Starting The Search...

The deacons have named a Pastor Search Committee – Kim Bass, Wade Collier, Terri Johnson, Arlette McCann, Tony Morales, Keith Thompson and Gerry Yutuc. Arlette was selected as Chair at their first meeting on Wednesday evening, May 5.

The Committee prayed, then got organized, and everyone was given the opportunity to share their hearts and thoughts. Everyone is still grieving and missing Pastor Ken, but everyone agreed that it would be Pastor Ken's most sincere desire that the Committee be careful to listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit as they work. The Committee believes that God has already prepared a man to lead us, and that we simply have to obey as He directs us to that man.

The Committee decided to pray individually for a week, and to perhaps fast one of those days. They ask that the entire Argyle family join them in praying and fasting as they seek out God's will, and listen for His voice.

The Committee will meet again on Wednesday, May 12. Until then, continue with them in prayer.

Picking Up The Pieces...

It has been a whirlwind since Easter. Many of us are still dealing with the loss of Pastor Ken, and some of us (Hal & Amy) are also dealing with deaths within their own families.

In the middle of all this, the church and its work have to go on. It is a sad truth that in the long view of the church, we are all expendable. The only certainty we face is that, until Jesus returns, the work of the church has to continue. We are still sad, we have to get back to what we are called to do.

I was asked Sunday, "What do the sheep do when the shepherd is gone?" The answer is, there are several shepherds, not just one. Sundays will never again include Pastor Ken teaching us, but there will always be a Sunday morning at Argyle. God will be praised, joyful voices will raise Him up, prayerful people will celebrate as the Gospel is proclaimed. Children and students will be loved and challenged with Scriptural truth, converts will be baptized and people will be encouraged in their spiritual growth.

Our By-Laws provide for transition. Our deacons have selected a Pastor Search Committee. Kim Bass, Wade Collier, Terri Johnson,  Phil Massicotte, Arlette McCann, Tony Morales, Keith Thompson, and Gerry Yutuc have already started the process that will lead to selecting our next Senior Pastor. Pray for them and pray for our fellowship to listen closely as God speaks to us about what He has in mind for us as we continue our journey with Him. We have a great past, but our greatest years lie in our future!

Hal Hunter
Ministry Pastor

Card Response...

Last week we asked our people to fill out cards to both update our people database, and to let us know about spiritual decisions they had made.

We had a great response- well over 200 cards were completed. A lot of those were from people who had made spiritual decisions, such as wanting to join the church, wanting to be baptised, or telling us about their salvation decision.

The problem is, we need to talk to all of those people- and there don't seem to be enough hours in the day. If you are one of them, don't get too impatient- we will get to you as soon as possible. If you have a few minutes to spare one weekday, call me in the office between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm, and we can take care of things in just a few minutes.

Hal Hunter

Ministry Pastor

All Star Survey.. Part I

We have carefully reviewed all of the All Star Surveys. If you haven't already participated, you can click here to complete the survey.

We are going to use this blog to discuss some of the results.

Several people mentioned they thought we ought to be be doing an invitation or altar call. First, we may need to explain what this is for those who didn't grow up in a church that does this.

An altar call or invitation is usually given at the end of the service. The pastor invites people who have made a spiritual decision to come forward. It is usually accompanied by music, lasts several minutes to perhaps ten minutes, with periodic exhortations from the pastor to those who may be considering a decision.

We stopped doing a traditional invitation several years ago, and we did it for several good reasons.

• There is no Scriptural mandate for it- it is first documented being used in a form we would recognize today during what is known as The Second Great Awakening, a great period of revival that began in the 1820's.
  
• Many people find it intimidating to respond to a spiritual call in the presence of what might be hundreds of strangers. Remember, public speaking or doing something in fron of a crowd, is one of the greatest fears of most people.
• It can lead to "emotional" responses, rather than genuine responses to the Holy Spirit.

In fact, at the end of every Worship Gathering, people are invited to talk to Pastor Ken, me, or a member of the Prayer Team. Also, we encourage people to contact us by telephone, email, or to come by the office during the week.

Almost every week we speak at length with someone who has questions or who has made a spiritual decision of some type. We are not missing opportunities by not doing an invitation- we are simply eliminating the intimidation factor.

Hal Hunter
Ministry Pastor

Getting In The Game...

Pasor Ken began a new series on September 14- Getting In The Game. It's all about people moving from being consumers to being communers. The first step in getting involved is to understand the game and the playing field.

At Argyle, some people (usually those with at least some background of church experience) come in and find that we do things a lot differently than they are used to. Everything we do is for a purpose, and everything you see (or don't see) is intentional.

Our leadership uses an approach discussed in a book we think every member of the Argyle family should read- 7 Practices of Effective Ministry, by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner and Lane Jones.

The first practice is to clarify the win. It is how we identify the important things we are trying to achieve, communicate what we want our people to do, and know when and what to celebrate.

We have talked about this before. Check here and here. We aren't really interested in numbers at Argyle- we are interested in changed lives.

The next couple days we will be discussing what we consider some wins here at Argyle. If you have questions, leave a comment, or check out our web site, or contact us.

Hal Hunter