Letter to the church from Brian

March 5, 2008

Dear PCC friends,

It is clear that God is working here. We’ve had some of the most phenomenal growth of any new church. At just barely over five years old, our average weekly attendance is now more than 1,100. This leads to some natural questions, like “Now what?” “Where do we go from here?” “Are we going to continue to grow?” “What is the ultimate goal?”

The goal is encompassed in our mission:
The mission of Powhatan Community Church is to reach those who have been untouched or unaffected by traditional churches and guide them to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

As long as there are people around us who are far from God and outside of other churches, we will continue to pursue them. The stakes are high, the calling is costly, but the reward is invaluable – changed lives and altered eternities. We didn’t set out specifically to become a large church…we set out to reach people. God answered our prayer that we would be used in a powerful way, and growth is simply a natural byproduct. This is clearly what God wants for us.

As a leader, one of the things I constantly strive to do is to peek beyond the horizon and try to prepare our church for the future. Nine months ago, I began to see that we were still structured like a small church, even though we were becoming a large church. There is nothing inherently wrong with a small church structure, except that it would prevent us from growing past a certain point. Since there are still thousands of people around us who are far from God and outside of other churches, it was imperative that we figure out how to re-structure ourselves so that we could be all that God wanted us to be!

We began by bringing in a well respected church growth practitioner and consultant named Doug Murren. Doug spent two days with our staff, steering team, and some of our leaders. He concluded by making some recommendations. The first on his list was that we needed an Executive Pastor. This was a foreign concept to me and most everyone else here. Why? Because most of us (including me) come from small churches. Most of us had not heard of an Executive Pastor before, and we certainly didn’t know what it meant to have one. So, the first question was, “what does an Executive Pastor do?” In the end, the answer came down to leadership.


Leadership
There are many definitions surrounding the idea of leadership, and many ways to live out leadership. Problems occur when we confuse leadership with management. Stephen Covey says that managers execute the blazing of a trail through a jungle. They ensure that machetes are sharpened and maintained; they schedule the trail-blazer workforce on a good rotation; they ensure water is brought to the front lines and that debris is removed along the way. Management is critical for the road to be built. But the leader climbs the tallest tree he can find and yells out, “Wrong Jungle!!” In other words, the leader envisions the end, defines reality, and looks towards the destination.

Both the leader and the manager is critical. Without the former, execution may be precise, but may go nowhere. The road will go through the wrong jungle. Without the latter, we will have nice visions, but will never go anywhere.

Certainly, we have many great leaders and managers at PCC. But at the helm, one person has worn both hats: Me. I’ve been the senior vision caster, and the senior manager. The fact is, though, that one person is very rarely a gifted leader and a gifted manager. I am learning to be a good leader. I have never been a good manager. It’s not part of my makeup. I’m just not wired that way. To date, I’ve limped along and we’ve done OK. But we’re approaching a wall, and my lack of giftedness as a manager is starting to hurt us.

This brings us to Doug Murren’s recommendation. We learned that, ultimately, the Executive Pastor does three things: 1) manages the staff, 2) implements the strategic plan, 3) performs critical analysis for decision making by the Senior Pastor and other leaders. In simple terms, though, the Executive Pastor runs the day to day operations of the church. Or, in a word, he manages.

Does the staff really need that much management? Our staff consists of self-motivated, dedicated, hard working folks. They are gifted, have a spirit of unity, are passionate about our church, and want to serve you to the best of their ability. They don’t need someone to stand over their shoulders with a clock and monitor their every move. That kind of micro-management would be counterproductive, to say the least.

What they do need is someone to bounce ideas off of; to brainstorm with; to get counsel and advice on how to plan strategically within their area. Everyone wants to know that they are going to be supported when they make a decision. Everyone needs someone to coach and encourage and even appreciate them from time to time. You would probably be surprised at how much time I spend doing this now. But as our church has continued to grow over the past couple of years, I have found that I have been less and less available to our staff. We’ve made it work to this point, but this is as far as we can go without someone else filling that role. This is one of the most important things the Executive Pastor does.

Another critical role of the Executive Pastor has to do with managing structure. It is clear that the structure that served us well at 700 is not going to work at 1200. The Executive Pastor will help plan a new and more effective structure and execute the reorganization and needed changes.

Most churches pull someone from the marketplace to become their Executive Pastor. They are more likely to have a business and management background than a seminary degree. We want someone who knows how to lead and motivate people, keep them focused, and help them make critical decisions. We want someone who won’t micro-manage, but will be available. Certainly, we are looking for someone with high character and someone who loves God and loves the church.

I am pleased to announce that Dennis Green has come on board with us as our Executive Pastor. Dennis has an extensive business and management background and a long history leading churches in a variety of capacities. He is a long time personal friend, too. The steering team and the rest of the staff met and interviewed Dennis before the final decision was made.

More information about Dennis can be found on our website and in the March newsletter.


The Real Strength of our Church
The real strength of our church is found not with the few folks on staff, but in the hundreds of people who volunteer thousands of hours each year in real ministry. We hire staff because some ministry positions require either an inordinate amount of time or a special skill that is very hard to find. The fact is that if it were not for dedicated volunteers and leaders who believe in our mission and are excited about PCC, we would wither away quickly.

God wants to use you to make a difference in the world. More importantly, God is calling you to use your unique skills and experiences and passions to help accomplish His mission. We believe that PCC is part of God’s plan to change our community for the better. Every single person is someone that God created. He was intimately involved with your design. He knows your experiences – good and bad. Right now, we need many kinds of people with a warm smile to greet folks in the hallways; folks who want to see people know God better to be Small Group leaders; people who love children to care for kids, teach them about Jesus, play with them and sing with them on Sunday mornings; those who have a heart for teenagers to work with our students. These represent is only a fraction of the ways that you can get involved to make a difference right here in your community. In fact, we need all kinds of people with all kinds of passions and skills and experiences. We need your help, and I believe that God is speaking to many folks about getting involved.

This past Sunday, we collected hundreds of cards from people who were willing to respond to the voice of God. These cards gave folks a chance to indicate areas of passion and areas of skill or giftedness. If you filled one of these out, please know how grateful we are that you are willing to consider getting involved and partnering with us. You should get a call from someone at PCC within the next 2 weeks. The purpose of this call is to talk with you about your passion, experience, skill, etc. so that we can get you connected with a ministry that you will enjoy and where you can really make a difference.

If you have not yet filled out one of these cards, please consider it. The cards will be in the programs each of the next two Sundays. You can put them in the offering basket or you can hand it to any greeter, usher, or a the welcome or resource tables in the hallway. Thanks again. It’s an honor to work alongside you to reach people, change lives, and alter eternities.


Our Building
First and foremost, the builder tells us that the building is being manufactured right now and that steel is being fabricated. So, while we can’t see it, our building is being constructed at this very moment.

A year ago, I thought we’d almost be in it by now, but here we are with no concrete in the ground and no steel going up. I know that many of you are wondering, “what is the holdup?” or, worse, “is this thing really going to happen?” I assure you that it is going to happen. We are going to see concrete and steel. The contract with the builder is firm and the bank is ready with the money.

Some folks will ask a great question: “Why are we hiring more staff when we are trying to build a building? Can we really afford to do that?” Absolutely. As a matter of fact, we must continue to expand the infrastructure of our leaders, volunteers, and staff so that we can support a growing church. To not do this would have serious consequences, much like trying to build a large building on a small foundation. It simply wouldn’t hold up. The goal is not to move into our new building under any circumstances. The goal is to move in as a healthy and vibrant church. To do that, we must continue to support the growing demands of our church.


Reach: One Life at a Time
The Reach campaign is the primary way we are able to pay for our building. To date, we have received almost $900,000 in pledges from 150 families. This is something to celebrate, and I am grateful for the tremendous sacrifice that these folks have made. Still, we need to raise this to a total of $1.5 million. It can be done, and there are still many folks who are considering a commitment. Please pray about supporting this effort. Every commitment matters and every dollar helps. You can make a pledge by getting a campaign packet from the resource table, filling out the commitment card and putting in the offering or mailing it to the office.

There are several things we are doing to raise money, in addition to personal commitments. The Randy Lawson Concert, Golf Tournament, Auction, Food Lion gift card program and yard sale are all events that support our building fund. Keep your eyes open for the dates of these events. (The concert is this coming Saturday, March 8 and tickets can be purchased at the door.) We also have a growing group of folks who are creatively generating other ideas, such as the construction of a house with volunteer labor that we could sell. The proceeds from the profit on that house will make a major contribution to the building fund. I’ll share more details with you as I have them, but it’s possible that this project could generate considerably more than $100,000!


Guiding them to become fully devoted followers…
For years, one of the glaring deficiencies at PCC was in the area of discipleship, or spiritual growth. It’s not that people haven’t grown spiritually, it’s just that we have never had a plan for helping people get there. Discipleship happened only for folks who knew where to look, knew what to do, or just stumbled into discipleship almost by accident.

So, last summer, I took our staff on a retreat and said, “we’re not leaving until we come up with a solution.” They stepped up and delivered a home run. We call it i.D. because Discipleship is about knowing and growing in your identity as a Christ follower. It consists of four areas: Identify, Involve, Invest, and Impact. We will offer classes, seminars and retreats in each of these areas that are designed to meet the needs of a wide range of people. Further, we will expand the course offerings over time.

We are doing our part to offer you the tools to grow spiritually. I hope that you will take advantage of this new and exciting venture. Brochures are in the hallway on Sunday mornings and information is also available on the website.


The Fear of the Large Church
There is a popular perception that large churches are bad, impersonal, and don’t really care. This is not true, of course, because if it was the church would never become large. Who would go to a church that didn’t care or treated people like a number? Still, those who have been here for a couple of years have seen the church almost double in size during that time. I understand that this can lead us to feel like the church no longer needs you or no longer cares. So, I close this letter by reminding you of 2 things:

1) The small group is where you are cared for and remembered. They are the one’s who know if you miss a Sunday and call to be sure you are OK. They are the ones who will care for you when you are sick, pray for you when you are discouraged, celebrate with you when you have a victory, hold you to the promises you made to your family, and journey with you as you discover yourself and God in new ways. If you are not in a small group, it’s no wonder you feel like nobody knows who you are. It is critical that you make some lasting connections through personal friendships. If you don’t know how to get in a small group, have questions, or would like to get connected, please do not hesitate to call or email us. We want to help.

2) A large church like PCC is capable of reaching hundreds or thousands of people. Why? Well, it’s simple: people who don’t go to church are willing to come and check it out only if they can do so anonymously! During the last PCC101 class, I heard from four different people who had not been going to church anywhere say that the reason they came back was because they were allowed to come, sit, and leave without talking to anyone. They were greeted with a smile, of course, but not put on the spot. Large churches naturally allow for anonymity simply because new people don’t stand out. Of course, we have to make clear avenues for people to make connections when they are ready, but allowing them to slip in and slip out for a while is critical. This is one of the unique ways God is allowing us to reach people on our community.

My friends, we are well on our way to accomplishing our mission and reach thousands of people with the truth about Jesus Christ. He will change their lives, make their homes better, give them hope and peace and joy, and guarantee them an eternity in heaven. And through it all, God will transform our community. There is no more important work we can do in our lives! None! So, on behalf of the hundreds who have already been changed and the thousands who are on their way, I thank you – for your tireless effort, your loyal commitment, your spirit of unity, your tangible dedication to Jesus Christ.

Can’t wait to see what’s next…



Brian

P.S.
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