Nov. 2019 Pastor’s Report
Though it has not been a full year since our last meeting, it is still worth taking a look at what has transpired throughout the year so far and continuing to look forward to what God may do in our future. I know that it has been a difficult year for many of you with the difficult winter and soggy conditions throughout the rest of the year, but it is encouraging to see the strength of your faith in God’s providence. I spend time praying for all of you throughout the week and I praise God for the work that I see him doing in your lives and in the life of our church.
This year has seen a few changes to ongoing ministries that will hopefully prove greatly beneficial. Our children’s Sunday school has begun to use a new unified curriculum that has all age groups on the same passage every week. This allows an easier time for the Sunday school teachers in preparation and an opportunity for parents to speak with children in different age groups about the same lesson. The Mom-to-Mom ministry has replaced MOPs because of theological concerns with the MOPs organization but otherwise continues to be a great way for our church to connect with young families in the area. The decision to move the meeting to Selby will hopefully bring with it more involvement from ladies who would be less willing to travel to Akaska to attend the study. The Fellowship nights have been and enjoyable opportunity to grow together as a church family. We have a strong bond in this church, and they are an additional opportunity to strengthen those ties.
We have been able to have a number of different special events throughout the year which have gone well thanks to the dedicated involvement of the members of our church; events such as the Gumbo Gopher 5k, the SonRise concert, and our Mission Fest just the other week.
I have been continuing to learn about ministry in rural context and find different ways to be effective in ministering both to the members of our church and in reaching out to the community at large. I am hoping to continue to grow my time visiting with the members of our church on a regular basis and find ways to equip you for life and service in God’s Kingdom. My ministry in the community continues to grow. In addition to being part of the Selby Ministerial and subbing in the school on a regular basis, I have joined the golf club and am connecting with more people outside of our church in the hopes of evangelizing. CJ and I have also been working to open our home to those in our community by inviting people over for dinner and game nights.
Though some of my plans for reaching the community like the door-to-door evangelism and the marriage class that were planned for this past summer and failed to materialized the way I had hoped, I trust that God will use both myself and this church to be a light in this community moving forward.
Pastor Scott Nelson