Let me put some thoughts in context for you…..the context of the recently adopted Bylaws of our church…
The Bylaws of Quest Evangelical Free Church (aka- Quest Church…..in short Quest)
Article 1: Church Government
Section 1: Statement of Government
A. Ultimate authority in this church shall reside in the Members of the congregation in the sense that they alone shall approve each individual of the Team of Elders. Once this approval is given, the authority of the congregation will be considered delegated to the Team of Elders except for major items:
- Changing the Constitution or Bylaws
- Approving the annual budget
- Hiring the Lead Pastor
- The assumption of indebtedness in excess of ten percent of the annual budget
- Significantly changing the location or suitability of facilities for the church
- Approval of membership
So, therefore, we are preparing to execute these commitments because we believe that we will do our best as a church when we pull together as a team, or as the Scriptures describe us as a unified and well functioning body (the body of Christ).
We have planned to have our Annual Business Meeting on Sunday morning, September 13th. Having a ‘business meeting on Sunday morning’ may seem a bit strange to you, and to be fair, it is not all that normal. However, the most important business of the church is to celebrate God’s amazing love, especially demonstrated by Christ’s unmatchable life, sacrificial death and powerful resurrection. The business of the church is to invest in things that are eternal…..God’s Word and the lives of people. All the rest of the ‘business’ of the church is on a whole separate level, but it needs to be done by His people as well. Therefore, on that particular Sunday we purpose ourselves to celebrate what God is doing in our midst and around the world.
We together will ‘approve the annual budget’ so that we can purpose ourselves to be good stewards of the finances He has entrusted to us. We together will ‘affirm our intent and direction concerning facilities’ so that we can be more and more effective in ministering to the people of our community. We together will ‘approve new members’ so that we can mobilize everyone who is throwing their lot in with the body of Christ at Quest. We together will ‘hear from the Elders’ so that we get on the same page of the spiritual health and integrity of their leadership and shepherding. We together will ‘get a picture of the focus of this next year’ so that we can all effectively get plugged in to the life of our church and community. Finally, we together will ‘celebrate the cross of Christ’ so that we can remember what He did for us as we anticipate His return.
As you can see, unlike some ‘business meetings’ that digress into debates and arguments, we want to celebrate what God has done, is doing and will do in the days to come.
In addition however, there clearly is a time and place to discuss and interact on the things of significance as to the ‘business’ of the church. Therefore, we have scheduled several Town Hall Meetings that you are invited to attend so that you can hear from the Team of Elders and they can hear from you. All of these Town Hall Meeting will take place at the Blue Bird Park Administration Building, room 102 (225 Kiefer Creek Road, Ellisville, MO). On Sunday (6:30 pm) the 9th of August, and Monday( 7:00 pm) the 10th of August the primary topic will be the ‘near and far’ possibilities of facilities. Then on Sunday (6:30 pm) the 30th of August, and Monday (7:00 pm) the 31st of August the primary topic will be the annual budget and the financial future of Quest.
We invite and encourage you to attend these Town Hall Meetings so that you can be informed and participate in the details of both facilities and budget as well as any other dimensions of the ministry of Quest. We will then be ready to celebrate at the Annual Business Meeting on September 13th……We can’t wait because church is a party for those who need to be celebrated by the love of God.