What’s Up with the Economic Struggles?

The economy is a struggle for many.  I talk to people every week on this issue.  I watched our President’s address last night concerning the $700 billion payout to help our economy get back on solid ground.  I don’t want to discuss in this blog the nation’s economic struggles but more about how Hermitage Hills is doing and how this will affect our ministries and future.

I want you to know that the ministerial team is working very hard at watching the budget and doing everything we can to hold spending to a minimum during this shaky economy.  We desire to be good stewards of God’s money.  So we have taken the following actions:

1.  We have put all ministries on a pre-approval before spending plan.  What this means is no ministry should commit to any financial expense without prior approval from our finance department.  Spending request forms are available in the church office if you need to make a request.

2.  We have cut the 2009-10 budget, in fact the next years budget is lower than last years.  Our ministerial and pastoral team has agreed to hold any and all salary increases until the economy gets stronger and our giving amount meets budget on a regular basis.  Your Personnel Ministry Team will be watching this and then making a recommendation later this year as needed.

3. We are prayerfully considering all aspects of new building or land purchases.  The Facilities Growth Ministry team will complete their charge by providing complete building blue prints for the New Preschool/Student building, but the start date and completion date is in flex.  We trust the Lord for His timing on this needed facility.  The team has been assured that all documents completed will be good for 12 to 24 months after completion.  This gives us some time to hold and wait on God.

4. The launch date for the Mt. Juliet Campus is still Easter of 2009, but we are open to changing that date if the Lord seems to direct a new timing.  A launch date does require additional funds from the 20% fund. We will need to wait and see what funds will be available in February for a launch date in April.  Our desire is to move forward as planned, but we all know our ways are not sometimes His ways. So let’s trust, follow and obey as He directs.

It’s great to be on the journey with you during economic success or struggles.  God is still on the throne and His sovereignty will cannot be stopped.  Let’s not worry but pray … and let God be God.

New Day Just Around the Corner …

The Mt. Juliet campus “kicks off” is just around the corner. For over a year we have been praying, planning, and preparing for the beginning of our newest campus in the Mt. Juliet community. Did you know that around 60% of our congregation lives in and around the Mt. Juliet area? That’s right. Many of these have joined this new campus effort in different forms of leadership. New teachers, assistants, First Touch greeters, and more have been receiving training and materials as we move toward September 7th.

These are exciting days. The Family Life Center remodel is close to completion, but we realize that some components of the remodeling will not be completed until the end of September. That’s ok. Just give us a mike and some lights and we can gather.

My hat goes off to our Educational Team as they have worked diligently over the summer months to finalize leadership and plans. This wonderful group of Ministers and Pastors faced a huge mountain. As they began to plan, they discovered that adding this new campus would bring our leadership needs to 256 individuals. Presently – 231 of those positions have been filled [WOW!] and that leaves 25 positions still in need of someone to sense God’s calling and to obey His voice. Could that person be you? If so this is how you can begin ….

· For Preschool 6 Positions still available email: csmith@hermitagehillsbaptist.com
· For Children 10 Positions will available email: dstewart@hermitagehillsbaptist.com
· For Students 4 Positions still available email: lett@hermitagehillsbaptist.com
· For Singles 1 Position available email: pkays@hermitagehillsbaptist.com
· For Adults 4 Positions available email: ksmyser@hermitagehillsbaptist.com

September 7th will be a very exciting day! … New Schedule … New Campus … New Classes … New Friendships … New Steps of Spiritual Growth. It will be a NEW DAY!

Please Note the New Schedule:

Hermitage Campus

8:00 Small Group Bible Study

9:15 Worship Service

10:45 Small Group Bible Study

Mount Juliet Campus

9:15 Small Group Bible Study

10:30 Worship Service (FLC)

11:30 Community Building and Q & A with Pastor Rouse

Rayon City Campus11:00 Worship Service

10:45 Small Group Bible Study

11:00 Worship Service

Let’s join together in prayer as we seek to make new steps towards God’s vision for our fellowship. Pray for God’s protection from the adversary that loves to bring confusion and disunity. Pray for God’s anointing on our leadership as they love, teach, encourage and assist the flock. Pray for your Pastors and Ministers as they seek to follow Christ and lead our congregation to see Life Change through Jesus Christ.

How do the Campus Pastor fit in our Satellite Ministry?

As we grow in our Multi-Site Ministry, we want to carefully move forward as we seek to present the Gospel to as many people as possible. The purpose behind our Multi-Site Ministry is to plant as many churches as possible in our community, city, country and nation to spread the Gospel and disciple believers in the faith.

Presently, we have two campuses … Hermitage and Rayon City. Pastor Rouse has the joy of being the senior pastor for both campuses and any future campus that we develop. For months now, he has been preaching the same message at 9:30am on the Hermitage Campus and 11:00am on the Rayon City Campus. It has been a joy for him to have this opportunity.

In September when we start our third campus, the Mount Juliet Campus, we will need to make some adjustments. This past Sunday, we joyful introduced Don Johnson to the Rayon City congregation as the new Campus Pastor. He will replace Paul Brady in that location and will begin to oversee that fellowship, which includes working with Darrin Chiarizzo the Rayon City’s Campus Worship Leader and the present leadership as they plan for the fall in reaching more people for Christ. Don will be preaching weekly starting September 2008. Paul Brady will continue to serve as Minister of Satellite Development. Since Don will be serving and providing for the Rayon City Campus needs, Paul will move forward in the development of Mt. Juliet and other multi-site locations in the future.

We are excited about this brand new Mt. Juliet start-up that will meet at the Hermitage Campus for seven months; then they will move out to a temporary facility (school, warehouse, or storefront) on Easter Sunday 2009. It will be a great day! Jim Johnston is the Campus Pastor for the Mt. Juliet Campus. Jim will oversee the campus and the members that gather. He will work with Jon Holmes the Campus Worship Leader and other lay leaders as we develop small groups, worship ministry, and ministry events. Pastor Rouse will be in the pulpit at Mt. Juliet on a weekly basis. Jim will fill in for him when he is out of town, on vacation, and from time-to-time when he needs to be at Rayon City or other locations. We are even looking into various video options that will enable Pastor Rouse to continue a series and giving leadership when he is at other locations.

We are so grateful for our campus pastors and worship leaders on all three of our campuses. Pray for them as they lead, guide, direct, and cast vision for our fellowship as we seek to be a family that sees people experiencing Life Change through Jesus Christ.

Mount Juliet gives Positive Feedback to Satelite Development

This past week, Dr. Paul Brady and two members of the Multi-Satellite Ministry team spoke with some of the officials in the Mt. Juliet government about the possibility of planting a satellite in Wilson County. As Paul described the plans to begin with an athletic complex that will serve not only children but students and adults alike, they really loved the idea. They saw our vision as a real plus for Mount Juliet. The people they spoke to loved the idea that our church was wanting to provide ministry for the whole family.

If you are interested in serving in the Mt. Juliet satellite please make sure you have contacted Dr. Paul Brady at pbrady@hermitagehillsbaptist.com. We are presently finalizing the leadership list. We need people to serve on the First Touch Team, SMBS Team, Worship Team, Coffee Team, and more. Email Paul today or contact Jim Johnston (Campus Pastor) and either one will be more than glad to assist you in finding the best place for you to serve and advance the Gospel. September 7th will be here before you know it and we need you!

Keep praying for the Multi-Satellite Team as they seek God’s heart and hand in this very important step in the life of our church family. So much is at stake in this decision. Not only will the lives of tens of thousands be impacted but also our congregation. I feel kind of like the Israelites, as they stood at the river’s edge and God was telling them to step in… it wasn’t until after they stepped into the river that the waters broke. We must be prayerful, careful, and Holy Spirit dependent. It’s all for the Glory of God!

We’ve Walked the Property and Prayed for God’s Leading …

This past Tuesday, your entire ministerial team drove to three locations in Wilson County that the Multi-Site Ministry Teams had marked as key land under consideration for purchase.  It was a moving time as we dreamed together … walked together … fought off ticks together … and most importantly at each and every location stopped and prayed together for God to give clear leadership and direction to us as leaders and to the Multi-Site Ministry Team.

At each location, we looked towards the future with eyes of faith.  We could see baseball fields, soccer fields, football fields, ample parking, new buildings, and thousands of families coming from far and wide to hear the good news of the Gospel.  Do you remember the movie “Field of Dreams”?  If you build it, they will come.  At the end of the movie, after Costner built the ball field in the middle of his corn fields, there was a line of cars that you could see for miles lined up to get to the ball field.  Our vision together is to see that happen on this site as we build fields and facilities to meet the needs of families and friends.  To see thousands one day drive up to the Mount Juliet Campus to hear about our Savior and to experience a people so in love with God that they were willing to take a huge step of faith … purchase 50 acres of land … build ball fields to gather people together … build facilities for education and worship … so that those who are not here yet could have an opportunity to experience LIFE CHANGE through Jesus Christ.

One side of me experiences questions and doubts, the other side of me experiences excitement and joy.  Following God is a journey like no other.  Following God takes faith and discipline.  Please pray for your ministerial team and the Multi-Site team as we seek to discover together God’s perfect will for our fellowship as we step out together by faith.

Multi-Site … Multi-Cultural … Multi-Faceted!

Where is God Leading … back to the basics

Last Wednesday through Saturday the ministerial team spend time together praying, discussing, evaluating, and looking toward the future of our fellowship. We rejoiced in God’s obvious blessings on our congregation. He has been so good to us, but one major aspect rose to the surface as we walked through these days together… The need to get back to the basics of the priority of Sunday and Wednesday ministries.

Our evaluation was clear … as we grew to add multiple ministries and events ever so slowly, the mainstay of our fellowship ( those ministries that take place every Sunday and Wednesday)  had a slip in attention and therefore in production. As a result, every team member has agreed that for 2009 we are going to make a purposeful shift in activities. We are going to put more time, energy, efforts, and budget into these two days and the thousands that attend, so that excellence and impact will be dramatically evident.

So, that means as a congregation we’ll need to put our commitment into assisting the ministerial team as they come together (laymen and ministers).  We’ll need to make the proper adjustments in the calendar as we seek to see this important decision become a reality. Some ministries will need to come to an end. Some ministries will need to slow down. Some ministries will need to be changed. All of this needs to be done to increase the value and impact of those ministries that take place every Sunday and Wednesday when most of our fellowship attend.

We know this will not be an easy task because every event has people passionate about “their event”. Even around the table at the retreat it is a struggle because everyone has certain areas of passion that no one wants to give up .. but we must. We cannot continue doing everything while keeping the level of excellence that must be in place on Sunday and Wednesday with Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday full of other events.

Pray for your ministerial team and ministry teams as we begin to discuss what needs to stay and what needs to go. We need clear direction on what ministries are truly connecting with our Vision, Mission and Purpose statements. It’s all about LIFE CHANGE and if a significant amount of LIFE CHANGE is not happening in a given ministry, it must be released … ouch … that’s hard to say and I know hard to hear … but I must say it and you must hear it anyway!

Looking towards the future with great anticipation!

The Priority of Sunday and Wednesday

Today I am with the ministerial/pastoral team at staff retreat.  It’s been a fun but challenging three days.  Having the responsibility to carefully lead our fellowship can be daunting at times,  knowing that each of us will give an account for how we have lead His church.

One of our most eye opening opportunities has been to remember the importance of Sunday and Wednesday ministries.  We have come to the realization that because so much as been added to the ministry calendar over the last five years, it has become evident that Sunday and Wednesday programs have suffered.  When we honestly asked the questions of excellences … transformational change … innovation … and multiplication (growing experientially), we found ourselves in agreement.  These main venues of ministry are not measuring up to their potential.  WOW!  After we wrestled with this reality, the team has agreed to put Sunday and Wednesday back to the place of importance it deserves.  Which means that our calendar for 2009 will take a significant turn in doing less in ministry on others days and allowing for Sunday and Wednesday to be the primary time for ministry to be available for our fellowship.

Therefore, we believe it is in the best interest for the Gospel and our church family, that we join together with our leadership in bringing Sunday and Wednesday up to speed.  We are working on putting our energy, time, efforts, and budgeted funds into these two days .  We believe this will honor the Lord and place His church in the place of enjoying one another as we Love God …. Love One Another … and Love the World the Way God Does – doing this primarily on Sunday and Wednesday!

So, pray for your ministerial team as we seek to be pleasing to the Lord and place His church in a position to impact our community and beyond with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We are excited about the future.  It’s bright and wonderful.  Join with us as we seek to return to Sunday and Wednesday with some refocusing and redesigning these days to be as effective as possible in reaching people far from God and allowing those who do know Him to become fully devoted followers of Christ!

Mega Business Meeting on May 18th

May 1, 2008 11:46 AM

Please mark this date down on your calendar as a must attend. On May 18th from 5:30 to 7:30 PM the Leadership of our Facilities Growth, Multi-Satellite, and Personnel Teams will be walking us through some ministry opportunities that will set the ministry course for the next 10 years.

What can you expect to hear on May 18th:

• Facilities Growth will give a complete update on their work with Centric Archetecture concerning our next building project that at this time is a 50,000 square foot educational building. This will house our brand new facilities for Preshoolers, Students, Pre-Teens, Young Adults, and a cafe/bookstore. What I have seen to date is spectacular. It will complete our needs at the Hermitage campus and set us up for years to come in reaching young families for Jesus Christ. The Facilities Growth team will have a clear recommendation that will need church approval in order for them to continue with this building project in the hopes of moving into this new facility by September of 2010.

• Multi-Site Development will give an update on months of work concerning the temporary location of our Mt. Juliet satellite that will move off campus Easter of 2009 and also, give information concerning a permnament location in Wilson County. They have been looking at land, talking to owners, working with facilities growth and enginneers. This report will be so exciting to hear … don’t miss it.

• Personnel will give an update on staff transitions and new positions needed to staff our church with personnel needed to keep missions, recreation, and our single adult ministry moving forward. They will give you a forward look at how our staff will transition and grow to keep up with our growing ministries.

These are exciting days! We need your input. We need your involvement. We need your prayers. We need one another to pull together for the Gospel. No greater task is at hand than the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No greater cause could you pour your life into than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let’s all pull together so that the world may know!

Remodeling of the Family Life Center for Mt. Juliet Campus

This past Sunday the church approved the spending of $250,000.00 for the much needed improvements to the Family Life Center. These improvements will include a new stage that will give direct access to the Worship Center. They have designed this so you will be able to walk through the balcony stairwell of the Worship Center straight into the Family Life Center. Also there will be a complete refitting of sound, lights, and video capabilities for the mulit-purpose use and for the Mt. Juliet campus that will begin to meet in the Family Life Center in September. Last Sunday, at our Mt. Juliet campus interest meeting, we had over 150 people gather for lunch and gain more knowledge about this great step of faith our church is taking as we seek to start a church plant (satellite) in Mt. Juliet.

Did you know that we have around 80% of our church family that lives in the Mt. Juliet community? Many of these families have caught the vision of being used by God to plant a thriving community of believers in the 5th fastest growing county of Tennessee. Please continue to pray for our staff and lay leadership as they seek to train and develop new leaders. In September they will begin having their own Small Group Bible Studies and Worship Service and will then move off campus EASTER 2009 to a temporary location … school … warehouse .. ??? The Multi-Site Ministry Team is actively looking for a location for this body of believers.

These are exciting days … may we press on in Jesus name!

Leadership Informational Meeting April 20th

Our leadership team continues to serve diligently as we get close to beginning our East Campus in September.  Our East campus pastor:  Jim Johnston is meeting weekly with Paul Brady and myself as we continue to pull together a leadership team of adults that will kick off this new campus.

Remember the schedule change that begins the first Sunday in September.

East Campus:

9:15       Small Group Bible Study

10:30     Worship Service in the Family Life Center

Hermitage Campus:

8:00        Small Group Bible Study

9:15        Worship Service

10:45       Small Groups Bible Study

Rayon City Campus:

9:45        Small Group Bible Study

11:00       Worship Service

If you are interested in serving at any of our campuses please make sure you complete the Christian Service Survey that is available at our churches web site: www.hhbconline.com.  Check the appropriate box that communicates which campus you’ll be attending and areas of interest to you.  Someone will contact you very soon and assist you in making the next step as you seek to follow God in serving in His Church.