ARE WE THERE YET?

We have reached the point of reappraisal as a church. Church planters say that the four-year mark is crucial. After three years, the original core begins to realize that the church will never become what they had envisioned, and an exodus of the original members takes place. If that exodus outnumbers the number of newcomers, then a negative mindset begins to settle in, and the church reaches a crisis. During the crisis, the church will most likely reassess their goals, their methods, and their approaches.

It looks like cciph is right on schedule for this reassessment. The elders have been talking, praying and considering where we are and where we are going since the summer, and we are beginning to see more clearly where we should be headed. We have given ourselves a season to relax and realign, and for all of our members to focus our attention to areas of our giftedness. As we emerge from this season, what will the "new" cciph look like?

To begin with, we know that our Sunday mornings will be more focused on allowing the leaders to equip the saints. We will have shorter worship sets and shorter assemblies, and more series of messages. We will have more intergenerational activities to equip the children. Then we will have extended worship about once a month or so, to give more time to prayer and expressive worship.

All this begins on January 1. The elders, under the leadership of Tom Powell, will be crafting the upcoming teaching plans. Then a worship programming team, led by Ken, will craft some creative elements to enhance the teaching.

Good days are ahead! Praise the Lord for guiding us to this point!