Published April 6, 2017
Northridge Church, Rochester, New York
Aaron
Ministry Highlights
Celebration Service – On March 26th, we brought our whole church together for one service in one location. It was incredible! Also, this was the Sunday when we asked for commitments to the capital campaign. We intended to raise $500,000 and in the end raised over $1,000,000! I’m excited to see how God uses those funds and his people to make a difference in our area.
New Systems – This month was heavily focused on creating systems, processes, and a meeting structure that would set up the next group of leaders to succeed in Youth Ministry. Much of what has happened around our team has happened “organically” through a loose knit series of meetings that we called ad hoc in order to get things done. This will no longer work with a larger more complex team, so we re-engineered the system, and I think it is working well.
Student Life Change and Attendance– This month was a cool combination of BIG numbers and great individual stories. One student came to Christ who attends a charter school in our area… he first came because the building was warm and we had food. He placed his faith in Christ and is now in our baptism process! Also, we broke our “normal youth group night” attendance record 2 weeks in a row after not having youth group for 2 weeks due to bad weather! Normally, an erratic schedule like that produces LOW attendance, but we have seen a surge this spring that is incredible!
Key Prayer Requests
Henrietta Campus – Praise: we have raised the funds! During this month, I’ll be meeting with the Portable Church company that outfits our campus AND following up with those who are interested in attending this campus. Lots to do!
BABY! – Greyson is AWESOME! We’re praying he continues to grow and develop and that we are the parents God wants us to be for him.
Finish Strong – With the final weeks of this internship looming, I really need diligence to keep focused on the things I need to get done. It’s easy to get complacent as the finish line gets close, but I need to stay vigilant!
Prominent Lessons
One week this month, I had a dessert reception for leaders in the core of our church every night. It was a really significant time for me because these desserts were designed to cast a vision for what is next in the life of church – namely, the campus that I will be pastoring. I was honored by the opportunity to be a part of these desserts, and I was struck with the important of VISION and BUY IN. In leadership, people BUY IN when they WEIGH IN, and core leaders of our church were able to give their feedback about the best way to roll out this information to the rest of the congregation. This type of “inside scoop” is what Northridge has historically done well, and I’ve loved getting to learn from leaders who do this kind of thing so well. I hope that I’ll be able to mirror their roll out plans in the future as I cast vision for whatever God leads me to do!
One Wednesday this month I spent working from home due to a serious snowstorm that came through. As a result of that storm, we had to cancel youth group meetings AGAIN – for the second time in a row. However, one of our team members had the idea to have each of our staff go live (1 each hour) on Instagram and see if we could get student participation (like asking questions). The response was AWESOME! We had a lot of viewers for each staff member, and together we followed each other’s lead and produce a series of live “hangout sessions” that really got a GREAT buzz going among students. What I was most proud of was our team’s dedication to do SOMETHING in the face of a very frustrating situation (cancelling twice in 2 weeks). The team was CREATIVE and HARD-WORKING and very good sports (they jumped in the snow in the end of the video). I was glad that our team had a problem, but saw an opportunity instead.
One day this month, I went out to lunch with a student. If I’m honest, I felt like the conversation was tanking. He seemed disinterested in talking about much of anything (despite initiating the hangout), there was very little conversational “momentum,” and the problem he had asked to meet about was barely being mentioned. After probing for a while and wondering if he was feeling as lost as I was relationally, the time he had for lunch was over. As I drove him back to school I was wondering if the time I had spent during a very busy week on this lunch was worth the effort. However, just as we arrived at school he began to peel back some layers to the issue and asked if we could meet again – classic youth ministry moment. I’m glad I was able to be reminded that relationships are like retirement savings – they take a long time to build up, and you will probably only get a little bit out of it at a time!
Key Goals for the Next Month
Family – My wife still needs my support as we adjust to the baby. I need to be there for her as she learns new routines.
Henrietta– I need to follow up with the new attenders and nail down a contract with our portable church company.
Finish Strong in Youth Ministry – My responsibilities are beginning to wind down in youth ministry, but I can’t lose focus on the importance of being the best leader I can until I officially hand off the responsibility.
Finish Everything – I need to submit the paper work for PT703, PT704 and Applied Bible Analysis #4. Just need to stay focused!
Lauren
Ministry Highlights
This month we had multiple weeks of youth group where we broke our attendance record. It’s amazing to be a part of a ministry where kids get excited about inviting their friends and aren’t embarrassed to be a part of church.
One of the students from the local Charter school that I referred to last month accepted Jesus as his Savior! He has been consistent in attendance and eager to learn more about God.
Last Sunday all three of our campuses came together to worship in one place where leadership casted vision for the launch of our next campuses and people pledged a monetary amount towards the funds needed to do so. The service was incredible and it was so uniting to all be together as one!
Key Prayer Requests
Please continue to pray for Aaron as he has officially stepped into his role as Part-time youth pastor/Part-time campus pastor. There are many responsibilities to manage and juggle.
Also, continue to pray for me as I learn how to be a mom and care for my family.
Prominent Lessons
Because of the announcement of launching the next campus that occurred this month, there was one week where Aaron had a meeting every night at church. Fortunately, my mom was still in town to help me with baby Greyson and keep me company; however, that week was a great exercise in being happily sacrificial and allowing Aaron to work overtime without any guilt. At the same time, at some point that week I severely injured my neck and had some vomiting/fainting spells. Because of this, I was unable to care for Greyson at all, and ended up in the hospital for one night. My mom took care of Greyson while Aaron cared for me.
I say all these seemingly random facts to illustrate that doing life and ministry takes sacrifice on both the husband and the wife. I was happy to have Aaron gone during the evening because I knew it meant things were headed in the right direction for his new job. But the moment I needed him, he was up all night with me and even missed one of the evening meetings to stay with me in the hospital.
Although it was an extremely stressful time, I love that I am able to look back and see that at the necessary times, we put each other first. And through that, I see the Lord. Three years ago, I think I would’ve been angry with the church for keeping my husband away and I think Aaron was under enough pressure that missing a meeting like he did would have been a way bigger deal. But throughout the years, God has softened my heart and given me the flexibility I need to be a supportive wife; and Aaron has found a happy balance of work and family where both employer and family are content. I am so thankful for an amazing husband, and a God who has been faithful in molding our hearts to be more like him.
Key Goals for the Next Month
This coming Friday we have an event planned for our adult Small Group Leaders. I would like to have one significant conversation with one of the woman during this time.
At the end of the month we have a meeting with our teen student leaders where I feed them lunch and they come over after church and hang out for the afternoon. I would like to ask one of the girls to come help me prepare for that time so that they can get a behind the scenes view of ministry and what it looks like.
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