BBQ on April 5

What better way to court one another (Crossroads and GPC) than through our stomachs. Please RSVP by April 1st. Please check the evite to RSVP and to sign up for dessert, sides, main dishes or drinks enough for 6 people. Hope to see you there!!!

Location: Millennium Park in Creve Coeur (902 Mason Road, 63141). http://www.creve-coeur.org/Com-Serv/parks.htm

Directions:
Coming from the East:
-Take olive west past 270 to mason.
-Left on Mason (it's right near Barnes West Hospital and the AMC movie theater there on olive)
-The park is on the left (it can be a bit tricky to see, if you pass Hope Montessori/Andrews Acacemy you went to far (it's just before that)

If get lost: call Leo at 314.249.0864

Ministry Models: Ministry Leadership

In this final post of a three-part series we discuss how ministries can have both a local component as well as shared leadership both by a ministry leader as well as the pastoral staff and the Session.

This diagram shows how the "local functions" listed in the site model have distinct teams, comprised of people from each site, and particular implementations, reflecting the unique characteristics of the site. A good example might be small groups: while the overall goal is to develop small groups of 10-15 individuals (singles and couples) who have regular fellowship, pray for and with one another, spur one another on to works of service, and generally walk through life together, there will be special cases where a particular site has a different-looking fellowship group, such as the singles' ministry, or a kingdom group with a particular purpose such as caring for the house parents at Joe's place. Another example might be worship, where the musicians available at a particular site, as well as the aesthetic sensibilities of people there, would perhaps dictate a particular song selection.

However, an important motivation for the merger is to establish a shared "ethos" for both sites under a single common leadership. Thus, each ministry area will have a leader who is responsible for communication between sites, scheduling of resources where needed, and ensuring that common values and vision are promoted. That ministry leader will work with a pastor (and in some cases an elder) who will shepherd and mentor them, and help them develop the vision for that area, and ensure that it is aligned with the church's overall mission and values.

Thus, there are both local ministries, but common leadership and connection back to the Session, ensuring that all parts work together as a whole.

Ministry Models: Pastoral Ministry

This is the second of three posts describing some of the "ministry models" we have in view for the combined Grace-Crossroads church.

The colored bar, with Andrew leading as Senior Pastor, is meant to show that there is a collection of pastors, elders and interns serving together as a team, with each person focusing particularly on the needs at a given site, but several instances where someone is also responsible for a church-wide ministry, such as singles, or Kingdom Groups, or married couples. This team concept is an important benefit of the merger, which is noted below. The rest of this post is a description of the Pastoral Ministry model from Andrew:

One of the most frequent questions that I hear as we continue looking into the feasibility of this merger has to do with the issue of pastoral care. The question comes in several variations, but let me list the most common of them:

1. Can Andrew/Mark take on additional responsibilities?
2. Will people be properly shepherded?
3. Who will be my pastor?

These are just three versions of a broad set of related questions, and they are all good and get at a basic need that we all have, which is to be pastored. While I will give some answers below, keep in mind that everything is dynamic and some things will become clearer as we move into an actual merged state. That said …

1. Can Andrew/Mark take on additional responsibilities?

The answer to the above question is no, we really can’t. Our plates are pretty full right now as it is. Which is one of the reasons the proposed pastoral ministry model is appealing to us. In the proposed model, the ministry team is expanded to include not only Mark and Andrew, but also Dan Song, Brad Mathews part/time, a slot for a part time person on the Olivette side, along with a slate of interns. Each of those people would have a fairly specific job description. Mine (Andrew’s) would include things like preaching/teaching, shepherding the officers, moderating the session, providing leadership for the ministry, and being involved in pastoral care as needed. Mark would coordinate pastoral care for the Maplewood congregation, facilitate a couple of as yet undetermined ministry teams, be involved in the community, and preach and teach as needed. Dan would mirror that on the Olivette side. With part-timers picking off specific responsibilities (ex. Brad Matthews – KG’s).

When looked at this way it is less unspecified and the question becomes “can Andrew, Mark, Dan, etc… do their job description?” We believe the answer to that is yes.

2. Will people be properly shepherded?

This is a great question. And it reflects a high value for people, as well as the leadership of both Grace and Crossroads. Again, looking at the pastoral ministry model, we see coverage for all categories of people. Andrew will be spending a lot of time with leaders nurturing them and filling them so they in turn can do ministry. Mark and Dan will be working with their ministry teams as well as at-large needs at the respective sites, Brad will work with KG leaders, etc… It is our hope that this model, with both general care, and focused care on leaders give us good coverage. Of course, as we invest in leaders, that flows out in elders' increased ability to shepherd; similarly for deacons, KG leaders, etc…

From a pure numbers standpoint we would have three full time pastors, two part time pastors, plus a number of interns. This gives us the equivalent of 4+ full time pastors for a congregation that should number somewhere around 350. The experts say that you should have 1 pastor for every 100 people; thus, our model puts us well within that range.

3. Who will be my pastor?

In some ways this has already been answered. If you are involved in a ministry you will have natural relationships with the one leading that ministry. At a particular site one can look to Dan or Mark. In overarching ways Andrew will be your pastor. You will also have Elders and KG leaders who will be shepherding you. And there is the ministry of the saints that we do one for another.

Instead of looking for a pastor singular, it might be beneficial to see the model being proposed as a true team model. Frankly, this is one of the things that gets those in the pastoral ministry excited. We have more resources to draw on to give the best care possible. As camaraderie and fellowship are practiced among us, we are refreshed and encouraged and less prone to burn-out.

In closing we know that this is an important question. I hope these answers have been somewhat helpful. Please be assured that this question is as important to those in leadership as it is to you.

Ministry Models: Site View

This is the first of three posts describing the "models" we have put together to describe how ministry might work in a combined Crossroads-Grace church. These were first shared at the Crossroads Town Hall meeting on February 22, and then at the Grace Congregational Meeting on March 15. Hardcopies are available on the Crossroads visitor table.

In the diagram we see the combined church led by a single Session, with Andrew as the Senior Pastor. Each site will have direct pastoral care from either Mark Ryan or Daniel Song, as well as multiple Ruling Elders who worship at that site and are more involved in ministry and fellowship activities (including a Kingdom Group) there.

Generally, each site will have many of the functions of a full church; these are listed appropriately. Some activities, such as Missions, will be a common ministry team, taking advantages of shared resources for greater effectiveness. Where there is a local function, we will also strive to have common ministry goals and leadership; therefore, while Kingdom Groups and Grace Groups will be particular to each site they will, over time and with some exceptions, come to resemble one another more and more as the leadership team develops a common vision for their ministry. The Ministry Leadership Model is described separately.

Over the course of a given year we will look for opportunities to celebrate our unity through retreats and joint worship services. These will be a visible reminder of how God is building his kingdom through our shared efforts.

Some ministries (such as youth) will ideally, in the long run, exist in both sites. In the short term, they may combine efforts between sites to build critical mass.

Stay tuned for other posts describing the other models, and please remember that all of this is preliminary and not set in concrete.

Feasibility Team Update - 3/15

For anyone who didn't get a chance to pick up one of the Update letters, here it is:

Three months have passed since Andrew first shared the possibility of merger at our Congregational Meeting last December. What follows is a review of the current thinking, a summary of upcoming events, and an encouragement to everyone to think and pray about the next steps we need to take as a congregation.

The folks at Grace are committed to moving to Olivette and establishing a multi-ethnic, Reformed presence in that community. If Crossroads were not in the picture, they would call a pastor and begin that transition this fall with the resources they already have. However, having met with us several times, they recognize that we have a lot of good things going already: our Servant Ministry Team, our Kingdom Groups, our form of worship, and our missional focus in connecting with the community are some of the best examples. They want to adopt the Crossroads "ethos", as Mark Ryan likes to call it, and they see the benefit of setting up the new site under the umbrella of a single church governance structure so that both sites will reflect these shared commitments. The goal, if we were to merge with Grace, would NOT be to blend the two congregations and distribute people between the two sites. Rather, the idea is that a group of people from Crossroads, who are excited about helping to start that multi-ethnic ministry in Olivette, will join with the current Grace folks to establish the new site.

God has done a lot at Crossroads since the first Bible Studies in 2002. Certainly, each of us can name the one or two deficiencies that drive us nuts from time to time, but no reasonable person can deny that a tremendous work has been done in just a few years. While we continue to seek opportunities to extend the gospel in Maplewood and Richmond Heights, we also know that God is always calling his people to advance beyond familiar borders. We have been presented with the opportunity to step forward and extend this ministry, sharing our ethos, some of our people, and our leadership with the financial and people resources of Grace. It was the joint opinion of the Elders and Deacons in January that we were favorable to the merger provided God did not show us otherwise, and the feasibility team was created to explore whether any significant obstacles lie in front of us. We did not want to proceed in the face of good reasons for NOT moving forward with Grace.

The feasibility team has thus far established contact among leaders in the following areas: Missions, Kingdom Groups, Finance, SMT/Deacons, Session, Children's Ministry, Women's Ministry, and Worship. We are finding both points of commonality as well as points where one group can learn from another. Discussions about pastoral staffing have led to a model that includes not just Andrew, Mark and Dan Song, but Brad Matthews and other experienced pastors as well. The Grace elders plan to share our "Ministry Model" diagrams with their congregation this week to help them better understand how things can work. All of the interactions we have had with the leadership and people of Grace have been encouraging, and they in turn have expressed their enthusiasm for partnering with us. Nothing at this point clearly indicates that we shouldn't move forward.

However, as the vague concept has given way to a better-defined reality, we have to acknowledge that some personal loss will be involved to realize a much larger Kingdom gain. Countless sacrifices were made to establish a physical presence in Maplewood, and additional sacrifices will be required: in Olivette getting things going, and in Maplewood as attendance dips until new faces fill the sanctuary. The intimacy of a small startup church, which had already begun to fade over the past couple of years as Crossroads grew, will be lost for those who remember and cherish the early days. Fortunately, in the combined entity, the giving from both Crossroads and Grace is more than sufficient to cover our current budget as well as get the Olivette site started. We do not foresee financial hardship being a significant risk.

Getting a new site started won't be trivial, but the resources of both Grace and Crossroads together confer a tremendous advantage on those who are willing to be part of it. This brings us to an important next step: identifying those people from Crossroads who would like to be involved in the Olivette site. Over the rest of this month, we hope to see a couple of elders and deacons and several other families raise their hands to form a core group that can start meeting with Grace folks and planning for the new site. Please give serious prayerful consideration to whether the Lord is leading you in this direction.

On Sunday, March 29th, at 4pm, we will hold another Town Hall meeting at the church. This will be for Crossroads people only, and it will be an important opportunity for feedback and dialogue. We will be in the fellowship hall; the format will be open for discussion with members of the feasibility team.

On Sunday, April 12th, Crossroads and Grace will hold a joint Easter worship service at the MRH auditorium. We hope this will be a wonderful expression of unity leading up to our vote, and a joyous celebration of the risen Savior who is constantly at work in our midst by his Holy Spirit. Musicians from both churches will together lead the service.

On Sunday, April 19th we plan to hold a congregational meeting and vote on the question of whether to merge with Grace. By that time the new "Olivette core" should be forming, and the purpose of the vote is to affirm our commitment to the merger and start the preparation before people take off for summer vacations. Assuming the vote is a strong majority in favor, and Grace votes likewise, we will set a date in the fall to formally receive the Grace folks as members, elect the Grace elders to the Crossroads Session, and dissolve Grace as a separate PCA church. By then, the feasibility team will be done, ministry teams will be combined as appropriate, and the Olivette Core will be preparing to begin worship and other activities at their new site.
Having read this far, you deserve a break from thinking about the merger; however, we strongly encourage you to do several things:

• Pray for the merger. We will be scheduling times of corporate prayer very soon, and also encouraging the Kingdom Groups to set aside time for concerted prayer, because this is a very important decision in the life of both churches. We do not want to move forward unless we are convinced the Lord is in it.
• Visit the merger blog (http://cpfgracemovingforwardtogether.blogspot.com). There you can read the articles, check out the audio and video resources, and post your own thoughts and comments.
• Make plans to go worship at Grace very soon. Their worship is heartfelt and joyous, and the congregation is welcoming. They are likewise sending people to worship with us.

If you have doubts, questions or concerns about what we're trying to do, or why, or how, please - please - come talk to one of the members of the feasibility team, or an elder or deacon, or post a note on the blog. We welcome everyone's participation in this process.