Church Family Update - August 2014
August 28, 2014 | by: Dale Thiele | 0 Comments
Posted in: Church Updates | Tags: Church life, updates, financial update
Dear Church Family,
Welcome back from summer! I trust you and your family had a good summer. The Thieles just spent a relaxing week in northern Wisconsin visiting Erin’s family. We have enjoyed the break this summer from the routines of school, sports, and other activities. But, like you, the fall has hit our home with all kinds of good activity (not to mention the puppy we brought into the family). We wrestle with you to keep Christ as our chief priority and delight.
With the change of the season, many exciting things are on tap for our church, Oak Hills. As always, we are aiming to center everything we do on the gospel. To state our mission simply, we are Longing for Gospel Renewal. It is the glorious and rich truth of Christ’s work on our behalf in his life and death that renews our relationship with God, our minds and hearts, our family relationships, our communities and society, and the whole world. We pray that the gospel would renew us more and more and that through us God would bring gospel renewal to hurting people all around us.
I invite you to praise God with me for his many blessings to us as a church in 2014 so far. I’m thankful for the joy among us while serving our children and children from the community at Joyplosion in June. I’m thankful for the gatherings our men and women have had over the summer to encourage and sharpen one another. I’m thankful for the rich worship gatherings we have had on Sunday mornings, redirecting our minds and hearts on the gospel. I’m thankful for the many people who continue to serve quietly by ministering in our church through our nursery, Promiseland, Sunday School, shared meals, prayerful conversations, set-up crews, worship team, etc. I’m thankful that God has faithfully met our financial needs as a church (for a second year in a row our giving has matched our expenses thus far). God is at work among us! Praise God!
As a leadership team we are in the midst of finalizing ministry plans for this Fall. Let me give you a little sneak peek: a new website is under works, to be unveiled, Lord willing, this Fall; our youth ministry will continue with a team of volunteers planning some exciting things; we're looking into hosting an all-church square dance party; our men will have some special gatherings throughout the Fall; the women have their excellent retreat in September, not to mention their Bible studies; we are sending a team to Haiti in the first week of November; how about a hymn sing and prayer night? All this doesn't include the rich opportunity we have on Sunday mornings with our Christian education classes for all ages resuming on September 7 and our regular congregational worship. Watch for more details on these opportunities to connect and grow in the Gospel.
Life Groups This Fall
Life Groups at Oak Hills are a vital way for us to fulfill biblical community with one another. We study Scripture together. We encourage one another. We pray for needs. We bear one another’s burdens. This Fall every Life Group will be discussing the book, Evangelism: How the Whole Church Speaks of Jesus, by Mack Stiles. As we strive to be a healthy church, evangelism is one area we want to grow. This concise book is an excellent tool to equip us in biblically faithful evangelism. I pray that through these group meetings we would see God working through our church in evangelism. Plan to attend one of our Life Groups. Consequently, we are looking for another host home for a Life Group, particularly on the Southside. Let me know if you are interested in serving in this way.
Looking to the Future Fund Update
This past spring the elders introduced a special fund-raising campaign to meet special needs for our church. These needs centered on improving our engagement with the community and enhancing some of our Sunday morning ministries. This spring we projected costs for these needs to be about $9,000. To date $2,845 has been contributed to the Looking to the Future Fund. We have begun to make use of these funds already. We have contracted with a graphic artist to provide branding artwork for our web site, our print materials, and our signage on Sunday mornings. We have begun the new web site build (Lord willing you will see soon). We have purchased kid-sized picnic tables and a TV for use in Promiseland. We still plan to spend about $1,500 on new signs (indoor and outdoor for STA) once the artwork is completed.
The good news regarding this special fund is that many items on our projected cost list have been significantly cheaper than planned. We are now projecting the total cost for these needs to be between $3,500 and $4,000. That means we are only between $700 and $1,200 away from meeting our goal. Thank you so much for your generous gifts and support of Oak Hills. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me or one of our elders or deacons.
General Fund Update
At the beginning of the year the elders approved an annual operating budget of $174,000, or $14,500 per month. Through the end of June our average monthly actual expenses have been just below that at $14,350 per month. Through the end of July our giving has averaged about $15,000 per month, and the giving has been very consistent from month to month. Praise God with us for his provision for our financial needs! We want to be quick to acknowledge that all of this is in God's hands. Continue to pray with us for God's work in sustaining and growing our church.
I'm thankful for the privilege of serving as your pastor. As I pray for you on a regular basis, please let me know how I can pray for or serve you and your family more specifically.
With Love,
Pastor Dale
