NEXT at FBCG
WHAT IN THE WORLD IS FBCG?
By almost any standard of measure, FBCG is a remarkable church! We will be 115 years old this fall; we have built buildings on three different sites; and over the last 15 years we have grown from one service on one campus to five services over two days on two campuses. From Maundy Thursday through Easter Sunday morning we had almost 5,000 people worship in 9 different services! But despite all these changes and all this growth we have desired to remain one Church, unified by our love for Christ, our love for each other, and our desire to share his love with the world!
The traditional word for this unity is “FELLOWSHIP.” It communicates a sense of being connected to each other in relationships – and connected to the larger Church in a meaningful way. And it is this sense of CONNECTION that has become more difficult to maintain as FBCG has grown in size and complexity!
There was once a day, not so long ago, when “everyone knew everybody” at FBCG. Now, with over 3800 people in our church family, that simply is not the case. The question is, “How can we maintain, value and create a sense of CONNECTION in a church family of this size?”
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
Your responses to the church-wide survey last fall brought this question front and center! One of the areas where we received the lowest scores was regarding “feeling connected to others and to the mission of the church.”
As leadership, we have spent a great deal of time thinking and talking about this issue over the last few months, and we are absolutely committed to building this sense of CONNECTION at FBCG!
Here are a few ideas that you will see developed over the coming months:
- Moving to ONE CAMPUS WORSHIP for the summer of 2009.
- Establishing life-stage “Adult Learning Communities” on both campuses on Sunday mornings.
- The development of an in-home Small Group Connection/ Equipping program.
- Changes made to make our facilities more “connection-friendly.” The Executive Council recently approved a remodeling of the West Campus lobby to include more seating areas and a “café-like” area. These upgrades, to be completed by June 7, were made possible with funds saved as a contingency plan within the building fund.
ONE CAMPUS WORSHIP THIS SUMMER
When we built Phase 1 of the West Campus in 2004, we did so because FBCG was growing and we needed to prepare for our future as a church family. But two things happened that our leadership did not anticipate.
First, the West Campus grew much more quickly than we expected. Within two years 2/3 of our entire church family was worshiping at the new campus! Second, we were surprised at how quickly we began to hear people speak of feeling like FBCG had become “two churches.”
While we have tried many things to emphasize our unity – joint services at Christmas and Easter, different mid-week ministries using just one campus, etc., by far the most powerful and positive experience of unity was our “One-Campus Worship” last summer during the renovation of the East Campus sanctuary!
While our East Campus worshipers were “displaced” for the summer – we heard over and over again that any discomfort was far overshadowed by the greater sense of fellowship people felt through worshiping on the same campus for a time.
That experience, along with the very clear desire for connection and unity expressed by the congregation through the survey, has led us to try “One-Campus Worship” again this summer! Only this time we will do it not because we “have to” due to a renovation project, but because we “want to” to maintain and promote the unity of our fellowship!
There are other good reasons, of course, to worship together on the West Campus:
- We are eventually going to build a new worship center on the West Campus and move all our weekend services there – so “One-Campus worship” keeps that goal in front of us.
- “One-Campus worship” also allows us to close down the East Campus for the summer – thus allowing time for a potential remodeling of the lobby/office space (and elevator!)
- Because our worship attendance tends to drop significantly during the summer due to families taking vacations, etc., “One Campus” worship enables us to maintain a sense of energy as the services are full.
Contact: Church Office, 630.232.7068
