Hello Church Family,

August is halfway over and school is about to fire back up. There are two months out of the year which symbolize “new beginnings” in the life of many. Those two months are January and August. The month of January is obvious. A new year equals a new opportunity to start fresh, set goals and recommit yourself to the things that matter most.

But what about August?

The reason I think of August like January is because it’s full of some new beginnings too. Kids go back to school, students start back to college, and a host of church activities come back full force. Statistically, more guests show up to church in the month of August than almost any other month. We’ve certainly seen this at Broadview the past few weeks.

With that in mind, I want to give you a heads up on some things coming down the pipe that you may be interested in. Before I do that, though, we need to talk about Broadview’s Pastoral Team. Broadview is a “pastor led, congregational ruled” church. That means, the pastor is the leader but the congregation is the final authority in what happens big-picture wise.

At Broadview, though, the Senior Pastor leads alongside of a “pastoral team.” Many people in our church probably don’t even know that Broadview has a pastoral team. That’s why I’m telling you now! There are two offices in the local church: pastors and deacons. We have a team of pastors and a team of deacons.

But what does the deacon body and pastoral team actually do? We just elected new men to our deacon body so I won’t spend much time on that. However, I do want to spend some time explaining the what and why behind Broadview’s Pastoral Team.

That’s why I wrote this article.

I really really encourage you to read it. One reason is because we’re about to elect new men to that team. The other reason is because there’s often a lot of confusion surrounding the difference between the pastoral team and the deacon body.

An informed congregation is an empowered congregation. So, please read the article and think about how you can play a part in this process. In the coming weeks, you’ll have an opportunity to recommend candidates to this team during the worship services. Those candidates will be subsequently reviewed by a screening committee and the final few presented to the church for a vote.

If you’d like to nominate candidates to the pastoral team right now then you can do so here.

Concerning the things that are coming up this fall, the big thing I want to highlight are the fall equipping classes. You hear me say all the time how important it is to be in a small group. That’s the BEST way to grow in your Christian faith. But, from time to time, we offer seasonal groups that focus on one thing or another for a definite period of time. Those are called equipping classes.

These equipping classes launch on September 10th.

Ladies Bible Study // Breathe // By Pricilla Shirer
Facilitator: Shirley Hergert
Time: 5:30pm

This is a class that’ll cover the concept of “sabbath rest.” Don’t let a busy life keep you from growing spiritually. This class will give you the tools to work from a place of “rest.”

Overcoming Grief Related to Death 
Facilitator: Sandra Mitchell & Mitzi McAndrew
Time: 5:30pm

Many in our church have recently experienced grief related to losing someone they love. Part of the grief ministry in our church includes creating group environments for people to process and work through the grief in their life. This group is specifically geared towards grief related to death.

New Testament Survey
Teacher: Dennis Burt
Time: 5:30pm

Have you ever wanted to understand the Bible at a “deeper level?” Do you sometimes read the Bible and wish you knew more about the background and culture of the time? This class will open up your eyes so that you can understand the Bible in a deeper way. The New Testament will really come to life!

These equipping classes launch on September 17th.

Discipline Plan For Parents
Teacher: Cynthia P. Young, LPC, LCDC
Time: 11:00am

Discipline Plan for Parents is a class for parents of children ages 2-17 who desire to parent their children based on biblical principles. Discipline, the most difficult aspect of parenting, will be the focus of the class and parents will have the opportunity to develop an Individualized Discipline Plan for each of their children.

CR Steps Class (Men’s & Women’s)
Teachers: n/a
Time: 5:30

Celebrate Recovery meets on Tuesday nights throughout the year. However, on Sunday nights, smaller groups of men and women meet together to work the 12 steps of the Celebrate Recovery program. These groups offer intensive discipleship and intimate community so that you can gain freedom over your hurts, habits and hang-ups.

You can register for any of these on our internal website.

Blessings,

Pastor Wes