A few short weeks ago I preached about the fact that progress leads to obstacles. You never run into obstacles unless you are moving. I would also offer this for your consideration… that progress also brings change! There have been some changes around the church in the last month or so, and there are more coming. Change is hard, but good, and I want to reassure you that there are good reasons behind the changes that we are implementing. Let me share with you some of the changes that have been made and what our reasoning was behind them.
First of all, you may have noticed that the lobby has new tables and stools in it for gathering, and soon there will be a small counter for coffee in that area as well. Since North Avenue is a church that places high value on relationships, and since I, your pastor, feel that building relationships is key to any ministry, we have decided to make space in our building where relationships can be built and maintained. We hope that this new sitting area will become a place where people will stop and talk, and get to know each other and especially newcomers, as they come into the church. The tables and stools were paid for with memorial funds so as not to impact our operating budget. I want to encourage you to sit and visit with others before and after worship this Sunday. It is always easier to be on mission with people you know, and who know you.
Next, you may have noticed some new signage and even a yellow line that leads people to where “check-in” will take place for children. All of this is an attempt to make our building more welcoming and user friendly to newcomers. We are also planning to place a welcome center in the lobby so that it can function as a center of communication for both visitors and seasoned saints. If you are a person who enjoys welcoming newcomers and you might be willing to stand behind the welcome center and help people find the information that they are looking for, please call me, email me, or write me a note on your connection card . We have also placed more signs at the back entrance of the church, with the hope that if visitors do find the lower parking lot that they will be able to make their way through the building and find where they need to go. On that same note, I want to challenge some of you who are regular attendees to park in the lower lot so that our visitors can find parking in the upper lot and enter through the main entrance. We have moved some of the coat racks to the stairwell and hallway near the kitchen so that people who use the back entrance will have a place to hang their coats, and we are also planning some decorations to make that entrance more inviting to all who use it. IF YOU EVER find that door locked before church, please let us know immediately so that we can make sure that it is open and available every Sunday morning.
Another change will be in the area of our children’s’ ministries. “The Zone,” our children’s program that meets during the second service, will be moving to the large open area in the children’s center. We have received a financial gift, and have used that along with some more memorial funds and a contribution from the Children’s Center to purchase equipment which will be needed for the Zone as well as for the North Avenue Children’s Center. This change will allow us to keep the children in one contained area and will offer a far superior level of safety and security. Along that same line, we will be moving the nursery to the baby room in the Children’s Center as well. It is already equipped to provide excellent care for babies, and with a few minor adjustments will be ready for all kids 2 years old and younger. We will be staffing the nursery with one trained worker for each service, each week to provide consistency so that the parents will see the same faces there to greet them (as much as possible). These workers will be trained by Sandy, our NACC Director, to follow the very same procedures as the daycare does to ensure quality care on Sunday morning. It is our hope that these measures will help parents to feel even more comfortable utilizing our nursery. As always, children are welcome in our services, but we also want to make it as comfortable as possible for parents who would like to bring their children to the nursery so that they can focus on worship. We will continue to utilize volunteers in addition to the regular nursery staff for extra help. A third change in the children’s area will be the moving of the 5th-6th grade Sunday school class to the lower level, which will allow all of the kids 6th grade and below to be in one designated area on Sunday mornings. Again we feel that this will provide an added level of security and safety to our children’s ministries so that our workers can focus on teaching.
These changes in the children’s area will only succeed if we renew our resolve to use the check-in system for all kids under 5th grade, including, and especially our babies. There will be check-in stations in convenient locations so that parents will be able to check their kids in and be assured that they are safe. In addition, we will be limiting access to the children’s area to those who have children, or are working in this area. Thank you for your patience as we work out all of the details related to these changes.
As a byproduct of making some of these moves, we are also gaining a few rooms that were formerly unavailable to us. Since we are combining the nursery upstairs with the baby room downstairs, we will gain the two rooms formerly used as the nursery for new offices or classrooms. Sickal Hall will now be available on Sunday mornings for extended fellowship, and there will be less setup and tear down for our maintenance staff each week. This will also allow Sickal Hall to be used for more athletic events and other things during the times that it would have been set up for Sunday morning in the past. We will gain a classroom upstairs that was vacated by the 5th-6th graders, which will allow for more adult Sunday School offerings.
Another very exciting change is the acquisition of property on the south side of our parking lot. The owner of the land to the south of us has given us a 75×330 foot parcel which will allow us to expand our parking area and add more spaces. This was in the works before I came and has recently been completed thanks to the efforts of Roy Krontz and others. There will be a work day in the Fall to begin clearing brush and making the property usable.
As I said at the beginning of this email, change is hard, but good…but hard. If you have any questions or concerns about some of the changes that are being made, please don’t hesitate to call me, email me, or just stop by. Remember: progress leads to change, but change can also lead to more progress.
An answer to the question…"What is he thinking?!?"
