Life Church Family:

In some churches, member meetings are contentious affairs – marked by disunity, dissension, and discouragement. By God’s grace, covenant member meetings at Life Church are different. Our meeting on August 25 was a time of reflection, celebration, and encouragement in light of what the Lord has done and is doing through and in our church family.

At our most recent meeting, we installed four deacons – the first in Life Church’s history. These members will serve our church, assisting the elders in caring for church members and church ministries. With joy we recognized George Pless as a deacon of outside facility care, Catherine Soderberg as a deacon of prayer, Brittney Wagner as a deacon of connections and women’s ministry, and Claire Crabb as a deacon of children’s ministry.

In addition, our members unanimously approved the statement of faith the elders proposed to the church a year ago. Our new statement of faith outlines the truths that bind us together and form the basis of our unity. We are grateful for the congregation’s support as we sought to clarify our positions on the doctrines essential to the gospel and to our life as a church.

Finally, the elders and finance team acknowledged the challenge presented by our church’s giving year-to-date. Giving has lagged behind our budgeted need by roughly $50,000 this year. While our spending has also been conservative – we’ve spent roughly $30,000 less than projected – this shortfall will impact our ministry plans for the coming year if things do not improve. We trust that the Lord will provide exactly what we need, and that his idea of what we need is even better than our own. Having said that, we do ask and pray that each of us will consider additional ways we can be generous and sacrificial in our giving to the Lord’s work – this year and beyond.

On behalf of the elders, thank you. It is a joy to serve you and serve with you.

Blessings in Christ,

Pastor James