Closing Our Year with Celebration
It has been an incredible fall season at MERCYhouse which was made possible by many prayers, the selfless and faithful service of our church family and (most of all) God’s Grace and Mercy upon this house. Perhaps the biggest step that we have taken together as a church has been the discernment and installation of a permanent lead pastor 100 days ago, today.
I (Pastor Tommy) want to take this time to celebrate some victories, recognize areas of growth and identify some items on the horizon ahead of our Church summit on December 17, 2023. This list is not exhaustive! Forgive me if I missed anything, and let me know if I did.
MH:Kids Task Force
This group of dedicated members of our church have invested dozens of hours to rebuild our children's ministry from the ground up, overhauling our policies and procedures, implementing a new curriculum and developing a training program to equip new volunteers to minister to our next generation. Great strides are being made to create a safe, loving environment where our children can experience the Hope of the Gospel through the Word of God, by the loving the People of God. Thank you to Sarah Showalter, Laura Looman, Virginia Zenchenko, Angelique Cavagnet, Rachel Chaffin, David Landry, Kaitlyn Moore, Catherine Infante, Dana Kelly and Jamie Blackwood for their service on this Task Force!
MH SBC Abuse Reform Task Force
We have taken our decision to remain in the Southern Baptist Convention seriously by forming a Task Force of individuals who are passionate about critically monitoring the implementation of the SBC’s Abuse Reform for the fruit of genuine repentance. Beyond this, MERCYhouse is taking steps to understand how to better love and protect our community while also equipping ourselves to provide care for those who are victims of abuse in the Valley. Thank you to Vika Katko, Cory Telman, Julia Stubbs, Noreen Kelly, Kaitlyn Moore, Freke Ette and Matt May for their service on this Task Force!
Midweek– Faithful and Encouraging
Sunday mornings are an (important) aspect of our church, but the bulk of following Jesus happens after we gather under God’s Word each week at our worship service. Our weekly Midweek Bible Study has provided a space for members and attenders to dig deeper into God’s Word, lift one another up in prayer, and share meaningful fellowship on a regular basis. Thank you to Jake Blackwood and Alden Foelsche for their faithful service each week!
Sunday School– Accessible and Edifying
Paul says in Romans 10:33, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” Our weekly Sunday School class is equipping attenders with a robust Systematic Theology to better understand the wisdom and knowledge of God. This depth of understanding is leading to greater worship and awe of our great God. Thank you to Alden for his faithful service in teaching this class each week!
Prayer– Consistent and Powerful
We have prayed for our prayer ministry for years and have had the joy of seeing it take off! Our Prayer Team has been diligent about praying for each and every prayer request that is sent to us, and meeting regularly for early morning prayer walks and evening prayer times. Our Prayer Team has also led several Prayer and Worship nights to engage more of our members with the Godly duty of interceding on behalf of our friends, family and community. We are growing in experiencing prayer as a privilege and not a chore. Thank you to Vika Katko, Emelia Kusi, David Landry, and the other members of our Prayer Team for faithfully serving in this way!
Elders– Old and New
We have been incredibly blessed by the service of our elders during this time of transition. Both Jake and Garrett will be entering into some much needed rest in 2024. Thank you both for serving relentlessly through the fiercest storm that MERCYhouse has ever experienced.
After much prayer and deliberation, the Elders are pleased to present Jimi Oke and Cory Telman before our membership as candidates for eldership. Both Jimi and Cory come to us highly endorsed by our membership for this role and are confirmed as being Biblically qualified and exemplify Christ’s shepherding heart in their relationship with their immediate family and church family. We will begin a formal process where we will strongly exhort you (the members of MERCYhouse) to confirm the calling on these men’s lives to serve our church in the role of Elder. We hope to install both Jimi and Cory as your elders, pending your approval, in the beginning of February.
You will notice that our voting agenda includes a motion to enstate both Jake and Garrett as elders for a term of two months (January - February). This is to provide an overlap of service to ensure that the installation of our next elders is a smooth transition.
Alden
Many of you know Alden (or at least have heard his laugh). Alden has faithfully served MERCYhouse for years, particularly in this current season by fundraising his salary 100%. Alden doesn’t cost MERCYhouse a nickel but has blessed our community incalculably through his preaching, his teaching and his discipleship of our members. As Alden’s internship is coming to a conclusion at the end of April, we want to bless Alden by making sure that his salary is paid regardless of the result of his fundraising. For fiscal year 2024, Alden has already fundraised over 80% of his salary and the remaining amount is ~$8,800. We are proposing that any unraised monies be covered by MERCYhouse. Thank you, Alden, for serving our church!
Victories Upon Victories
There’s a lot more that can be said! Like how our church has been able to meet the practical needs of our community in ways that it has not since well before COVID. Or how our Women’s Ministry Team has been able to engage meaningfully with so many women in ways we haven’t seen in years. Or how we’ve seen 11 new members added and witnessed seven baptisms this fall! Or how our Worship team, led by Jimi, Julia and Avi continue to empower dozens of musicians to use their gifts to bless all of us with the opportunity to enter into worship together each Sunday. Or how our Missions and Benevolence giving, overseen by our Deacon Keith Benoit has been able to support those in our immediate community who have dire needs and those across the globe who are preaching the Gospel to the nations. Or how our Building Team, led by our Deacon Luke Showalter has continued to maintain our build and wisely steward the space that God has given us to bless everyone who comes inside of it.
There’s a lot that can be said about how amazing our God is, how wonderfully he provides, and how incredible his purposes are. The most beautiful thing I’ve seen during my time as your Pastor over these last 100 days is God’s Church simply being what it was made to be: a Body of Believers, with different gifts and passions, united by one Spirit, worshiping our God together and carrying out the mission we’ve been given. What a privilege and a joy!
I invite you to join us at our December 17 Voting Summit to exercise your authority and fulfill your responsibility as a member of our covenant community in determining the future of our church, and to celebrate the many victories God has given us in this season!
If this is what God can do in 100 days, I have great hope and expectation for His Work in this Valley in the many years to come. The Words of Jesus echo in my mind from Matthew 16:18: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail.” Let’s press on, together, with great confidence in our Great King.
In the Powerful, House-Building Name of Jesus Christ,
Tommy Moore
Lead Pastor