Quarterly Newsletter: Winter 2010

Mike and Sandy Swagerty As I write this letter we are entering not just a new year, but a new decade. Soon it will be time for our president to make his “state of the union” address, and give us his impressions of where we are as a nation. I would like to take that same approach and give you my impressions of where we are as a congregation after the last decade of “doing church”.

On my office wall is a one page document that reads at the top “Summary of Values, Mission and Strategy”. This document we put together in a series of 12 town hall meetings back in the year of 2000. In it we projected our hopes and dreams for the future. I want to look back and see what worked and what didn’t and perhaps why? I think this is helpful because it will give us a point of reference for trying to determine what we want to do for the Kingdom of God in our future.

Some of the items mentioned on this document had to do with outreach around our meeting place; Valley Community Church. We mailed out flyers, went door to door with some, put a sign up out front, and did some local “seeker” activities. For the most part although well intentioned, they were totally ineffective. But this failure in strategy taught me a valuable lesson: we are not like other churches. We are not built around a community, and probably will never be. Unfortunately our DNA left us scattered all over the map from Placerville to Woodland to Auburn to Elk Grove and even some occasionally coming from Chico, Yuba City and Oroville. It is hard to sustain anything in the community around the building when most members will only be able to come there once a week. But this does not mean we have been ineffective in Kingdom work for God. It simply means we adapt a different strategy. Let me elaborate.

Our strength is our 30 and 40 year friendships and the love and warmth that have been developed over the years. While any new comer who visits with us is made welcome and loved, the days in America of expecting significant new growth to come to your church door is over. This is especially so with a commuter church like ours. You may be willing to drive a half hour or more to come to church each week, but chances are your neighbor is not. So what to do? Two things: join with other Christians in what they are doing, and take our church back to our circles of influence and do Kingdom work there. Let me elaborate on these two strategies.

Nearly a decade ago we joined forces with a sister church in Bogota, Columbia. With resources we provided they purchased a church building for their neighborhood congregation, they purchased radio time to attract newcomers, they have planted churches, conducted marriage enrichment seminars for the public, and continue to grow. This is joining forces with other Christians. While the harvest may not be great in Northern California, it is in Bogota. We also joined hands with Word of Life summer camp. Over the past decade dozens and dozens of youth, both in and outside of our local congregation have been sponsored to camp and now know Jesus much better as a result of the experience. They have experienced that the Christian faith can be fun! We have also shared our sermons and church services with hundreds of scattered members of the body of Christ literally around the world by DVD’s and access to our church website and the audio messages there. The number of donors who help us out financial from this group now outnumbers the donors in our Sacramento congregation. And the number continues to grow each year.

One other growing ministry we have is our Compassion Outreach. Both individually and as a congregation we have partnered with other Christian groups who are taking the message of Jesus seriously to minister to the most needy and vulnerable in our communities. We hope to expand this awareness and involvement in the coming years.

As you can see we have been used by Christ to accomplish a lot of Kingdom work in the past few years. While we have to go about things a little differently than the “average” church, the bottom line is still the same: Christ is being preached, and people are being loved in His name through our efforts.

My plans for the new decade are simple: Keep doing the things that are bearing fruit and pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to new opportunities. All the while letting the world see the love we have one for another, which is the sign Jesus gave that we are His people.

You will find several items in this mailing. Your annual receipt for donations in 2009. Please keep this for your tax records. A 2010 activity calendar of the main events we will be engaged in. A compassion outreach calendar highlighting various ministries each month. A financial statement of income and outgo for 2009, and our 2010 budget. And finally a flyer for our winter social coming up on February 13th. If you have questions or comments on any of these, please direct them to me or the person in charge of each area.

Have a blessed New Year. As one person so well expressed our calling, “keep the faith and spread it.”

With Christian love,
Mike Swagerty,
your pastor and brother in Christ

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