It Is The Best Of Times.....The Worst Of Times

I had lunch on Wednesday and Tuesday with men who do not attend our church. During our conversation both of them asked me; "how is the horrible economy affecting the church?" I bet I get asked that a least 5 times a day?

The answer......"It is the best and worst times all together!"

Over the last 8 weeks we have enjoyed a great spirit of anticipation of our new name and the anniversary "10 service project tour". The energy and excitement is high. We have had our highest attendance ever on Sundays over the last 8 weeks. On Wednesday nights, Team Kid and Pursuit are blowing the doors off! We have had many new singles and families come and join Team Church and get involved in our One Purpose. We are set to launch our new campus in Lancaster Co. and the first "pre-view" service was great. We have purchased the 40 additional acres (we now have 60 total acres) behind us as the family gave us owner financing with nothing due for 2 years. It really has been a great few months! Our staff was committing the other day how healthy our church is from the inside out.

However, these are also some challenging times. The national economic crisis has finally hit the Charlotte area and of course, Team Church. Like most companies, non-profits and churches....Team Church is feeling the affect of people losing their jobs, homes and lifestyle. We are seeing a considerable drop off of people giving financially to the church. Moreover, the amount of people who have lost jobs means that some families have stopped giving all together as they are not making anything to tithe from.

I am sad to have to share with you that the recent trends in our giving and the outlook for the next few months has forced us to lay off two of our part-time staff immediately. Stacey Sutton and Chris Faulkner have been laid off with the promise of re-hire as soon as we can. These two have done a great job and their departure has nothing to do with how they performed...we just have to make some hard decisions. Moreover, we have informed another full-time staff that if things don't turn around soon we would need to reduce them to 3/4 time at 30 hours a week.

These are challenging days....but I assured our staff that God was is control and that our faith was in His strong hands. I am praying and having faith that we will not have to trim another staff members hours and also bring back the others very soon. Part of tonight's Prayer and Care night will be for our church as well as all the individual families.

While reading this good and bad news you may be wondering....."If finances are so tough at the church, why would the leadership start a new campus in Lancaster Co. and buy more land? Great question! The answer is easy....

1) We are a tithing church. For 10 years....whatever comes in financially...10% goes back out to some form of mission that does not directly affect our church here. Currently our 10% goes to two churches in Ethiopia as we fully support the salaries of the pastors there, we also support the church planting/coaching network that we helped launch so that new pastors and churches can be trained. Also, a portion of that 10% goes to the campus in Lancaster County. That 10% has been set aside to always go somewhere else....we can't start going against that God honoring value now.

2) Because of the financial crisis we knew the country was heading in, we were willing to let the land contract go and told the owners this. They, of course, really believe in what we are doing and want us to have the land. They were willing to take a low down payment and then give us two years of no payment and no interest. The down payment came from a few specific donors who gave the money specifically for the down payment so we could buy the land. As you know, legally and morally money given specifically for land or buildings cannot be used for anything else. The land purchase is not affecting our current budget as we owe nothing for 2 years.

The reasons for the layoffs is simple....our budget giving has dipped even though our attendance has gone up. People who have jobs... but high gas prices and the like have caused them to stop giving to the church. Those who have lost jobs have also in many cases stopped giving all together.

So what do we do......we trust God that he will encourage all our people to give as he directs. We will pray knowing that God is in charge and that if we the church put our trust in Him and obey his will....we will be fine.

Don't forget that our Celebrate Recovery is here every Friday night to help those who need it!

Here is what James says

James 1:2-8

Faith and Endurance

"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."