No Excuse Vision Weekend October 27-28, 2018 Why Vision Weekend? - PDF document

“No Excuse” Vision Weekend October 27-28, 2018 Why Vision Weekend? Because vision is incredibly important and yet it chronically leaks (easy to get busy, distracted and forgetful – vision needs to be continually re-infused in every marriage, family, organization, and church) Prov. 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish”. (KJV) “Vision is a picture of the future that produces passion in people”. 6 Core Ideas to Our Vision that Every Hillsider Needs to Know: 1. We are really blessed (thankful that our church is a picture of growth and momentum; don’t take it for granted or fail to appreciate it and live in the moment) Here are some 2018 wins… #1 Guest speakers Dave O & Danielle Strickland #2 Handel’s Messiah (biggest Easter weekend yet) #3 Our Bold Prayers #4 “40 Days of Prayer” #5 Reimagine Campaign #6 Facility Upgrades (100K projects) #7 More Growth (up 10%) and More Steps Why We Exist? “To honour God by leading people to become fully-devoted followers of Jesus Christ” Key Thought: Sharing these wins is a reason for praise, not pride! (Ps. 115:1) Mtt. 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world… Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven”. 2. We are closer than ever before to the fulfillment of our 2020 Vision. However… We haven’t reached the goal yet!!! (complacency not an option) Our 2020 Vision in Review “To be a lighthouse church in the region ministering to 1,000 people or more on Sunday mornings by 2020”.

What’s one of our most strategic Next Steps in 2019 to reach our 2020 Vision? Answer: To add an additional Launch and Vibe option at 9am starting next fall. § This will help to redistribute the number of children ages Birth-Grade 12 at both services. § The redistribution will improve the overall experience at 9am for everyone including the kids and volunteers, while also providing a more vibrant, balanced, and engaging worship experience for those attending the 9am service. § We see both services functioning as a growth engine with two equally appealing options for families with children. Why Fulfilling our 2020 Vision of ministering to 1000+ people each Sunday is a worthy, God-honouring goal? § It reflects God’s heart that we never stop sharing the Good News with others (“I came to seek and save that which is lost” - Jesus) § Reaching more is consistent with our church’s heartbeat (in 2013, we envisioned becoming a church of 1,000 when we were running less than 500; 1,000 was a very bold dream, but we acted upon it) § It’s also consistent with our mission of making more disciples (more people means more steps) § It sounds big yet, as a regional church, it represents less than 1% of our total metro Moncton population (152,000 people); also, it represents only a portion of the roughly 25,000 people in our E1G postal code area, most of these people don’t attend church 2

§ Reaching the goal will bring out the best in all of us (greater faith, engagement, teamwork, and bolder prayers) It will be a big encouragement to other churches in Atlantic Canada (raises the Believability factor, which is § greatly needed; being a model to other churches is a biblical example – Rom. 1:8, 1 Thess. 1:6-8) 1 Thess. 1:6-7, “You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia”. Other Highlights on the Horizon (finishing strong in 2018) NOVEMBER 2018 What Keeps You Up at Night? New Series November 4, 9am & 11am Tim & The Glory Boys Concert November 4, 7pm (get your tickets) November 11, 9am & 11am Teen Challenge Choir November 11, 12:45pm (lunch served) Getting Started November 18, 9am & 11am Youth Sunday Guest Speaker Sid Koop & Guest Worship Leader Andrew Stanley November 25, 9am & 11am DECEMBER 2018 December 2, 9am & 11am Waumba Land Kids Christmas December 9, 9am & 11am Christmas Baptism December 15, 6pm “Straight Outta Bethleham” Christmas Musical December 16, 9am & 11am December 23, 11am & 6:30pm Christmas Candlelight Services December 24, 1:30pm, 4pm & 6:30pm 3. We are a church that’s always seeking to get better (a learning culture, improving & innovating; praying, reflecting and discerning God’s next step for our ministry). “The difference between a good leader and great leader is one who learns to anticipate rather than react” (same for organizations). -C raig Groeschel Prov. 18:15, “The intelligent man is always open to new ideas. In fact, he looks for them”. (TLB) Our Core demographic consists of the following: • 3

o Much higher % of young fastest-growing areas (30% under age 20 – this % is roughly 50% higher than Moncton and New Brunswick) o 90% parents working outside the home (means busy, stretched, little margin) o Professional/better educated (high % of financial/insurance and health care) o Above average family income ($131K average household income parents with children, though many living in semi-detached homes, likely working 2 jobs to pay the bills) • More opportunities with internationals who are coming to our doorstep, what a blessing! (internationals represent 51% of Moncton’s net growth in 2011-2016 census, up 500% since early 2000s, strong Asian influx in our area and we’re grateful to see many of these folks in our church family) Other tidbits: • o Our province is aging (significantly fewer in the workforce to support those in retirement), o In addition to young families, our demographic includes a sizable portion of singles, widows, and single parent families (we care about these people, too) o The challenge of engaging millennials in today’s world (we’re grateful for the opportunity and are glad to see an increasing number of millennials getting involved in our ministry Other Things We’re Learning: 1) The language/rhythm of seasons is helpful to our ministry (ie, our seasonal/quarterly All In missions projects 4x/yr; “Summer” – Camps, VBS, GLS; “Fall” – Homecoming & major fall church-wide alignment series, ending with Christmas; Winter “Anniversary Celebration” & Spring “Easter” & ending “Spring Baptism Celebration”) 2) That our building is a growth engine (a 500-seat state of the art of auditorium along with the other amenities of our building are attractive to outsiders) 3) That we’re increasingly living in a very broken, post-Christian culture (mental health challenges, isolation, fragmented families, dealing with changing values and negative cultural perceptions toward the church) 4) That engagement is a continual challenge yet an unrelenting priority in our very busy and distracted culture (hence, our culture of next steps; we moved from Vision Night to “No Excuse” Vision Weekend; hosting our Re:imagine Family Celebration events; seeing more people participate in Growth Groups or serve opportunities; leveraging strategic ways to communicate, etc) “ If you want your church to grow, stop trying to attract people. Start trying to engage people ”.-Carey Nieuwhof See Carey Nieuwhof’s article, “Why Engagement is the New Church Attendance” 5) That growing a culture of generosity requires continued teaching and relevant tools (did you know that 54% give electronically to our ministry?) New Development: our new Living Legacy Fund (another practical way to resource our ministry; for more information go to “www.hillsidemoncton.org/legacy) 6) The importance of prayer as a foundation to everything we do (our growing culture of prayer) 1 Thess. 5:17, “Never stop praying”. (NLT) 4. We have made a long-term investment into premier family ministry. 4

But, we have a challenge… lid we need to address! Our lid in 2018 was debt reduction; our lid in 2019 is Sunday Morning Kids’ Volunteers (let’s address it together). See articles, “Elevating Community By Thinking Small” & “7 Reasons to Serve in The Church Nursery” 5. We are excited about 2019. Our New 2019 Theme “Made for More” BIG WEEKENDS IN 2019 45th Anniversary Sunday February 9, 9am & 11am (Guest, Todd Petkau, Riverwood Church Winnipeg) Handel’s Messiah April 13, 6pm April 14, 9am, 11am, & 6pm (Partnership with Tutta Musica) Easter Family Experience” April 19, tour times between 10am-2pm Easter Sunday April 21, 9am & 11am Watoto Children’s Choir April 28, 9am & 11am Homecoming Sunday September 8th, 9am & 11am Homecoming Picnic (at Camp Wildwood) September 8 th , 2pm-6pm Vision Weekend October (TBD) Kids Musical December (TBD) Christmas Candlelight Services December (TBD) Other Exciting Plans for 2019: 6. We have learned nothing great ever happens without commitment and sacrifice our calling to be a high devotion church). Acts 2:41-42, “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer”. (NIV) Stay tuned… Our “All In” Membership renewal Feb 2019 (5-year membership renewal, last time was February 2014 “All in”, so Feb 2019 will be 5 years) 5