Church Staff has adopted the concept of "Simple Church" based on a book by the same name. The concept was undertaken by Staff without seeking input or involvement from BOD or congregational "ownership."

As explained by Staff, the “Simple Church” is designed around a straightforward and strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth. The concept is to have a simplistic process that is implemented in the church to create alignment. The three areas Staff has chosen to focus on are: Worship, Small Groups, and Serve as the pathway to discipleship. According to the book the church abandons everything that is not in the focus. (pp. 67-68).

The group signing this request, wish to add a discussion on this topic to the August 15th 2021 Voter's Meeting.

We believe that a step has been excluded in this Staff selected pathway - Growth/Teaching. We all need to grow our faith by being in the Word and this isn't only done through Small Groups. Hence, Bible Study and Sunday school have always been a priority on campus on Sunday's.

Staff has deemed the Journey Center off limits for Sunday morning Bible study. It is important to note that the Journey Center, formerly known as the Adult Education Building was specifically dedicated to this purpose after the construction of a new preschool building. The renovation and furnishings were paid for outside of budgeted funds by adults desiring to have a space for study and multi-purpose uses.

Staff is demonstrating Adult Bible Study on Sunday is now given a lower priority than coffee ministry or fellowship in their view. We specifically do not support this perspective. For many years the Journey Center was able to be used harmoniously for coffee ministry and Bible class. We also wish to note that it seems coffee ministry / fellowship are not in the 3 focus areas of the ‘Simple Church’.

The current staff edict designating a school classroom location for Sunday Bible study makes it challenging for many to participate. Difficulties include getting to the classroom due to its location and sitting in student sized chairs at desks while the Journey Center usually sits empty because of this Staff decision.

While recognizing the current voter approved governance model allows Staff the latitude to develop programs that they see will benefit the church, we believe that changes of this magnitude that impact the congregation and permitted uses of facilities are best undertaken with buy in from the “ownership”.

Specifically, we are requesting a vote on directing the BOD to create policy statements directing the Senior Pastor to direct his staff to reinstate giving the JC priority uses for the purposes of Adult Education and direct the BOD to hold the Senior Pastor accountable for the these policies.

Furthermore, we call for a change to the Bylaws to modify the number of signatures needed to add an item to the agenda or call for a special voters meeting to 50 from the current level of 100. This is a more reasonable number and closer to the historical 35 members required.

Please sign this "petition" request so that we can add this item to the Voter's Meeting agenda in August. We need 100 Voting Members to sign by July 15th. Each person in a couple counts!