October Elder Congregational Update
Vision Statement for Life Church crafted by the Elders and Staff based on our Core Values
expressing Who God has called us both to BE and What God has called us to DO as a church. “Fully Devoted to Jesus in Loving and Leading Others to Him.”
Elders and Pastoral staff recently shared a meal together for an intentional time of fellowship to allow the elders to listen to our pastors. It was a rich time of discussion and the start of a
conversation on how leadership teams can work together as we seek God’s direction for Life
Church.
The elders continue to conduct personal study of the biblical role of elders and are spending
time in prayer and regular fasting for the needs and decisions involving the congregation.
We have heard good feedback from the small groups meeting to discuss the role of the Holy
Spirit in our corporate and individual lives.
As this season of fresh by-laws and new elders unfolds, we are finding that it takes time to hear from the nine men in the room on the issues that arise. Most of our elder’s meetings have been in the five hour range, and yet there is peace in the process. Please keep us in your prayers and know that our hearts are to seek God and be responsive to his Holy Spirit in all matters.
To share just one specific example of working through a topic, we recently have been
discussing church finances and the need to be good stewards, as a board of directors needs
to do. Our desire is to follow God’s leading in this area and it takes a lot of time to get through the nine unique perspectives. Each one has validity, and together we will come to agreement in the unity of Christ. Please have patience and, again, pray for us. My prayer is that by the time of our first annual congregational meeting in January 2021, we will have most of these issues worked out.
We have received reports from each of the various ministry teams:
Budget and Finance team is working diligently to present a 2021 budget plan.
HR and Personnel team is doing great work on developing Job Descriptions, policies, and a
handbook for the various ministries and volunteer work.
The Building and Grounds team is tackling roof repair issues, remodeling of the office area, and other building needs
The Nomination/Vetting team has begun the active search for a new senior pastor,
and the Mission and Outreach team is contacting our missionaries and learning about
ministries to support as a congregation.
We have identified persons for the The Apostolic Oversight Team and will share this
information at the upcoming annual meeting or sooner
As members of Life Church please feel free to contact staff, elders, and ministry team
members to have your voice heard. In that line of thinking, please vote as a US citizen.
One last thing, we desire to be a blessing to our whole community of Fergus Falls and
surrounding area. An upcoming event that Life Church is hosting is the Community Thanksgiving Season Fundraiser for our local jail ministry that is administered through a non-profit called JAIL inc - Justice Abounds In Love. This ministry supports a part-time salary for a chaplain - Peter Konrad - to minister the gospel and love of Jesus to inmates at the Otter Tail County Jail. The event is here on November 22nd - starting at 6:30pm
Life Church elders can be contacted by emailing elders@lifeonline.church
A copy of the meeting minutes from each approved elders meeting are available upon request by reaching out to the church office via phone at 218-739-3886 or email
office@lifeonline.church .