Congregational Meeting
January 29, 2006

 

  1. Introduction & Five-Year Goals Revisited: Don Adair

Goals are like the rudder of a ship - they provide direction.  In August 2004, the Elders of this congregation presented a list of 15 five-year goals.  An update on five of those goals follows:

  1. Foreign Evangelism - Our number two goal is to reinstate and increase support for foreign evangelists.  We are happy to report that in 2005, we began supporting Igor Sterjantinkov, a full-time preacher in Russia.
     

  2. Radio Program - Our goal is to implement a call-in radio program by year 3 (2007).  Edwin was involved in a successful radio program in Beaumont, TX, and if the funds become available, we would like to give him the opportunity to implement a similar program here in Franklin.
     

  3. Elders & Deacons - Our goal is to appoint additional Elders and Deacons as required.  This past year, we appointed two new deacons, Steve Garrett and Mark Jones, to serve in the area of education by coordinating Bible classes and curriculum development.
     

  4. New Converts Workshop - Our goal is to conduct monthly workshops for new or weak members.  The workshop has been developed and is available when needed.
     

  5. Young Men's Training - Our goal is to develop training classes for members that are not comfortable with serving in the assemblies.  We are happy to report that Steve Garrett developed and conducted a very successful training class in 2005 for our young men.

  1. Evangelism: Edwin Crozier

The Franklin Church will focus its efforts on evangelism in 2006.  The past couple years were devoted to healing old wounds and rebuilding a strong spiritual and educational foundation, and now we are ready for a turnaround.

  1. Guest Follow-up - Non-Christians from the community who visit our assemblies are top prospects as we focus on evangelism in 2006.  

    Three "Goals with Guests" were identified at the first formal meeting to discuss how to reach these prospects:
     

    1. Guest reception

    2. Guest information

    3. Guest follow-up

    In addition, ten "Roles in Guest Evangelism" were defined and assigned to various members of the congregation, including:
     

    1. Prayers

    2. Greeters

    3. Escorts

    4. Databasers

    5. Card distributors

    6. E-mailers

    7. Writers

    8. Callers

    9. 5-minute visitors

    10. Hospitality providers

    The timetable for implementation of this outreach effort is as follows:
     

    1. February 26:  Training

    2. March 5:  Kick-off

    3. July & February:  Training & reassignment (6-month commitments)

    4. Monthly update meetings

    5. May:  Guest newsletter
       

  2. Gospel Meeting - Max Dawson will present a series of six lessons on the Holy Spirit.  Mark your calendar for April 23rd - 26th, and invite your friends and neighbors to take advantage of this learning opportunity.
     

  3. Fall Focus - The topic of our 3rd Annual Fall Focus is "The Sermon on the Mount."  Edwin and several guest speakers will be presenting lessons on Jesus' exemplary teaching contained in this great sermon.  Invite all your friends and neighbors to be our guest for this series of lessons on God's Kingdom, which will run from October 1st - November 5th.

The gospel meeting and fall focus are effectively achieving one of our five-year goals, that is, to plan and implement annual lecture series on specific topics designed to increase our spiritual strength.

  1. Education: Mark Jones

  1. Vacation Bible School - Our number three goal was to start an annual Vacation Bible School in 2005.  This past June, we accomplished that goal by conducting our first VBS, and the theme was "We Believe."  This theme of Christian evidences will be extended and expanded upon over the next three years.  The topic for this year's VBS, which is scheduled for June 26th - June 29th, will be "God Created the World and Me."  Matt Hennecke will be the guest speaker in the adult class.  

    The lessons planned are as follows:

  1. Monday.....God Is: Philosophical Evidence

  2. Tuesday:....God Created the Universe: Evidence from Space and Scientific Law

  3. Wednesday.....God Created the World: Evidence from Geology and the Fossil Record

  4. Thursday.....God Created Me: Evidence from the Body

  1. Bible Class Curriculum - Our number four goal included implementation of a new Bible class curriculum, and we have chosen "Our Spiritual Heritage."

    This material is designed to teach children that:

  1. God is wonderfully wise.

  2. God has great plans for us.

  3. The world around us shows God's wisdom and power.

  4. The Bible demonstrates that God is the hero of history.  God is great and God is good.

  5. We bring glory to God by learning about His plans for us and by living according to His plans.

  6. We can learn to praise God in Bible class and at home as a family.

    This curriculum presents Bible stories through the investigation method of when, who, what, why and where.
     

  7. When:  A chronological outline of the Bible story is learned through Heading cards that divide the Bible into 9 historical time periods, 1) Before the world began, God made a great plan, 2) First Fathers, 3) Moses, 4) Joshua and Judges, 5) Kings, 6) Homesick Heroes, 7) Home Again Heroes, 8) Christ: God's Great Plan, and 9) I build on God's plan.  Every Bible story is learned in the context of time, the "big" picture, and how that person is part of God's plan for us.  God is always shown to be the hero of every story!

  8. Who:  The student learns to place Bible heroes in the proper time period through the study of many faith-building themed units such as God is Wise or stories of Light and Water.

  9. What and Why:  From these unit studies the student also learns to match Bible story facts to the Bible heroes.

  10. Where in the World and Where in the Bible:  Every lesson is taught emphasizing its geographic location.  The student learns to locate key locations on maps of Bible lands.  Seeing pictures of the Bible lands brings the stories to life and shows the students that we are talking about real people who lived in real places that can be visited today.  The children will also learn to correlate the books of the Bible to the historical time periods.

    There are some things that are different about this curriculum than other methods.  For this curriculum to be effective, the teachers, students and parents must be partners.
     

  11. The teachers will make extensive preparations so the class time will be profitable.  This study is very visual and hands on.  The teachers may need help with classroom set up, lesson duplication, bulletin boards and preparation of visuals.  Everyone can be involved in assisting the teachers.

  12. The students need to attend class regularly, be punctual, bring their Bibles and materials to class each time, and study the lessons at home.

  13. A key ingredient of this program is the parent/child activities that will come home in the student notebook each week.  Notice the sheets say Parent and Child Activity!  These sheets include the story, scripture worksheets, activities, and a prayer suggestion sheet.  These tools promote family Bible study and prayer throughout the week.  Parent involvement is essential to the growth of the student.

    This method has proven itself to be very effective for long-term learning and true understanding of God's place in every Bible story and in our lives.  In just a couple of class periods, your child will be able to tell you the nine-step story of God's plan.  Your child will soon know where major Bible people fall into that timeline and how they are all part of God's big plan.  Your child will become familiar with the geography of the Bible stories.  But more importantly, your child will build faith in our awesome God.  How wonderful it is to present the Bible stories in the context of God's great plan for all of us!

  1. Quarter Shift - The quarterly shifts will occur one month sooner than they have in the past.  Under the new schedule, quarters will begin in March, June, September, and December.

  1. Finances: David Coleman

  1. Contribution - One of our five-year goals is to improve our contributions by 10% each year.  In 2005, our contributions increased 5%.  While we fell short of our goal last year, we are headed in the right direction.  

    As previously mentioned, we achieved in 2005 our goal of supporting a foreign evangelist by sending $600 monthly to Igor Sterjantinkov in Russia.  However, many of our other five-year goals are contingent upon available funding, such as the radio program, so reaching our goal of increasing contributions 10% each year continues to be of utmost importance.
     

  2. Budget - The budget committee should complete its work on the 2006 budget within the next couple weeks.  There are no secrets in the operating budget, so feel free to inquire if you have questions about the figures.
     

  3. Capital Improvement - Funding will be required soon for major repairs & maintenance, including a new roof, carpeting, and parking lot resurfacing.  Once again, achieving our contributions goal will allow us to address these concerns on a timely basis.

 

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