative forward so that there is greater leadership for evangelism and mercy ministries at CrossWay
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4. Church Planting – One of our commitments as a church is to plant many churches from CrossWay, especially within our immediate region. We believe this is a NT priority, we believe it is part of the scope of our outward mission as a church, and we believe it is part of what God is positioning us for as he brings so many men to CrossWay who are pursuing vocational ministry.

5. CrossWay East – We are still committed to CrossWay East as a church plant and we do want to plant a church in the city of Kenosha. This continues to be a priority and at this point we are paying attention to certain men to see if God raises-up the right leadership.

6. Ministerial Formation – In order for us to invest men who sense a call into vocational ministry and in order for us to prepare men for church planting, we believe that it is necessary to start some kind of ministerial formation. The timeline for this discussion has us implementing a more formal ministerial formation track this fall.

7. Missions and Mission Partners – This discussion formalizes our commitments to traditional missions and our mission partners. It addresses our convictions about traditional missions, a strategy for short-term missions, a process to add new mission partners, how we will care for all of our mission partners, and how to increase congregational involvement in this critical part of our mission. The timeline for this discussion is year-long.

8. Outside Ministry – Part of our nature and scope discussion has to do with stewarding the calling and gifts of the men that God has brought to CrossWay. We recently increased the guidelines for Mike Bullmore’s outside ministry allowance. This past year it was reduced to 8 days and this year we raised it back up, this time to 15 days. This increased allowance will not affect Mike’s preaching on Sunday morning; that has not changed. Outside ministry covers things like Mike’s teaching at the Pastors’ College, his involvement in The Gospel Coalition, and his teaching at other conferences. The elders are committed to making sure that CrossWay knows when Mike will be away so everyone can be praying for him.

9. Sunday Morning Growth – I don’t know if you have noticed, but we are growing in our Sunday morning attendance. It seems that we have an annual discussion about our growth and what changes, if any, we need to make in order to accommodate our growth as a church.