A new idea or two…

I hope you’re well.  We just had a great early evening of prayer here at Central on our “front porch” for Prayer on the Porch, and Sunday we enjoyed a great kickoff to our Good News at the Gazebo concerts.  I encourage you to attend both of those events next time, as they are well worth your time.

I want to also take a moment and especially thank Kelly Taylor for opening her home this summer for “Prayer by the Pool”.  As the women’s bible study took a summer break, Kelly provided another opportunity for women to gather, pray together, and form better relationships. Since it has concluded for the summer, I just wanted to express my gratitude to her for her idea, as well as for her willingness to serve to see it come to fruition! 

 

And speaking of new ideas, willingness to serve, and bearing fruit…

I wanted to take this moment to talk about the upcoming changes to Sunday morning and children’s ministry. As you might know by now, on Sunday July 31st, we held our Quarterly Business Meeting, heard about some upcoming Sunday morning changes (especially with children’s ministry), and voted on a service time change (as of September 11, the worship service and Sunday School will begin at 9:30AM). 

At the meeting, I expressed my vision to see Sunday School move from before the service, to instead take place during the service. The suggestion was met with a high level of support, as well as with some fair and important questions. I want you to know that, while I am deeply thankful for your support in this matter, I also really appreciate your questions, pushback, and reservations. They are important, and your voice in every change we embark on matters to me. Sometimes we’ll all agree perfectly, but most times not…and that’s ok!  While we are called to always do it with kindness and generosity towards one another, I do expect and appreciate thoughtful feedback and disagreement. 

So to return to the children’s ministry vision: the reason why I think this change is a positive one is because it will open up Central to become a more attractive place for young families to find a church home.

That’s it. That’s my hope for Central, and as I heard from you, it’s yours as well!

For so many of you, Central has been a wonderful church that has fed your faith, your children’s faith, and maybe even your children’s children’s faith. And I want to see that continue, not just for us, but for families in and around Atlantic Highlands who don’t have a church to call home.

Which is why I’m excited to be able to work on this together with you.

It will hopefully provide many new opportunities to minister to more people, but I also know that this is not a “silver bullet” (we won’t launch this and immediately see all of our pews filled and problems solved!). Nor will it be easy. It may ask more of you, and it will provide some new challenges, but I’m so absolutely confident in God’s faithfulness to us and his mission here at Central. I am thrilled to see what God will do here in us, and through us, for His Kingdom’s sake.

With that said, I’m asking you to consider getting involved in helping to get this off of the ground. Maybe you would like to teach the kids on Sundays once per month? Maybe you’d like to help with organization or crafts? Maybe you’d like to be an assistant here and there. Wherever you feel comfortable serving, we’d love to have you. Please reach out to me if you’re interested, or with any questions you have.

Together, we can raise up more and more Central kids to live by faith, be known by love, and be a voice of hope in the world.

Thank you,
Matt Agresti
Pastor, Central Baptist Church