The MissionGet Changed, Get Connected, Get Going...

The questions are frequently asked, “why do we need to grow? Arenʼt we big enough already? Why do we need to be concerned about growing our numbers?”

Studies have concluded time and time again that church maintenance is a myth. Churches are organic beings that tend to either thrive and grow or decline and contract. We are also commanded by God to go forth and make disciples but we recognize that our 9:30 and 11:00 worship services tend to be 90 to 95% full weekend after weekend. Practically, there is no room at the Inn at Lake Grove Presbyterian Church, and yet we live in a mission field full of people who donʼt know Jesus Christ.

How can we encourage our members to actively share their faith with their friends, neighbors and loved ones, how can people get changed, how can we connect people, if we have no room, no place to put them?

LGPC must create more room, we must retain the ability to keep the doors of our church open for our members to go out and for those seeking the Kingdom of God to enter.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the end of the earth

Acts 1:8

Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Matthew 28:19

STA RT O F SO M E T H I N G NE W

THE MISSION, THE TARGET, THE ACTION PLAN

"Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness... Isaiah 43:19

The TargetMeet Jeremy Willamette

❖ Jeremy is a father who has 2 to 3 children❖ Jeremy was born between 1967 and 1983 (age 28-43)❖ Jeremy is a white collar professional❖ Jeremy works between 55 and 60 hours a week

Jeremy is working hard trying to achieve the American dream. He owns his own home, heʼs a college graduate, probably working on a graduate degree. Jeremy worries about providing the standard of living that his mom and dad provided for him. He worries about college education costs as well as the lack of savings or parachute for “down times.” He earns an outstanding wage but it always seems to be gobbled up by family needs or SW-burb lifestyle demands. When Jeremy has down-time he wants to rest, enjoy fleeting time with his children, and catch a game that he DVRʼd (he tends to be a tech-head). He tends to be deeply skeptical about what he calls “organized religion.”

Meet Jenna Willamette

❖Jenna was born between 1968 and 1983 (age 27-40)❖Jenna is a college graduate❖Jennaʼs family budget is tight, despite earningsubstantial income.❖Jenna is probably geographically disconnected from her extended family.

For 9 months of the year, in Portland, Jenna is stuck inside her house with her child(ren) aged 0-4 and actively seeks ways and means to entertain them while helping their developmental growth. Her children are her most precious investment and her child(ren)ʼs

activities drive most of the whenʼs, whereʼs, and whyʼs of her familyʼs life. Jenna struggles with the demands of being a great mom, a great wife, and an accomplished woman. It would seem that everyone around her is doing life better than she is able to do.

The Willamette FamilyMaybe youʼve met a Jenna or a Jeremy, maybe you know a Jenna or a Jeremy, maybe you are a Jenna or a Jeremy! If you have, if you do, or if you are, know that we desperately need more Jennaʼs and Jeremyʼs in our church family (and we believe they need us too). Over the next four months weʼd like for you to be more intentional about looking for Jennaʼs and Jeremyʼs in the places you live your life; at the grocery store, in shopping centers you frequent, at the restaurants where you eat. When you see a Jeremy or a Jenna take a second to pray for them, pray for their family, pray for their needs, and pray that God would lead them and their family to a Christian community. Pray that God might use our congregation to change their lives and to connect them to this vibrant family.

LGPC would never want to exclude anyone from coming to our 4th service, the church is always open to “whosoever will ” In no way do we want a worship service that is full of nothing but Jennaʼs and Jeremyʼs, that would be a catastrophe! We want our 4th worship service to be open to individuals from nine to ninety, but we also want to become more intentional about considering the Willamette familyʼs needs. Every good plan begins with a strategy and the Willamette family are an essential piece of our strategy. We believe that we have something special to offer Jeremy and Jenna; in a world that seems to be ripping apart at its moral seams, we proclaim the timeless truth of Jesus Christ, the foundation of justice, the foundation of wisdom, the foundation of a true abundant life. We have the opportunity to be a rock of stability, a caring community that ties Jeremy and Jenna to the deep roots of the the Christian traditions of justice, grace, and love.

The Action Plan

Step 1. Pray.

Weʼre not smart enough, savvy enough or have enough resources to do this in our own strength. Christʼs Church only grows through the movement and the power of the Holy Spirit. Pray for the mighty wind of pentecost to be at our backs as we attempt to spread the gospel. We must work as though it depends completely on us and pray as though it depends completely on God.

Step 2. Start a Saturday Evening Service

Because of current space constraints we must start an off-Sunday morning meeting time. We believe that Saturday night at 5:00 offers the best opportunity to reach Jeremy and Jenna and their young children. LGPC has already hired a excellent Modern Worship Director,Jared Jensen, who has a proven capacity for getting worship services like these off the ground. Rather than take a gimmicky rock show/rock star approach to worship, we want to instrumentally re-imagine the fantastic Christ-centered worship we already enjoy at LGPC.We call it Modern Worship, we think youʼll find it is “familiarly different.”

Jeremy and Jenna Statistics❖ 4253 households in the surrounding 7 zip codes❖ 36% consider themselves evangelical Christian❖ 13% regularly attend a worship service❖ 3700 households that donʼt attend worship❖ 980 who donʼt attend consider themselves evangelical Christians.

36%

64%

Religious Preference

Christian Other

13%

87%

Church Attendance

Attend Donʼt attend

Step 3. Make A Strategic Investment in Childrenʼs Ministry

There is no doubt that to reach Jeremy and Jenna, we must care for and offer exciting and innovative ministry options for their children. To that end we are hiring a part-time Childrenʼs Evening Ministry Director. The importance of Childrenʼs ministry cannot be overstated, we must have investments of professional talent, volunteer time, and sacrificed treasure.

Step 4. Get Involved - Own a P.I.E.C.E. of the 4th Service

This endeavor is going to take all of us working together to make this 4th service happen, it canʼt be something they do, it must be something we do. Weʼre asking everyone to at least own a P.I.E.C.E. of the 4th Service;

P ray for its success,I nvolve yourself in a ministry team,E ngage your community by inviting guests (especially Jennaʼs and Jeremyʼs); accept theC all to make this your regular worship hour for the next 24 months, and finally be apart of the E conomic answer by giving sacrificially to make this service a reality.

We are inviting all of our members attend an informational meeting about the 4th service which will be offered May 16, in Fellowship Hall at 11:00 a.m. or June 13, in Fellowship Hall at 9:30 a.m. At these meetings you can learn more about our plans for the service and to talk person to person with Jared, Brent and other members of the 4th Service team. Just imagine what God can do if we all work together in this important missional project.

We canʼt adequately express the importance of your financial support for this new ministry endeavor. To reach Jeremy, Jenna and whomever else the Lord might send our way is going to take significant financial resource. Extending the level of excellence that our community has come to expect from worship at LGPC while reaching a younger generation is going to take all of us working together and all of us giving together. Weʼre adding additional human resource costs, equipment purchases, increased facility usage costs, communication costs, etc.

LGPC is starting a new mission to expand our worshipping community and to that end weʼve set aside this yearʼs Pentecost Offering to help defray the costs of this new service. Church planting guidelines would suggest a 3-year financial runway for any new organization, that goal would place our fundraising needs in the lower six figure range.

Would you pray about how you could financially support this vital new endeavor on May 23rd?

THE SPIRIT OFPENTECOST

Step 6. Give Financially