Some days are hard. Today was one of the hardest, and tomorrow will be as well. As a pastor you rely on the presence and power of God in leading a church. You also count on those who serve with you, the staff and support staff of the church. No one will ever see and know the sacrifice that staffs and support staffs make for the vision to become reality.
Over the past 16 months we have seen God do some amazing things in and through C3 Church. People who would have never considered going to church have walked into C3 and experienced life-change. We’ve seen 73 adults just this year give their lives to Christ. Together we’ve helped to feed and provide supplies to about 650 families, and of those many have come to Christ and gotten plugged into C3. Last summer we were able to provide funds to build a clean-water drinking well in Africa. The list could go on and on with so many personal stories… God has blessed us in some very unique ways. We are living the purpose of “Connecting the Community with Christ.”
With all that God’s doing there are still challenges we face. Our nation is in a desperately fragile condition economically. Our state has been one of the hardest hit with unemployment rates often higher than the national average. All of this has impacted churches and non-profit organizations in an unprecedented way. Until last August, when the economy began to tumble, we were actually ahead of our projections for financial growth. Then, the financial climate of our nation collapsed. We all know people who’ve been touched by this - loss of jobs, down-sizing… many are hurting. We began to hear of major companies laying-off employees, even companies that through past financial struggle have been strong, like Disney, have been forced in this climate to streamline. Also, many churches both large and small have had to make some very difficult decisions.
At C3, we’ve been able to navigate this challenge without backing off our vision and reason for existing. We’ve been able to both fulfill our mission and continue to provide for all those who are employed. Months ago we implemented a phase of restructuring in a number of areas. Now, having exhausted all possibilities, we’ve come to a time when we too have to further restructure and streamline. Let me be clear… we are not in financial trouble, but in this fragile financial climate we must make decisions that ensure the health of our resources and the continuing ability to fulfill our very purpose for existing.
So, today and tomorrow we are implementing the elimination of some positions and the restructuring of others for continued efficiency and growth. These decisions were not easy and only came after months of praying and seeking God’s direction. Also, none of the decisions were based on personalities - each of these people are extremely precious to me and I love them deeply. We’ve simply had to make the necessary decisions for the health of the church and the purpose and vision - both of which everyone one on our team has worked so hard to help become a reality.
So, will you join me in the following:
1. Pray. Please be praying with me for those who will be seeking employment elsewhere now. Also, please continue to pray for our team.
2. Be faithful in attending and serving and inviting. We have the same mission we had last week and more and more people are responding. God is growing our church and we get to be a part of changing lives.
3. Give. If you’re a Christ-follower - be faithful in bringing your “faith-gift” as you are paid. Let’s sacrifice in these days together to make sure that Orlando is the hardest place to go to hell from!
Thank you for caring and praying and loving God and loving others.
great attendance @ C3 for a holiday weekend… much better than I expected.
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