Year-end gifts fund our mission of transformation. Every dollar given brings transformation in the corridor and beyond. Pray for large, generous hearts to help us finish 2018 with a surplus of resources to be used for more transformation.
For gifts to be counted in the 2018 tax season, they must arrive in the office by 12/31/18.
This Sunday we will welcome the largest class of new members in Cedar Hills history (at least that we are aware of!). Congrats to all of our new members – and welcome to the Cedar Hills family. This group has communicated a clear faith in Christ after meeting with our elders, and is ready to stand before the congregation and announce their faith.
New Members joining 1st Service (8:30am): Jim & Kelly Beavers; (Patty) Patricia Ann Bray; Melanie & Shaun Boots (daughter: Saydee); Ryan Dohlman; Kyle & Alisse French (daughter: Hadley); Bruce and Virginia Petrzelka (son: Adam); Richard and Marilyn Beauregard
New Members joining 2nd Service (11am): Harriet & Gwyn Aarhus; Ryan Aarhus; Ron Alexander; Mario & Tameka Armon (Children: Cynthia Platt, Kiara and Malachi); Matthew & Shannon Constant (Children: Easton, Michael, Olivia); Debbie Erenberger; Shannon Davison & Carol Mangrich; Chad & Kylene Dunham (Daughter: Ashleigh); Trudy Greaser; Carolyn Harvey; Martha Krejci (daughter: Norah); Prince Nabuyoli & Aline Burubwa (children: Samuel & Eli & daughters Franklin and May); Franklin Nabuyoli; May Nabuyoli; Dave & Karen Roberts; Gary & Sue Sager; Travis & Tiffany Schmidt (daughter: Soraya); Hilaire Tschombe; Karl & Lindsey Ungs (children: Hansel and Nina)
Sunday, Nov. 11 we celebrated God’s continued work to grow the kingdom though the ministries of our congregation! At our annual congregational meeting we reflected on these goals:
One Church doing life in community.
Many Places doing life on mission.
Following Jesus by doing life on life.
Transforming the Corridor
We Affirmed the 2019 budget of $887,057. (A decrease of 4.2% from the 2018 budget.) MSC 122-3.
We Affirmed the Elder and Deacon nominees. MSC 122-1.
We voted to elect Jeremy Van Genderen as an elder. MSC122-1.
Thanks for your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for God’s Spirit to lead us!
A disciple is someone who follows Jesus. “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fisherman. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him” (Matthew 4:18-20).
Discipleship is based on our identity in Jesus.
As disciples we live out our identity in the everyday stuff of life, learning to follow Jesus 168 hours a week! Disciples who make disciples submit increasingly all of life to the lordship and empowering presence of Jesus.
Disciples practice six rhythms common to all people – these six activities make up much of the everyday stuff of life.
(We will be voting on the budget at the Annual Celebration Sunday, Nov. 4 at 12:05pm, immediately following the 2nd worship service. Come for a cinnamon and enjoy a time of community with the whole church. The meeting should last around 25 minutes.)
Thank You for your gifts!
Our ministry is funded by the generous donations of the congregation. Every gift matters and we appreciate it.
Additional giving will be used to fund additional missions.
We give thanks to those who are able to make extra year-end gifts. These funds allow us to begin the new year on solid financial ground.
(We will vote for these nominees at our Annual Celebration – Sunday, Nov. 4 at 12:05, immediately after the 2nd worship service. Come for cinnamon rolls and a quick 25 minute meeting.)
Bruce Crowther
Bruce became a member in 2006 and he has been a big part of Cedar Hills Church; he sets an example of using his gifts to serve. He has previously been a Youth Leader, sharing his passion for Jesus to encourage senior high students. He has also served as an Elder. He continues to serve on the Worship Team, and he is known to pitch in wherever needed, such as preparing communion for the services, helping out as a griller for fundraiser events, and pitching in to help with projects.
Robin Joens
I became a Christian as a young child. My family always talked about our faith and how God was part of everything we did. To grow in my relationship with God, I regularly attend Sunday services, participate in adult Sunday School and small group Bible study, read the Bible, and pray a lot. I believe reaching people in God’s name is important. As Christians we need to share God’s love with everyone and be Jesus to them.
Gary Mills
I was raised in a Christian home and have known Christ as my Savior for as long as I can remember. I made a public confession of faith as an 8th Grader. Currently, I attend and lead/co-lead 2 small groups, as well as mentor the “Parenting Together” class.
In the past, I have been an Elder and have taught Cross Training. I believe the core values of Cedar Hills are “spot on.” They are Biblical, have the right purpose (to glorify God) and drive our congregation in a clear (yet simple) way. The essential beliefs mean to hang onto God’s love, trust and accept the gift of salvation through Jesus, call on the power of the Holy Spirit, and go beyond our walls to share God’s love with all people.
Melissa (Mel) Dahm
My Christian faith was the way/truth that I’ve been taught since birth and has been a steady journey through my life. Currently, I serve on Worship Team, Choir, Atmosphere Team, and just started helping with Children’s Messages this fall. The essential beliefs of the church mean to me that we were made in God’s image and free of sin. The sin we’ve experienced is our own doing and our responsibility to own and change our lives back to God’s image, no matter what circumstances today’s world throws at us.
John Davidson
My family (my wife Candi and our daughters, Sidney and Sophie and I) became members in 2010. My family attends church together regularly and focuses on saying a prayer at our evening meals together. Last year, Candi and I led a session of The Marriage Course. Several years ago, I participated in a trip with the Missions Team to Joplin, MO to help with the rebuilding there.
Josh Oberembt
I grew up in the Catholic church, but grew apart from the church after high school. It wasn’t until Melissa and I got married that I returned. We attended another church, but found that it didn’t really make us feel like a part of God’s family. We found Cedar Hills while searching for a new church and were struck by how welcoming it was. I’ve believed in God since I was a small child, but since joining Cedar Hills in 2012, my relationship with Him has been strengthened. I currently serve on the Tech Team and help with the Family Adventures. I’ve also served in the Nursery, CCB Implementation Team and helped with computer upgrades and troubleshooting.
Since J.R.’s resignation as Pastor of Spiritual Formation, the Consistory has been evaluating staff needs and possibilities. A special task force was charged with exploring short and long-term gaps and opportunities. This task force engaged a process
of discernment that included prayer, discussion, and feedback from the staff and congregation.
The task force made two recommendations to the Consistory in September:
The Consistory affirms the value of the long-term recommendation and will be convening this retreat soon. We also will continue discernment of the short-term recommendation by developing a job description and exploring the budget implications for the 2019 budget. We welcome your prayers for this process of discernment. Also, please pass your feedback or questions to any staff or Consistory member.
News and Notes
This month we reviewed our nominations process and discovered that we need to keep communicating about the value of the congregation’s nominations of Elders and Deacons. In the past several years we have de-emphasized the “election” part of the process and elevated the “nominations” process. Some in the congregation feel like they have lost their voice in that the election is now simply an affirmation of the full slate of nominees.
As the congregation has grown, it became more difficult for the congregation to know which candidates are gifted and called to leadership. We now have a nominations team of individuals who invest hours into the process so that they can pre-sent the best single slate of nominees possible. The best way to influence this process is to give the nominations team the names of individuals you know who may be gifted and called. Participation in this part of the process is the most helpful in getting the outcome of great men and women called to serve our congregation as Elders and Deacons.
We are looking for individuals who can help us accomplish the mission of disciples making disciples in the everyday stuff of life.
Contact Pastor Kent or Jack Ulmer if you would like to place a name into nomination.
From the Consistory:Leadership matters and so the Consistory regularly reviews our congregation’s ministry to evaluate if it is bearing fruit. We desire spiritually mature men and women, called and gifted to serve, over the long haul.
Our current practice is 3-year terms for Elders and Deacons with the possibility of a second successive 3-year term. This practice usually results in the turnover of one third of the Consistory every year which impairs continuity. In light of the current needs, the Consistory voted to create flexible Consistory terms that begin as they do currently (3-year terms) but then can be extended one year at a time for up to five more years.
We believe that this change will allow adequate time to discover the roles and responsibilities involved with Consistory leadership, while also giving additional years to grow as leaders.
Continued service on the Consistory will be by mutual agreement of the board member and the Consistory, with the opportunity to recommit for one year at a time until five additional years have been served. Flexible terms that create room for longer terms allow gifted, called, and passionate leaders to keep serving.
The Consistory also heard a report from Scott Drzycimski about our worship technology ministry. This vital ministry facilitates the support needed for sound, lights, and video that are used to enhance our worship experiences. Scott alerted us to aging equipment that is nearing the end of its expected life and reported on the results of a study commissioned to design and price new audio and video systems. In the next few months, we will consider this need alongside of other spending priorities.
Finally, the Consistory also discussed the Fall Kick-Off and our hope that we will embark on a year-long exploration of how God is calling us to transform our homes, neighborhoods, workplaces, and communities. We are prayerfully discerning the ways we can make this call a sustained effort to equip the congregation to follow God’s Spirit in bringing transformation to the corridor.
Please keep the Consistory and staff in prayer as we grow in our ability to equip the congregation to make disciples who make disciples to bring transformation to our world in the name of Jesus! We are praying that every man, woman, and child would have a daily encounter with Jesus in word and deed through us!
~ The Consistory
We want a strong, healthy Consistory of spiritually mature men and women who are called and gifted to serve. We also want long-term stability and intentional development of future leaders. As part of our practice of regular review, the Consistory is exploring ways to better achieve these goals. We believe that the following proposal
will help increase our ability to serve the congregation and community by developing leaders with a greater ownership and influence.
Our current practice is 3-year terms for Elders and Deacons with the possibility of a second successive 3-year term. This practice usually results in the turnover of one third of the Consistory every year which impairs continuity.
In light of the current needs our congregation and community, we recommend flexible Consistory terms that begin as they do currently with a 3-year commitment but then can be extended one year at a time for up to five more years. This will allow adequate time to discover the roles and responsibilities involved with Consistory leadership
while also giving additional years to grow as leaders. Continued service on the Consistory will be by mutual agreement of the board member and the Consistory with the opportunity to recommit for one year at a time until five additional years have been served.
Flexible terms that create room for longer terms allow gifted, called, and passionate leaders to keep serving. Since new Consistory members face a steep learning curve, it is poor stewardship to expend significant efforts to develop board leadership only to lose the benefit because of term limits. Effectiveness is reduced even more with frequent turnover when the ministry and operations of the congregation grow increasingly complex.
Here are some of the benefits of the continuity that comes with flexible terms:
1. Strengthened Consistory with time for deeper relationships.
2. Strengthened leaders with time to grow as Elders and Deacons.
3. Time off for renewal for those rotated off at the time best for them.
4. Allowance for changes in life circumstances while also making room for new leadership to emerge.
The Consistory is discerning next steps in implementing this change. We anticipate voting on this proposal at our July meeting and desire your feedback. Please share your thoughts on this proposal with any Consistory member.
Strong, healthy Consistory leadership is vital for the health of our congregation as we carry out the mission to develop leaders who make disciples in the everyday stuff of life. Maintaining the right mix of experience, competence, and leadership qualifications among a group of spiritually mature men and women will enable
us to continue to impact our community with the gospel. Pray for wisdom as we seek God’s leading!
Respectfully submitted,
The Consistory