Feb 26 Partnership Meeting Recap

Web Team Langley Church

By Ben Kirlik

In case you have never been to one of these meetings before or happened to miss this one, it’s ok, take a deep breath, this blog post is for you!

The goal for a meeting like this is to communicate three main things: Celebrate what God has done in and through the people of SouthRidge, determine where we are on the trajectory towards our current goals, and look ahead to what God has in store for us a his Church in the future. As much as this is a business meeting it is a worship and celebrate our God’s work meeting. The following are a few highlights.

Terry and Michelle Jacobsen have become partners and continue the common trend of partners not showing up to their first meeting!
Most people attending the meeting sat appropriately in the seating provided, although, if your name is Wes Linde, you are allowed to sit on top of the welcome desk.

Report from the Elders

Andrew Janzen (Chairman of the Elder Board) delivered the Elders report and Financial report. The Elders report communicated a greater clarity of the relationship between the staff and elders and how they can best operate with one another. He also highlighted an invitation to join Thursday morning prayer here at the church! (6:30am)

Financial Report

The Financial report gave us the outline and encouragement that we finished the year in good standing and that 2017 is on pace to meet the giving goals that have been set before us as a church.

Ministry Annual Report

The Ministry Annual report and Ministry Update was presented by Brent Chapman (Lead Pastor). The Ministry Annual report was a look back to the 2015/2016 ministry year and was highlighted by an incredible infographic communicating different area’s of growth in our church (download). Alongside that graphic were God Working Stories what really told the tale behind the numbers. The addition of Ben Kirlik (your’s truly) has created some positive shift in our staffing structure, as I take over youth and young adults freeing up Wes to impact a growth area of community groups, among others.

Fresh Start Ministry

The people of SouthRidge have also been turning outward in BIG ways. The Fresh Start Ministry is humming along as the father of the family getting a job in a field he has great experience in, and meaningful relationships created with them have lead to impactful conversations. (Email the office if you would like to become involved.)

Global Impact

As a church we have brought on 2 new missionary families and launched our 5 year country focus on Haiti.

Ministry Update

As for the Ministry Update, we got to hear about some of the things that are going on behind the scenes in SouthRidge as we speak. We have had 3 salvations since January, (WOOHOO!) we discovered that our largest outward initiative right now is the Christmas Eve Service which saw 690 people attend on December 24 2016. We also heard an amazing update from Jon Grochowski (Children’s Ministry Director) on the James Hill Breakfast program which is serving upwards to 70 plates of food every week day morning! As for the communications structure, SouthRidge will be introducing a new communications system in the coming months which the staff are really excited about, and you should be too!

Fellowship Statement of Faith Changes

Finally one of the last orders of business was to have a discussion and partnership vote on some changes in the fellowship statement of faith. Our church is championing these changes and will be presenting on them at the upcoming fellowship convention at the end of April. The main focuses of these changes is to allow people who have had a believers baptism of another mode to become members of a Fellowship Church and to provide clarity around the partaking of the Lords Supper in Fellowship Churches. Delegates were chosen to represent SouthRidge’s view of these changes at the upcoming convention.

Closing Remarks

All in all, this is a meeting designed to celebrate the past, update the present, and to get excited for the future of God’s work here at SouthRidge. We would love to have you join us at the next meeting.