I hate goodbyes, and soon I am going to have to say goodbye to a dear friend and ministry partner. Our Youth Minister, Chad Cronin, is leaving SLCC. Chad has accepted a position as a Community Life Pastor at 2|42 Community Church in Brighton, Michigan and will be leaving here sometime in the next sixty days.
Chad and Jenny came to us in 2008 and have had an immeasurable impact on our student ministry. During his time here, dozens of students have come to faith in Christ and tens of dozens have written new chapters in their faith stories. Chad’s leadership, passion and energy will be missed! He and Jenny will always have a special place in our hearts and will always be a part of our SLCC family.
Our staff and elder team will be meeting over the course of the next couple of weeks to determine what happens next. With every transition there is an opportunity to revisit where we are and where we want to go. To that end, we will be determining how best to allocate the ministry resources available to us as we go forward in determining our staffing needs. Of this we are certain: our staff and elders are committed to reaching the next generation with the hope of Jesus Christ and will continue to pursue effectiveness and excellence in student ministry.
Along the way we will do our very best to communicate where we are at in the process of filling the vacancy resulting from Chad’s departure.
Our mission as a church is to “help people write the next chapter of their faith stories.” I believe that is what Chad and Jenny are doing – writing a new chapter. Sometimes it hurts when our stories diverge for a season, but there is joy in knowing that a reunion lies at the end of this journey where “goodbyes” will be no more. In the meantime, please join me in wishing Chad, Jenny, Jonah and Charlie all the very best as they begin their new chapter.
Frank E. Weller
A Remarkable VBS!
Over the last seven years, the Monday after VBS brings up two big questions: "Did VBS accomplish what we had hoped?" and "Did we hit our mark?" I'm glad to say the answer to both of those is yes! We had a remarkable week! Maybe that's because we focused on Jesus' words in Mark 12:29-31
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength...‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
The concept is simple-when someone loves God with everything, they'll love others by SERVING them. As followers of Jesus, service is what we do-it's like our trademark. Each evening kids were presented with what the Bible says about SERVING Family, Friends, Neighbors, Community and Jesus. We also brought in people from the Marketplace to share how they SERVE others at work and why it's so important. Our real benchmark of success was to get kids SERVING. Learning is one thing-actually SERVING is another! Kids made thank you cards on Monday (think Hallmark), served a snack on Tuesday, tied fleece blankets on Wednesday, wrote sweet thank you notes for Police & Firefighters on Thursday and designed Skateboards decks for Urban Impact Ministry on Friday!
I'm still searching for words to describe the generosity of the kids! They were remarkably selfless, and brought in change each night for Urban Impact Missionaries Habacuc & Liz Cohoon. By the end of the week, their grand total was $576.48!
We believe that God does great things in and through kids. His influence was visible in how freely and enthusiastically kids SERVED during the week. It's with confidence and joy that I can honestly say that these kids hit the mark!
A Simple Secret
What happens when you take a group of our high school students, put them in a few large vans, add some amazing adult volunteers and go away for a week to CIY Move in Holland, MI? Two words: life change. CIY Move is the summer camp experience we offer our high school students every year. This organization does consistently great ministry. Each year when we ask our graduating seniors to share some of their favorite memories from their years in our student ministry this event constantly comes up as a highlight. So what is it about this week that makes such a lasting impact? What's the secret?
At this event there are nationally recognized speakers, worship bands, and entertainment... but I don't think this is the secret to Move's impact. There are small groups, nightly youth group time, and all kinds of tournaments and even a day at Lake Michigan. I don't believe this is the secret to the spiritual impact either. I think after several years of leading students to week's of camp like this I have finally figured out where the impact comes from. Yes, all the aforementioned aspects of this week help, but I think the real impact is a pretty simple secret really. Ready for it? An expectation for God to move in our lives. I think the week away from all of the distracting and contradicting voices in students' lives and being in a place where God's voice is expected and given time to be heard opens up hearts and minds to the things He has been trying to get our attention with. The things we have been too busy to listen to. The things that we have been too distracted to hear. The things that draw us closer to Him and His purpose for our life. And the kicker is, we can experience this right here in our weekly routine. Right here in Lansing we can live in a way that expects God to show up as we draw near to Him.
James 4:7,8 states it pretty clearly as James addresses the scattered church with these words. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Don't get me wrong, I love the bands and the teaching and all that goes into a week of camp, but at the heart of the impact is the simple secret we can all follow each and every average day, drawing near to God.