State of the church (Revisited)

Back on February 2, I delivered the State of the Church message, recapping what God had done in 2019, looking at where we were at the moment, and casting a vision for the months ahead.

Six weeks later, everything changed and the last 28 weeks have tossed everything up into the air. As elders, we believed that re-visiting that State of the Church message would be a good idea as we launch our new ministry year in the midst of the ongoing pandemic.

Complete Livestream Service

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Sermon Notes

State of the Church (Re-visited)
Todd Dugard

September 27, 2020

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Thom Rainer quotes:

• At least 20 percent of those who attended before the pandemic will not return to church
• More pastors will leave vocational ministry over the next twelve months than any time in recent history.
• Churches will move to a new emphasis on conversion growth
• Churches will start more churches, many of them as microchurches
• Two movements will grow rapidly: church adoption and church fostering

https://churchanswers.com/blog/five-ways-churches-will-have-changed-one-year-from-now/

https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/opinion-its-time-to-hand-churches-back-to-communities-that-need-them

Financial Update

As of Sept 20:
Budgeted to receive  $ 974,000
Actual Received  $ 1,049,000
Surplus to date $   75,000

Account balances:
Current account $  43,000
HOPE $  24,000
Savings/Reserve $ 211,000
Building Fund $ 135,000

Debt:
1st Mortgage  $2,300,000 (purchase of 7 George Street)
2nd Mortgage $  735,000 (residual construction loan)

Pandemic Ideology

My undergraduate degree was in Classics and Religious Studies. I took two science courses. Neither were in epidemiology. My Masters degree did not require me to take any additional science classes. Thus, I do not feel confident in disagreeing with the medical professionals in our community. That isn’t a lack of courage, that is self awareness.

If there was an evident malice in the decision making of our health unit toward the church I would take a different stance, but they’ve been fantastic with us and we will, once again, be hosting the largest public gathering in our city this coming Sunday so, for now, until someone with some actual science training can prove to me that this virus is a hoax or a non-event in terms of consequences, I am going to take reasonable precautions out of love for my neighbours. Here I stand and all that...
Paul Carter

It’s tiring for us pastors to be attacked for “lacking courage” because we happen to think public health officials know more about epidemiology than we do.
Maybe it’s courage to submit to expertise even though we hate what this virus is doing to public worship more than anyone.
Chris Hutchinson

February 2, 2020 State of the Church message
https://www.harvestbarrie.ca/sermons/state-of-the-church/